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Introducing the new WJEC GCSE PE and Health course: Because September is coming whether we're ready or not
James Simms
Aug 12, 2026, 4:45:00 PM
Dear PE colleagues,
If you're delivering WJEC GCSE Physical Education and Health from September 2026, I suspect you've had a moment recently where you opened the new specification, read it properly for the first time, and felt your stomach drop. I don't say that to alarm you further nor to criticise WJEC, who have done an excellent job with the course. You're alarmed enough already. I say it because I've felt it too, and I think it's worth naming honestly rather than pretending this is business as usual.
Here's the thing: This isn't a gentle refresh of a specification you already know. The new WJEC course is a genuine departure from its predecessor, and from what most of us are used to teaching across AQA, Edexcel and OCR. Colleagues who've taught the old WJEC PE course for years are now facing content that simply wasn't there before. That's unsettling. It's meant to be a bit unsettling (new specs usually are), but that doesn't make the workload any less real for you this term.
So we've built a course to help because we could see exactly where the pressure points were going to land, and we wanted to be there before September, not after it.
What is The EverLearner's WJEC GCSE Physical Education and Health course?
I'm pleased to say that the WJEC GCSE Physical Education and Health course is now fully available on TheEverLearner.com, with all three chapters and all 38 lessons complete and ready to be studied by your students and assigned by you.For every single lesson, you and your students have access to:
- A video tutorial taught by me, walking through the concept the way I'd want it taught in my own classroom.
- Quizzing in three modes: practice, test and checkpoint, so students can build understanding before you assess it, not the other way round.
- Exam questions and mark schemes, specific to this specification (coming soon).
Why we built it this way
Let's be candid about what makes this specification different, because it explains every design decision we made.First, the sociocultural unit is genuinely strong and hyper-specific to Wales. This isn't generic sociocultural content lightly rebadged; it demands real understanding of the Welsh context, and generic UK-wide resources simply won't cut it. Second, this specification asks GCSE students to learn all three energy systems in detail. That's traditionally A-level territory. Asking 15- and 16-year-olds to grapple with content we'd normally hold back for sixth form is a significant shift, and it means the depth of explanation in every tutorial had to be higher than a typical GCSE course.
Third (and this is the pain point that shaped everything), WJEC is heavily under-resourced right now. This course is brand new. There isn't a shelf of established textbooks and revision guides the way there is for AQA GCSE PE, for example. Departments are scrambling, and I don't think that's an exaggeration. So we haven't just built student-facing resources; we've built what I'd call the "perfect" delivery of every concept, video by video, so that you're not the only person in your department who has to become an overnight expert in muscle fibre types or Wales-specific participation barriers.
One more thing I'd genuinely recommend: pair this course with the course Exam Technique, Powered by The Roadmap, available in Gold subscriptions. The WJEC GCSE course teaches the content, whilst The Roadmap teaches the metacognitive skill of knowing what you know, spotting gaps, and applying content under exam conditions. The two courses are built to work together, not as two separate purchases competing for your department's attention.
How different departments might use the resources
I know "just try it" isn't always helpful without context, so here are three scenarios I expect will be common this September.The transitioning department. You've taught the old WJEC GCSE PE course for years, you know your old scheme of work inside out, and now you're starting again with unfamiliar content, no in-house quiz bank, and no time to build exam papers from scratch. This course gives you a ready-made scheme, assessment and revision structure from day one.
The first-time WJEC department. You're offering this as your school's very first age-16 PE qualification. There's no legacy course to fall back on, and you need to get it right first time, for your students' results and for your own credibility as a new option in the school. High-quality, board-specific provision matters enormously here.
The department running WJEC alongside a vocational route. Perhaps you're also delivering a BTEC or WJEC Coaching Principles course (also available on TheEverLearner.com) , and your team is more comfortable with coursework-style assessment than heavy content memorisation and exam technique. This course, paired with The Roadmap, deliberately pushes on the muscle you may need to build: retention of detailed content and confident performance under exam pressure.
A few quick answers
Is this the full WJEC GCSE PE and Health Unit 1 course? Yes. It covers the entirety of Unit 1, the examined unit: every word, every concept, every definition and everything in applied detailIs the course actually complete now? Yes. All three chapters and all 38 lessons are live, ready for you and your students right now.
What does the trial include? A free six-week trial for your entire PE department (see here for more details), every teacher and every student, with full access to tutorials, quizzing and exam materials.
Is this offer ongoing? No. It's available for take-up between now (August 12th 2026) and the end of September 2026 only, reflecting the urgency of this specification's launch.
What to do next
If you're teaching this specification from September, I'd genuinely encourage you to try this before term starts, not during week three, when the panic sets in. Visit our WJEC GCSE PE & Health information page here to activate your department's six-week free trial.I did my own secondary schooling in Wrexham, and I still feel a real affinity for Wales and its education system. This specification matters to me beyond the commercial reality of building a course. I want Welsh PE teachers and students, and everyone else delivering this qualification, to get strong results the first time round, not after a difficult first cohort works as the guinea pigs.
Thank you for reading, and for everything you're doing to get ready for a specification none of us has taught before. Good luck with September. I hope this makes it feel a little less daunting.
James