The project: overview of the SQA Advanced Higher Physical Education project (70 marks)
An overview of the SQA Advanced Higher Physical Education project, worth 70 marks, covering its four stages (project proposal, research, implementing the personal development plan, post-development analysis and evaluation), how it is assessed, and how to approach it, with links to each stage.
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The project is the larger of the two course assessment components in SQA Advanced Higher Physical Education, worth 70 marks against the practical performance's 30. It is an extended, independent investigation in which you analyse and develop a factor impacting your own performance and evaluate the process. This page maps its four stages and links to a focused answer page for each.
The four stages
- Stage 1: project proposal
- Select and justify a specific factor and performance context, and plan how to collect baseline information reliably and validly.
- Stage 2: research
- Conduct further research into the factor and known approaches, analyse the collected data against a model performer, and create a personal development plan with goals and methods.
- Stage 3: implementing the personal development plan
- Carry out the plan over time, applying the principles of effective practice and training, monitor progress and adapt the plan, then summarise how it was implemented.
- Stage 4: post-development analysis and evaluation
- Re-test against the baseline, analyse progress, evaluate how effective the development process was and why, and identify future development needs.
How to approach the project
- Choose a focused factor. A specific, measurable factor in a defined context is workable; a broad ambition is not. The choice frames the whole project.
- Make every decision evidence-based. Justify the factor from reflection and data, choose development methods from research, and adapt the plan from monitoring data.
- Keep your methods consistent. Use the same data-collection tools at baseline, during monitoring and at the re-test, so comparisons are like-for-like.
- Evaluate, do not just report. The highest marks come from a balanced, honest judgement of why the process did or did not work, with reference to your evidence, and from identifying the next development need.
The stages in detail
Each stage has its own answer page with worked questions and cross-links. Use the quiz below to check your recall across the whole project, then work through the individual stages.
For the official course specification
The SQA publishes the full Advanced Higher Physical Education course specification, including the detailed project requirements and marking, at sqa.org.uk. Always revise from the current specification and SQA documents.