Extended Writing in AQA A-Level PE exams

May 3, 2023 5:10:42 PM

Dear AQA A-level PE teachers and students,

This blog is for you. In recent months I have had fantastic feedback on a series of GCSE PE and OCR A-level PE for extended writing in exams. As you will probably know, AQA A-level PE has, by far, the greatest requirement for extended writing and, for this reason, I have decided to publish two brand-new resources today.

These resources cover 8- and 15-mark writing for Paper 1 and, assuming these resources are well received, I will be publishing the Paper 2 equivalents in the coming days.

The resources are completely free and you can download them directly from this page.

Download your FREE long answer structuring templates

The documents incorporate the requirement for synoptic writing and it is specifically this element of the document that I would like your feedback on. You may be aware that, of the 12 extended writing pieces an AQA A-level PE student will write across Paper 1 and Paper 2, three pieces will be synoptic. Thus far, the synoptic element has always been:

1 x 8-mark synoptic piece and 2 x 15-mark synoptic piece.

If you look at this image/table, you can also see the trends in how synoptic writing has been structured. Can you see any patterns?

extended_writing_table

		2018	2019	2020	2021	2022	2023 NME†
Paper 1 Section A Anatomy and Physiology	8	Analyse	Analyse	Analyse	Evaluate	Evaluate	Evaluate
	8	Factors affecting VO2 max	Cryotherapy and blood redistribution	Venous return	HITT training	Altitude training	Plyometrics
	15	Evaluate	Analyse	Analyse	Analyse	Analyse	Analyse
	15	Proprioceptors and PNF	Anaerobic energy systems	Musculoskeletal and levers at the knee and ankle	Muscle fibre types	Energy systems and dietary supplements	Specialist training method - Plyometrics
Paper 1 Section B Skill Acquisition	8	Analyse	Analyse	Evaluate	Evaluate	Evaluate	Evaluate
	8	Response time	Schema theory	Video analysis and feedback	Methods of guidance	Learning plateau and process goals/SMARTER	Behaviourism - Operant conditioning
	15	Evaluate	Analyse	Analyse	Analyse	Evaluate	Analyse
	15	Skill continua and PPP	Input stage of IP. Strategies to improve selective attention	Baddeley and Hitch	Transfer of learning & skills continua	Massed & Distributed / Stage of learning	Simple and choice reaction time & inverted U theory of arousal
Paper 1 Section C Sport and Society	8	Evaluate	Evaluate	Evaluate	Analyse	Evaluate	Evaluate
	8	Socialisation	Social stratification	Barriers and strategies to overcome	Emergence of the middle class	Factories early and late 19th century	Industrial and post industrial (1780 - 1900) - Public schools
	15	Evaluate	Analyse	Analyse	Analyse	Analyse	Analyse
	15	Barriers and strategies to overcome	Barriers to female participation and changing attitudes	Changes in society 1870-1900	Discrimination, stereotyping and prejudice and Bandura self efficacy	Local partners to overcome disadvantaged groups	Sport England, local and national partners at grass roots level
Paper 2 Section A Exercise Physiology	8	Evaluate	Evaluate	Analyse	Analyse	Evaluate	Analyse
	8	Creatine and anabolic steroids	Strength training for injury rehabilitation	Macro, meso and micro cycles	FITT in continuous training	Screening to prevent musculo-skeletal injuries	Impulse
	15	Analyse	Analyse	Analyse	Analyse	Analyse	Evaluate
	15	Bernoulli principle	Factors affecting flight and maximising horizontal displacement	Newton's law of linear motion and muscle fibre recruitment	Angular momentum	Horizontal displacement and Bernoulli	Recovery from exercise and motivation
Paper 2 Section B Sports Psychology	8	Evaluate	Analyse	Analyse	Analyse	Analyse	Evaluate
	8	Visualisation and centering	Attribution	Arousal	Cognitive stress management techniques and Catastrophe theory	Overcome learned helplessness	Stress management - somatic techniques
	15	Analyse	Evaluate	Analyse	Evaluate	Analyse	Analyse
	15	Bandura and Vealey	Warm up for injury prevention and stress management	Faulty group processes	Anxiety and valid and reliable data	Autocratic and Chelladurai model of leadership	Tuckman's model of group dynamics
Paper 2 Section C Sport and Society and the Impact of Technology	8	Evaluate	Analyse	Evaluate	Evaluate	Evaluate	Analyse
		GPS	Recreation and Sport	Impact of commercialisation	EPO and altitude training	Win ethic / Sportsmanship / Gamesmanship	Effects of drugs on the performer/performance - Anabolic steroids and muscle fibre types
	15	Analyse	Analyse	Evaluate	Analyse	Evaluate	Evaluate
		Player violence. Instinct theory and frustration aggression hypothesis	Reasons for and implications of PEDS	Strategies for eliminating PEDS	NIS cyclists	Media and Bandura self efficacy	Development of equipment and facilities
Synoptic Totals		1 x 8 2 x 15 = 3	1 x 8 2 x 15 = 3	1 x 8 2 x 15 = 3	1 x 8 2 x 15 = 3	1 x 8 2 x 15 = 3	2 x 8 2 x 15 = 3

†National Mock Exam
Questions highlighted in grey involve synoptic content

Download your own copy of AQA A-Level PE Extended Writing Question Analysis.

Why am I releasing these resources now?

Put bluntly, one of the most common requests I get for resources and training is in the support of extended writing. Therefore, I have worked on these frameworks in order to address this demand.

Secondly, I have reviewed all current (and often paid) frameworks that are currently available from other providers. I never wish to be negative but the quality of the work that was previously out there is simply not up to scratch and I have decided to try and disrupt this niche by providing my resources for free and to everyone including directly to students.

Finally, whilst I urge teachers not to rush the introduction of these resources, I am very aware that there is anxiety in the sector about the 2023 Year 13 cohort being the first, real post-COVID exam group and I want to help as much as I can. Therefore, I want to make a critical point:

Assuming that teachers have the time and space to appropriately guide students about the use of the writing frameworks, I encourage all teachers of AQA A-level PE Year 13 groups to introduce my writing frames for this year’s exam series.

Why are the resources free?

Good question! I must admit that I was very tempted to charge for these resources but, ultimately, I want them used by all students, not just those whose teachers are willing to pay for them.

In return for the resources being provided for free, I urge teachers to value them as if they had spent hundreds of pounds on them. My concern is that, because I make them free, teachers may treat them as low quality. The opposite is literally true. These resources have 100% of my heart, brain and professionalism in them and I am currently using them with my own A-level PE students. Please, join me.

What about OCR? What about Edexcel?

The OCR models were published a week ago and are available here. I currently have no plans to provide the Edexcel A-level equivalents. I’m sorry!! There are so few students studying that course that it is very difficult to allocate the time. I know this is disappointing but I really am doing my best.

Please begin to use these documents with your groups and do reach out to me with feedback and comment. You can do that publicly in the comments below or email me on james@theeverlearner.com.

Thank you and have a lovely day.

A Level PE Teaching PE AQA A-Level PE

Extended Writing in AQA A-Level PE exams

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