WJEC A-Level Physical Education: complete guide to the units, the practical NEA and the exams
A complete guide to WJEC A-Level Physical Education (Wales). Covers the written units (exercise physiology and training, biomechanics and movement analysis, skill acquisition, sport psychology, and sport and society), the practical non-exam assessment, the exam structure, and how to study each part for top grades.
WJEC A-Level Physical Education (Wales) combines written examinations with a practical non-exam assessment. This page is the index: below is a map of the theory units, the practical component, the exam approach, and how to study each part.
The WJEC Physical Education content
The qualification draws on the natural and social sciences of sport. The written theory is grouped into five areas, and the practical performance is assessed separately.
- Exercise physiology, performance analysis and training
- The cardiovascular, respiratory and neuromuscular systems, energy systems and recovery, components of fitness and fitness testing, diet, nutrition and ergogenic aids, and the principles and methods of training.
- Biomechanics and movement analysis
- Newton's laws and linear motion, levers, planes and axes, angular motion, projectile motion, and fluid mechanics, applied to sporting technique.
- Skill acquisition
- The classification of skills, information processing and memory, theories of learning, types of practice and presentation, and guidance and feedback.
- Sport psychology
- Personality, attitudes and aggression, arousal, anxiety and stress management, motivation and attribution, social facilitation and group dynamics, and leadership in sport.
- Sport and society
- Sport, culture and the development of sport, commercialisation and the media, the globalisation of sport, ethics and deviance, and doping, plus the practical non-exam assessment.
The practical non-exam assessment
Alongside the theory, the non-exam assessment is worth roughly 30% of the A-level. You are assessed in one activity from the approved list as a player, performer or coach in competitive or formal conditions, and you complete an analysis and evaluation of your own performance, applying the taught theory to a specific weakness and justifying a plan to improve. Centres mark it against WJEC criteria and it is externally moderated.
Exam structure
WJEC A-Level Physical Education is assessed by written examination papers and the practical non-exam assessment.
- Written theory - structured short-answer and extended-writing questions across the five content areas, applying knowledge to real sporting situations and performance.
- Non-exam assessment - practical performance in one activity plus the written analysis and evaluation of personal performance, marked by the centre and externally moderated.
How to study WJEC Physical Education
PE rewards precise theory, real sporting examples and clear application over vague description.
- Build the science with diagrams and calculations. Exercise physiology and biomechanics reward labelled diagrams and worked numerical answers.
- Attach an example to every theory. Skill acquisition and sport psychology marks come from applying a model to a named sporting situation.
- Practise balanced judgements. Sport and society "discuss" and "evaluate" questions reward weighing both sides and concluding.
- Prepare the practical deliberately. Choose your strongest activity, perform under competitive conditions, and write specific, measurable, theory-based improvement plans.
- Drill past questions. Structured and extended-writing questions repeat in style, so practise them under timed conditions.
The units, topic by topic
Each content area has a topic-level overview with worked exam questions and cross-links, plus dot-point answer pages for each concept.
For the official specification
WJEC publishes the full specification, past papers and mark schemes at wjec.co.uk. Always revise from the current specification and WJEC's own past papers, because question style, the approved activity list and weightings are board-specific.
Physical Education guides
In-depth written guides with paired practice quizzes.
- WJEC A-Level PE Biomechanics and Movement Analysis: a deep dive on levers, Newton's laws, angular motion, projectiles and fluid mechanics
A deep-dive WJEC A-Level PE guide to the Biomechanics and Movement Analysis content. Covers levers, planes and axes, Newton's laws and linear motion, angular motion and the conservation of angular momentum, projectile motion, and fluid mechanics including Bernoulli and the Magnus effect.
20 min readRead β - WJEC A-Level PE Skill Acquisition: a deep dive on classification, information processing, learning theories, practice and feedback
A deep-dive WJEC A-Level PE guide to the Skill Acquisition content. Covers the classification of skills, information processing and memory, theories of learning and the transfer of learning, types of practice and presentation, and guidance and feedback across the stages of learning.
20 min readRead β - WJEC A-Level PE Sport and Society: a deep dive on culture, commercialisation, globalisation, ethics, deviance and the practical NEA
A deep-dive WJEC A-Level PE guide to the Sport and Society content. Covers sport, culture and the development of sport, commercialisation and the media, the globalisation of sport, ethics and deviance, doping, and the practical non-exam assessment, with the exam patterns WJEC repeats.
20 min readRead β - WJEC A-Level PE Sport Psychology: a deep dive on personality, arousal, motivation, group dynamics and leadership
A deep-dive WJEC A-Level PE guide to the Sport Psychology content. Covers personality, attitudes and aggression, arousal, anxiety and stress management, motivation, achievement motivation and attribution, social facilitation and group dynamics, and leadership in sport.
21 min readRead β - WJEC A-Level PE Unit 1 Exercise Physiology, Performance Analysis and Training: a deep dive on the body systems, energy, training and nutrition
A deep-dive WJEC A-Level PE guide to Unit 1, Exercise Physiology, Performance Analysis and Training. Covers the cardiovascular and respiratory systems, the neuromuscular system, the three energy systems and recovery, training principles and methods, periodisation, fitness components and testing, and diet and ergogenic aids.
22 min readRead β
Physical Education practice quizzes
Multiple-choice drills with worked answer explanations. Your scores stay on this device.
- WJEC A-Level PE Biomechanics and Movement Analysis overview quiz16 questionsStart β
- WJEC A-Level PE Unit 1 Exercise Physiology, Performance Analysis and Training overview quiz17 questionsStart β
- WJEC A-Level PE Skill Acquisition overview quiz15 questionsStart β
- WJEC A-Level PE Sport and Society overview quiz16 questionsStart β
- WJEC A-Level PE Sport Psychology overview quiz15 questionsStart β
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