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Happy New Year!!
In early 2025, I wrote a blog post predicting what might happen in 2025 in relation to classroom-based PE teaching and learning. In response to that post, pretty much 12 months later, I want to review my predictions and make 10 further ones for 2026.
My 2025 predictions were:
Prediction 1A review of GCSE and A-level PE will be announced (surely, this year!).
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Accurate
It finally happened. GCSE and A-level PE review has been announced, and we will be hearing more about our new courses soon. I have been predicting this for the last three years, so finally, we can tick it off.
It finally happened. GCSE and A-level PE review has been announced, and we will be hearing more about our new courses soon. I have been predicting this for the last three years, so finally, we can tick it off.
Prediction 2Hot Topics will emerge as an important feature in PE and Sport student revision.
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AccurateWow! Our Hot Topics 2025 were incredibly popular. It’s important to remember that our Hot Topics are for our customers only and, crucially, are not exam predictions. Rather, we monitor the trends and patterns of exams to inform students of the content and skills that are frequently examined, good candidates for examination extended writing or, historically, under-examined. This helps give teachers and students 10 topics per exam paper that are useful to overlearn during the final revision steps.
Prediction 3Student numbers on the NCFE Technical Award in Health and Fitness will grow significantly.
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AccurateWe need to recognise that there are bounce-back trends in PE and sport qualifications, not least because the BTEC Tech award is nowhere near as popular as its forerunner, BTEC First, and also because many centres have chosen to leave Cambridge Nationals (Sport Science and Sport Studies) and return to qualifications such as GCSE PE after an experiment with the new Cambridge Nationals. Because centres and cohorts are departing Cambridge Nationals as a trend, the NCFE Technical Award in Health and Fitness has been a beneficiary. PE colleagues are encouraged to have awareness of the qualification.
Prediction 4
Subject-knowledge-based CPD will become the standard format of PE teacher CPD.
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Accurate
I am delighted to confirm that this one has proven accurate. Whilst the spike may be small, it is a spike nonetheless. Some of our own most popular CPD courses are those on Planes and Axes, Levers and the Classification of Movement Skills. Moreover, some of my most popular blogs of 2025 have addressed the topic of subject knowledge CPD directly.
Prediction 5Build-Peak-Maintain will be further established as a core educational practice in PE classrooms.
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AccurateI can confirm that BPM has become a well-understood and respected concept in PE teaching, based on the principles of spaced review. PE teachers are increasingly aware of the need to encourage students to build knowledge before a lesson, peak it during a lesson (or a series of lessons) and maintain it after a lesson. My team and I have also been hired to train entire networks of PE teachers on concepts such as BPM, spacing and the spiral curriculum concept, which you can see represented in the image below:
Prediction 6IB Sport, Exercise and Health Sciences will become a blueprint for British-based PE and Sport qualifications.
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AccurateI want to applaud IB. They have produced an excellent PE and Sport curriculum via the IB Sport, Exercise and Health Sciences course that will be examined for the first time in 2026. I will share a few opportunities below for teachers of the course, but I, once again, want to tip my cap to the authors and designers of the course for establishing the only PE and Sport course that sits inside of a core science offer. Great work!
IB teachers, please note that IB SEHS will be featured in our revision offer in 2026.
IB teachers, please note that IB SEHS will be featured in our revision offer in 2026.
Prediction 7 AI models will undermine current non-exam-condition, written NEA models.
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AccurateI can state categorically that, as of today, Tuesday 16th December 2025, it is untenable that asynchronous written coursework pieces remain as part of our external qualifications. Written coursework has no future whatsoever if it is written, in any part or whole, at home by students. The only coursework models that may survive are those that are written under assessment conditions or are performed live, such as oral assessments. I can personally guarantee every reader of this article that AI is way beyond the point that means that, with good instructions, it can write full coursework pieces and remain undetectable. Exam boards and examination centres like schools and colleges need to realise this right now, NOT in a few years’ time. I am prepared to prove this to the industry if people are interested in listening.
Prediction 8PE sharing platforms will re-emerge as a reliable and value-driven offer to support PE teachers.
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AccuratePE teachers up and down the UK and beyond will know that, a few years’ ago, sharing platforms in PE were all the thing. Then, one business with a tag line about “...caring…” stole everyone’s money and ran off with it. It was disgraceful. Since then, some really interesting spaces have developed online, including via WhatsApp, and these have replaced the sharing community. However, WhatsApp is not a long-term home for such things, and I am delighted to cautiously leak the news that I and a few others are in the process of providing the new sharing home for PE teachers and that this new home has the new tagline:
"The home of creative ideas in the teaching of PE. Free forever."
I can’t wait for you to get your hands on it. Watch this space!
"The home of creative ideas in the teaching of PE. Free forever."
I can’t wait for you to get your hands on it. Watch this space!
Prediction 9The first-ever book written specifically about the discipline of classroom-based PE teaching will be published.
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Not accurate
Bugger! I let everyone down on this. I thought I would have it done by now. This one will appear again in this year’s predictions.
Bugger! I let everyone down on this. I thought I would have it done by now. This one will appear again in this year’s predictions.
Prediction 10January and June grade boundaries will continue to be a source of concern.
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Partially accurate
The differences between January and June grade boundaries for Cambridge National in Sport Science (R180) and Sport Studies (R184) continue to be a concern, but the trend of it being more challenging in January compared to June continues. See below:
R180
R184
The differences between January and June grade boundaries for Cambridge National in Sport Science (R180) and Sport Studies (R184) continue to be a concern, but the trend of it being more challenging in January compared to June continues. See below:
R180
R184
So, there you have it. I can claim a 9/10 year when it comes to predictions. Therefore, take a read below about my 2026 predictions. Some of them are pretty startling.
Predictions for 2026
Prediction 1: The names of GCSE PE and A-level PE will be confirmed for future qualifications.
Prediction 2: PE Subject knowledge will grow as a CPD need for all PE teachers.
Prediction 3: TheEverLearner.com 2.0 will be released in beta.
Prediction 4: The EverLearner Ltd will reestablish the UK Tour or equivalent, last seen in 2017.
Prediction 5: A new PE sharing platform with the tagline “The Home of Creative Ideas for the Teaching of PE and Sport… Free forever.” will go live.
Prediction 6: Consultation on new GCSE and A-level PE specifications will occur.
Prediction 7: News of a serious crime occurring in the changing rooms of the PE block at Saint Sergwyn’s School will emerge.
Prediction 8: AI will become a standard premium tool for PE teachers.
Prediction 9: Marta and James may get married.
Prediction 10: Multi-city bids for major events like the Olympic Games will be announced.
2026 Prediction 1: The names of GCSE PE and A-level PE will be confirmed for future qualifications.
I blogged about this topic just a few weeks ago, and I expressed with certainty that changing the name of GCSE or A-level PE to, let’s say, GCSE Sport Science is a bad idea. It is definitely a bad idea! Mark my words that, once the name GCSE PE or A-level PE is lost, it will never ever return, and you will find that the brand awareness of your qualifications in your department from the wider public. We absolutely must retain the names GCSE PE and A-level PE. Those who disagree are going to need to come to any conversation with me with very compelling arguments that contradict what I have published. Otherwise, I will be fighting hard for the salvation of the names GCSE PE and A-level PE long term for the reasons previously given.2026 Prediction 2: PE Subject knowledge will grow as a CPD need for all PE teachers
Amongst all of my predictions, this is one I am personally most-driven by and wish to be further embedded in PE teachers' daily lives. PE CPD must –and I really stress must– be subject-knowledge led. In recent months, I have published certifiable courses on teaching levers, teaching planes and axes, teaching classification of skill, teaching the skeletal system, as well as many other subject knowledge areas and I am delighted to confirm that subject knowledge CPD will be a major growth area for our own business and the PE Teacher Academy in quarter 1 and quarter 2 of 2026.2026 Prediction 3: TheEverLearner.com 2.0 will be released in beta
I am delighted to announce that my team and I are currently building a brand-new service that will be delivered to the PE sector in 2026. I am going to say very little about it here, but I challenge every PE teacher out there to attend the beta product launch in mid-late 2026. I can guarantee you that it will be the single most impactful product announcement ever for the teaching and learning of qualification PE and Sport.2026 Prediction 4: The EverLearner Ltd will reestablish the UK Tour or equivalent, last seen in 2017
Back in 2017, my ex-colleague Mike Prior and I travelled around the UK delivering two training sessions per day for an entire week during our UK Tour. It was a brilliant experience defined by 10 visits (two per day) to 10 different schools and colleges, where we delivered a futuristic classroom demonstration for hundreds of PE teachers to take part in over the week. We then followed that tour up with further equivalent one-off events in the Isle of Man and in the Middle East. We learned so much during those times, and we are very keen to reemerge with an equivalent offer in 2026. I’m not sure that we will base it around a UK tour specifically, but it will definitely involve classroom demonstration and an attempt at providing PE teachers with an exemplar teaching episode that they can rely on. Watch this space!2026 Prediction 5: A new PE sharing platform with the tagline “The Home of Creative Ideas for the Teaching of PE and Sport… Free Forever” will go live
Oh, my! I know something that you don’t know yet (probably). My business partner Marta and I, along with another critical colleague, are making very deliberate steps to ensure that a high-quality and relevant space for sharing ideas is available to PE teachers in the very near future. Watch this space very, very carefully! It will be the new home for creative ideas for the teaching of PE and Sport and it will be FREE FOREVER! If you have been let down in the past by unscrupulous providers, you’re about to be shown that ethics and transparency can be at the heart of a PE sharing platform for real.2026 Prediction 6: Consultation on new GCSE and A-level PE specifications will occur.
Well, this one is a banker. The consultation on the GCSE and A-level PE courses, new for 2028 will occur in 2026, and more information will follow. My team and I have put ourselves forward to be a key contributor to this process.2026 Prediction 7: News of a serious crime occurring in the changing rooms of the PE block at Saint Sergwyn’s School will emerge.
What!!???!!! Firstly, let me reassure you all that this is a creation, not a reality. Saint Sergwyn’s School is not real, but the story I have been writing about a serious crime at Saint Sergwyn’s School is real. I hope to be publishing some or all of my story in 2026. I am not claiming to be a good fiction writer. In fact, I’m pretty sure I’m weak at this skill, but I have developed a story, and I am going to write it down and share it. Watch out for this in 2026.2026 Prediction 8: AI will become a standard premium tool for PE teachers
Within the business, The EverLearner Ltd, premium AI tools are now at the heart of a huge number of processes that we follow. My team and I have never looked back from becoming enterprise users of our chosen tool. I am personally stunned at the ways in which AI is transforming our business. I am predicting that premium AI tools will become standard for PE teachers in 2026, and the impact will be greater than the advent of any previous technology. If you are cynical about AI or simply unaware of what it can do, trust me, you are in for a shock. I will be writing and speaking on this much more in the coming weeks.2026 Prediction 9: Marta and James may get married
Those of you who know our business well may know that Marta Soteras and I are both co-business owners but also co-parents and partners to one another. In fact, on the day I write this article, which happens to be December 17th 2025, Marta and I are celebrating 23 years since our first smooch. However, we have never managed to get married in all that time, and I have a feeling that 2026 might be our year. Watch this space!2026 Prediction 10: Multi-city bids for major events like the Olympic Games will be announced
For all you sociocultural-themed PE teachers, this one might be an interesting one. I believe that, very soon and maybe in 2026, the notion of multi-city Olympic Games will be announced and will become available for bidding. The concept of a single-city Olympic Games is massively out of date, and many of you will know that there has not been a single home for the Games for many cycles. However, the whole concept of the Olympic Games is going to be challenged very soon, with multi-city, possibly multi-country and maybe even multi-continent Games to be announced in the near future. Information moves very, very differently from how it did in 1896 for the reimagining of the modern Olympic Games and the times will catch up in 2026, when multi-location games will become a thing for the first time officially.Conclusions
So, there you have it. Do you agree? Do you envisage something different? If you do –or don’t–, comment in the comment box below. We read every comment and always reply.Have a very wonderful 2026, and thank you for being a reader of our blog.
James