How does a performer evaluate a development programme and justify their future development needs?
Evaluating performance development and identifying future development needs, including comparing results against the baseline and targets, judging the effectiveness of the approaches, and justifying decisions about what to develop next.
An SQA Higher Physical Education answer on evaluating performance development and identifying future development needs, covering comparison against the baseline and targets, judging the effectiveness of approaches, and justifying future development decisions.
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What this dot point is asking
The SQA wants you to explain how a performer evaluates a development programme and uses that evaluation to justify future development needs. This is the final stage of the development process, and it closes the loop back to gathering information. Higher questions reward an evidence-based judgement, not opinion.
The answer
Comparing results against the baseline and targets
Judging whether the improvement transferred
Judging the effectiveness of the approaches
Justifying future development needs
Examples in context
A hockey player completing a development cycle shows evaluation and future planning. Their SMART target was to raise tackling success, measured by an observation schedule, from 60 to 75 per cent in eight weeks. Retesting with the same schedule shows 78 per cent, so the target was met, and match analysis confirms the tackling held up against real opponents, so it transferred. Reflecting on the approaches, the progressive opposed practice was most effective, while early unopposed drills added little once the basics were there. Crucially, the analysis now shows that with tackling solved, the player is being beaten by quicker attackers, a fitness weakness in agility that the original problem had masked. This evidence justifies the next development need, agility, with its own SMART target and specific approaches. The cycle continues, driven by evidence, which is exactly the Higher skill the SQA examines.
Try this
Q1. State one way a performer can evaluate whether a development programme was effective. [1 mark]
- Cue. Compare final results against the baseline and SMART target using the same methods.
Q2. Explain how evaluating performance helps a performer justify their future development needs. [4 marks]
- Cue. The evidence shows remaining or newly exposed weaknesses and gains to maintain, so the next SMART target is based on evidence, not guesswork.
Exam-style practice questions
Practice questions written in the style of SQA exam questions on this dot point, with worked answer explainers. The year tag is the paper they imitate, not the source.
SQA Higher 20224 marksExplain how a performer can evaluate whether a development programme has been effective.Show worked answer →
A -mark explain question rewarding developed reasons.
A performer evaluates effectiveness by comparing their final results against the baseline and the SMART target, using the same methods, for example retesting passing success and comparing it to the starting percentage and the goal.
Develop the reasons: they also judge whether the improvement transferred into whole performance, not just the test, and reflect on which approaches worked best. The discriminator is explaining how comparison against measurable evidence produces a justified judgement.
SQA Higher 20216 marksExplain how evaluating your performance helps you to justify your future development needs.Show worked answer →
A -mark explain question linking evaluation to future planning.
Evaluation against the baseline shows which targets were met and which were not, and whether the improvement held up in whole performance. This evidence reveals the next priority: a weakness that remains, a new weakness exposed once the first was fixed, or the need to maintain a gain.
Develop the reasoning: a justified future need is based on this evidence rather than guesswork, so the performer can set the next SMART target and choose suitable approaches, continuing the development cycle. The marks come from explaining how the evaluation evidence justifies the chosen next step.
Related dot points
- Methods of collecting information about the factors impacting on performance, including the difference between qualitative and quantitative methods, examples such as observation schedules, video analysis, standardised tests, questionnaires and match analysis, and why a performer uses more than one method.
An SQA Higher Physical Education answer on the methods of collecting information about the factors impacting on performance, covering qualitative and quantitative methods, examples such as observation schedules, video analysis and standardised tests, and why more than one method is used.
- Approaches to developing performance, including how a performer selects approaches that match the factor and the stage of learning, principles such as progression and specificity, and examples of approaches for the physical, mental, emotional and social factors.
An SQA Higher Physical Education answer on the approaches to developing performance, covering how to select approaches that match the factor and stage of learning, principles such as progression and specificity, and examples for each of the four factors.
- Planning, monitoring and recording a personal development plan, including setting SMART targets, structuring a programme over time, the methods used to monitor progress such as training diaries and retesting, and why ongoing recording matters.
An SQA Higher Physical Education answer on planning, monitoring and recording a personal development plan, covering SMART targets, structuring a programme over time, monitoring methods such as training diaries and retesting, and why ongoing recording matters.
- The performance demands of activities, including the physical, mental, emotional and social demands an activity places on a performer, how these vary between activities, and why understanding the demands directs development priorities.
An SQA Higher Physical Education answer on the performance demands of activities, covering the physical, mental, emotional and social demands an activity places on a performer, how they vary between activities, and why understanding them directs development.
- Confidence and emotional control as features of the emotional factor: how positive emotions such as confidence and happiness affect willingness and decisiveness, the risk of over-confidence, and approaches used to build and steady confidence.
An SQA Higher Physical Education answer on confidence and emotional control as emotional factors, covering how positive emotions affect willingness and decisiveness, the risk of over-confidence, and the approaches used to build and regulate confidence.
Sources & how we know this
- SQA Higher Physical Education Course Specification — SQA (2019)