Thinking about changing A-Level PE exam boards? Here's what you need to know.

Dear PE colleague,

This is the second post in a two-part guide to my opinions on the potential for changing exam boards. Last week, I wrote extensively about my opinions and recommendations about changing boards for GCSE PE, and I encourage you to familiarise yourself with that post as it will give context to this week’s. You can read the full post here: "Thinking about changing GCSE PE exam boards? - Here's what you should know."

In the paragraphs and sections that follow, I want to share with you what you should be considering if (and I really do stress if) you wish to change A-level PE exam board. As stated in last week's blog, I do not work for the exam boards. In fact, I receive exactly zero work or income from the various exam boards mentioned in this post and, therefore, I believe my opinions are as unbiased as any individual can hold. 

Why does my opinion matter?

As stated in last week’s post, that’s a good question and one I am pondering myself. But I am in a unique position: I am lucky enough to have two central experiences that qualify me to write this article. 

Firstly, I am an experienced PE course designer and head of PE. I spent 10 years of my teaching career at Farnborough Sixth Form College, most of it as Head of PE, and my responsibility was to produce outstanding student opportunities (and let’s be honest, results) in the biggest A-level PE examination centre in the world. I quality assured a huge department of PE theory teachers and had experiences of en masse practical assessment, coursework quality assurance and examination preparations. At times, I was managing cohorts of over 300 A-level PE students. It really was a remarkable experience in my career and, in many ways, the defining experience. 

Secondly, since 2015, I have been teaching all of the A-level PE courses on TheEverLearner.com, and the first step in doing so is very deep analysis of the specifications. 

But, more than this, I have been through numerous exam board switches in my PE career. I have switched from OCR to AQA and vice versa. I have switched Edexcel to OCR and from Edexcel to AQA. I am experienced with this type of situation and provide training to PE teachers and departments to help them to transition between one board and another. If this is of interest to you, please reach out. 

To switch or not to switch? A matter of risk management

Let’s start with the most fundamental question: Should you switch exam boards at all?

When colleagues ask me this question (which, by the way, is common), I always answer in the same way. There are two primary considerations:

1. Be very cautious about switching exam boards based on one single set of results.

2. Treat exam board switches from a perspective of risk management.

So, firstly, you are encouraged not to switch boards hastily. If you have had one dodgy set of A-level PE results only, take a moment before making a big decision. This could relate to exam results, Non-Examined Assessment (NEA) adjustments or your moderation experience. The point I want to make is that one set of annual results is not a trend. If we jump too soon, we are acting like Premier League football Chairpersons, firing their manager way too soon. Be cautious with this. 

And, secondly, switching exam boards is all about risk. The thing is, no A-level PE course is perfect. In fact, they are all far from perfect, so simply switching courses will not necessarily address the core issue. I have switched exam boards many times in my PE teaching career, so I am not against doing it, but you have to address the risks on both sides of the fence with the same level of scrutiny. Remember that when you switch exam boards, it is probably two years of transition, with the first of those years involving the teaching of two different courses in year 12 and year 13. Then, try to consider how imminently a new A-level PE qualification will come on stream. As I write in 2026, the new A-level courses appear to be three to four years away, so switching may be a good option. But if you read this in 2028 or 2029, the decision to shift may cause up to four years of disruption, as you switch from one legacy course to another before a brand-new qualification commences. This is a lot of change, so be warned. 

You’ve made the decision to switch. Now what?

The easy part is done: You know what you want to leave behind. Fair enough. But to what? Where should you go?

This is exactly where I wish to position this article. What follows is a series of practical and snappy guides to the experience of switching from one course to another and some of the issues you may face. 

I should be candid from the start so my biases are understood: I have no direct affiliation with any exam board. No exam board hires me nor pays me for any work. Therefore, what follows are truly my opinions and are not sponsored in any way. I do have preferences about A-level PE. If I were to start as a head of PE in a brand-new PE department today, I would likely select OCR A-level PE as my preferred course. But this shouldn’t surprise anyone, as it is the exact movement of the whole PE sector, with OCR being the most popular qualification.

With each switch, I will score my level of recommendation of the switch in 2026 out of 10, with 10 being “Go ahead and do it” and 1 meaning “Don’t do it”. To be clear: this is my level of comfort with switching from one specific course to another in 2026. Please note that my scores would change as we move towards 2027 and beyond, specifically because a new tranche of qualifications is expected.

Switching to AQA

Switching from Edexcel to AQA. Recommendation score: 7/10

1. Like Edexcel, AQA A-level PE features two written exams total. Whilst it is true that the nature of the exams is quite different, both Edexcel and AQA feature two exams total. Both AQA A-level PE Paper 1 and Paper 2 touch on all three of the subject’s genres: Physiology, psychological and sociocultural, whereas Edexcel ring-fences the physiological learning in Paper 1 and then combines the psychological and sociocultural factors together in Paper 2.
   
   
2. There is an equivalent focus on extended writing on AQA to that of Edexcel. This should not be underestimated. If you have previously been an Edexcel centre, it is very likely that you will have undergone extensive reflection on and provision for extended writing for that course. This will not be wasted when you move to AQA. AQA A-level PE features a total of 69 extended-writing marks per paper, making a combined total of 138 raw exam marks from 210 total that come from essays. In other words, students who succeed on AQA are effective in extended writing. The work that Edexcel A-level teachers have done to extend knowledge and to teach extended-writing skills will be well-honed with AQA.
   
   
3. AQA uses command words consistently in their exams. This is a real strength of AQA. When they ask a student to analyse, the student is credited for analysing. Likewise for evaluating and other commands. Therefore, teachers currently in Edexcel centres can rely on this if they make the switch. 
   
   
4. Raw mark performance on AQA exams is relatively low, meaning that higher-unit grades are achievable. I have mixed feelings reporting this as a strength of AQA, but it is true. Raw mark performance on AQA A-level PE exams is lower than on OCR and Edexcel. Therefore, there is plenty of room for successful students to move into. Students who score well on AQA exams receive high rewards because the average raw marks are lower. This is probably due to the sheer quantity of extended writing on AQA.
   
   
5. The pool of students studying AQA A-level PE is substantially larger than Edexcel, and course performance is less inclined to vary as a result. Whilst teachers in one centre may not be affected day by day by the decisions of teachers in other centres, it is worth noting that Edexcel A-level PE has very few students and, as such, the tendency for shifts in raw-mark performance cohort by cohort is larger. 

1. Risk management. Ask yourself: Is this the right moment to switch, and are you sure that the exam board is the real cause of lower performance? If the answer to either question is not clear, take a moment to reflect on your decision and, perhaps, read through this post again.
   
   
2. AQA written coursework is subject to AI interference. The asynchronous nature of AQA A-level PE written (or oral) NEA means that students will be very tempted and even incentivised to misuse AI tools. The AQA coursework, like many current forms, has no future in the era of AI and, whilst this section of the article is not about OCR A-level, is not future-proof compared to the OCR equivalent. Therefore, should a PE teacher make the shift to AQA, that teacher will be battling with a non-resilient, antiquated coursework structure for which PE students will rely on AI tools. AQA does, theoretically, allow oral coursework submission, and I would like to ask the Principal Examiner at AQA to raise the profile of this pathway, as it is a more resilient, synchronous methodology. 
   
   
3. AQA operates a non-cluster-based moderation. If you have read my article on GCSE PE, you will know that I prefer centre-based moderation at GCSE level. This does not apply at A-level, and I strongly endorse cluster moderation for A-level PE. Cluster moderation limits the reliance on video footage, makes moderation experiences more realistic and allows different centres to quality assure from centre to centre. The scale of candidates at GCSE level typically makes this less relevant, but at A-level it is a superior process. 

Switching from OCR to AQA. Recommendation score: 4/10

This will initially strike readers as a relatively low score, but it should be noted that switching to AQA from OCR is the best option for an OCR centre that is determined to leave. Both OCR and AQA are popular choices for the A-level PE course, and both are worthy considerations.

Advantages to the switch

1. Raw-mark performance on AQA A-level PE examined units is lower on average than with OCR. Whilst this can be perceived in different ways, this does mean that effective exam performance will be well graded at unit level with AQA.
   
   

2. AQA involves one fewer exams than OCR. Once again, this will be a matter of preference, but the two exams with AQA will appeal to some current OCR centres which prepare students for three exams.
   
   

3. The course is (almost) equally popular as OCR. Bluntly, the AQA course is the only one that rivals the OCR course for student numbers and, as such, there is equivalent provision of resources and training for AQA compared to other exam boards.

    

Disadvantages to the switch

1. AQA written NEA is not future-proof in the era of AI. I will make this point a few times within this post, but it is important to ponder the fairness and future of asynchronous written coursework models due to the proliferation of AI models that can do a huge amount of the work for a student who needs to prepare a piece of written coursework. Asynchronous written coursework has no future, and shifting from a challenging but fair model of oral coursework with OCR in the form of the EAPI is a backwards move. 
   
   

2. AQA moderation is centre-based, not cluster-based. In my opinion, unlike at GCSE PE level, practical moderation at A-level benefits from being cluster-based. AQA operates a centre-based moderation process, and I believe this is inferior to the cluster experience of OCR. Cluster moderations at A-level allow a moderation day to shift away from video recording reliance to live performance, allow the cross-pollination of NEA assessments and developments across centres and allow PE teachers to moderate their and other centres’ students in a better context than centre-based. Readers of my GCSE post will realise that I see this differently at GCSE-level, but for A-level, cluster moderation is superior on average. 
   
   

3. AQA exams are over-burdened with extended writing. On each AQA A-level PE exam paper 69 out of 105 marks come from extended writing:

I should mention that I am not against extended writing in PE exams. In fact, I think extended writing is critical. But, shifting from a total burden of 40 out of 210 (19% of OCR exam marks) to 138 out of 210 (66% of AQA exam marks) for extended writing is a massive shift.

4. AQA biomechanics study is less rigorous than OCR. I realise that some colleagues will be attracted by this point, but it is my view that if an exam board offers a biomechanics section, they should do it right. AQA has struggled with this on this specification and the previous one. AQA's biomechanics examination is of a lower standard than that of OCR and, assuming we want our students to learn more or better, this is a limitation. 

Switching to OCR

Switching from AQA to OCR. Recommendation score: 7/10

This is one of the strongest recommendations in this article and, honestly, I feel a bit harsh on AQA as they do provide a very good qualification. However, if you are exiting AQA, OCR is certainly your obvious and most relevant choice.

I have made most of my points in the section above about switching in the other direction, so I will simply summarise them below. For details on any of these points, read the section above about a potential switch from OCR to AQA.

Advantages to the switch

1. OCR offers superior and AI-resilient oral NEA, rather than asynchronous written NEA.
   
   

2. The total provision for OCR oral NEA (the EAPI) is more discrete than the AQA written coursework, which can consume a lot of lesson and teacher time.  
   
   

3. The OCR moderation is cluster-based, rather than centre-based. 
   
   

4. The OCR exams are not over-burdened by extended writing. 
   
   

Disadvantages to the switch

1. Risk management. Is this the right moment, and do you have the right reasons to switch?
   
   

2. OCR features three rather than two exams compared to OCR. The OCR A-level PE exam is one of the latter exams in the student’s programme and can suffer as a result.
   
   

Switching from Edexcel to OCR. Recommendation score: 9/10

This is a strong recommendation, and I make it wholeheartedly. Edexcel centres who wish to change exam boards should probably select OCR A-level PE. Whilst AQA A-level PE is a perfectly good course, OCR offers some excellent advantages, and it is my preferred course. I will attempt to detail that below. 

Advantages to the switch

1. OCR A-level PE oral coursework is synchronous and is resilient in the era of AI. Non-OCR centres are probably quite nervous about OCR’s oral coursework. It might feel aloof and very different to what colleagues are accustomed to. I understand that, but the fear is not justified. The Evaluating and Analysing Performance for Improvement (EAPI) is both a valid assessment tool and also a resilient one. 
   
   
2. OCR A-level is well provisioned, compared to Edexcel A-level PE. You will be able to access many more resources for OCR compared to Edexcel. The official textbook is an example. The Edexcel book needs a lot of work. A lot!
   
   
3. OCR grade boundaries are more resilient than Edexcel, due to a significantly larger cohort. Edexcel’s low numbers pose a threat to the consistency of that course. OCR (the most popular of the A-level PE courses) is more reliable year on year. 

Disadvantages to the switch

1. Risk management (only): Is this the right moment and do you have the right reasons to switch?
   

A note about CIE AS PE

CIE offers an interesting AS (only) PE course, and it is relatively popular in international centres. I like the content, the specification is clearly written, and experiences seem to be positive. However, it is AS PE only, and there is no overall A-level qualification. 

Some centres I work with are providing the CIE AS PE course in Year 12 as a discrete qualification and then completing Year 13 on another A-level PE course. This allows students to achieve two qualifications rather than one. However, the switching from one to another is very challenging and should be opted for with caution. 

A note about WJEC A-Level PE

Whilst I have not gone into detail in this article, WJEC does offer A-level PE. Numbers on the course are low. However, the overall structure of the qualification is good. Schools in Wales should seriously consider the qualification.

Conclusions

It is my opinion that OCR and AQA A-level PE are the two clearest choices to switch to if a PE department wishes to leave their current exam board behind. I, once again, remind colleagues to switch for the right reasons and not as a result of an abrupt reaction to a single set of grades. Look for trends and clear reasons to move on. If you have those, AQA or OCR are your destination.

Thank you for reading. 

James