Reaction to 2026 Leaving Certificate Physical Education (Higher Level) by Brian Gregan, Physical Education teacher at The Institute of Education.
- The wording of questions was in line with most previous exams, bar last year’s more difficult paper.
- Time management should not have been an issue compared to last year as there were fewer essay style question.
- If students stuck the major topics 1 (Skill and Technique), 2 (Physiological and Psychological Development) and 6 (Ethics) they would have done very well.
Open the exam to Section A students will have had to move quickly to answer 10 of the twelve short questions answer. Overall they find this a pleasant start a lot of nice stuff came up in section a such as the RAMP warm up, Anti-doping, Newton’s Laws, concepts of physical activity and levers. All of these appeared in a manner that students will have expected and so there should be no upsets here. Yet there was still distinct challenge as Q6 on the component of fitness was worded in a way that some will find tricky. Those seeking to more quickly gather their 8 marks per question will tend to avoid Q 3 media coverage on spectator behaviour and Q 9 Physical Activity as they are essays style questions. A prepared student will find a lot of familiar, approachable material here and so this stretch of the paper should have them nicely warmed up.
Section B requires students to read a case study and answer all questions (50 marks), so they have no choice here. Overall, it was a good case study based on swimming and I think the vast majority students will be pleased as nothing too tricky came up. This section was dominated by ideas of National governing bodies, high performance sport, periodisation and nutrition. The latter topic was expected after its surprise absence on last year’s exam. The question on energy systems was the only difficult part as some students struggle with this topic but this where those who really know the course can separate themselves from their peers.
The final stretch is Section C Long Answer questions were students needed to answer 3 out of 5 options. Beginning with Q 14, parts (a) to (c) were nice but part (d) was something most try to students avoid. The reason is that the question was based on artistic sports which are less mainstream amongst the students than a purposive sport (like football). The rest of the question was made of familiar concepts around stages of learning, principles of effective practice.
Q 15 had more of an emphasis on contemporary issues in Physical Activity. Students may have avoided this due to the essay style question and more space for subjectivity. But the questions asked were straight from previous exam questions, so those who were ready and willing to take this on will be on a comfortable footing as they discussed body image, hegemony and benefits of physical activity.
Q 16 would have drawn students to this as it was predominantly from Topic 6: Ethics. Students tend to love discussions around code of ethics, supplements, sportsmanship and performance enhancing drugs, so this question is always popular. The same goes for Q 17 which drew on Topics 2: Physiological and Psychological Development. This is the longest topic on the course at nearly 50% longer than any other, but contains a wealth of material that students gravitate towards like confidence, motivation, psychological strategies and principles of training.
Much like Q15, Q18 would have avoided this question due to its topic and question type. While the topic of media is fascinating, the practical reality of the exam is that most could answer two other questions in the time it takes to fully answer this essay.
Overall not a difficult question but two of four parts were longer essay style questions which may have impacted time management. The longer parts of the question would have been expected to come up.