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2026 VCE Physical Education exam: What to learn from last year’s mistakes
Hi all, in preparation for the upcoming exam, here's what to learn from last year's mistakes.
2025 median exam grade: C+. VCAA does not publish an exact median mark.
Average: 55.15/110, or 50.1%. VCAA reports 110.3/220; this is converted to the exam’s 110-mark scale.
10,286 students were assessed. 8.7% received an A+. The 2025 A+ cutoff was 171/220, equivalent to 85.5/110. That is last year’s cutoff, not a prediction for 2026.
Figures: VCAA’s 2025 grade distribution, written examination on page 3: source.
Question averages come from the 2025 examiner report: source. Percentages are rounded. Examples illustrate fixes, not full model answers. All questions below are from Section B.
2025 was the first exam under the current study design.
B2b: Practice distribution
Average 1/4. 49% scored zero. Only 3% got full marks.
Where students went wrong: They used whole or part practice, or blocked or random practice. The question asked about practice distribution.
What they should have done: Compare distributed and massed practice for Mick learning to run with crutches.
Mick was a cognitive learner performing a continuous skill. Short practice periods separated by rest would let him recover and use feedback before trying again. Longer uninterrupted practice could leave him fatigued while he was still learning the movement. Explain why distributed practice suits both his learning stage and the repeated nature of the skill.
B2d: Nutrition during the marathon
Average 0.6/2. 62% scored zero. Only 15% got full marks.
Where students went wrong: They discussed carbohydrate loading before the race. The question specified during it.
What they should have done: Explain how carbohydrate intake during Mick’s marathon could delay fatigue.
For example, a carbohydrate-containing drink during Mick’s marathon would supply fuel for working muscles, reducing reliance on stored glycogen and delaying fatigue from depletion. Write “carbohydrate”; the report specifically rejected “carbs”.
B3a: Activity analysis
Average 0.6/2. 59% scored zero. Only 15% got full marks.
Where students went wrong: They gave the purpose of fitness testing: finding an athlete’s strengths and weaknesses.
What they should have done: Explain how activity analysis identifies the demands of lacrosse and guides preparation.
Analysing lacrosse sprints and recovery periods tells the coach which energy systems and fitness components the sport requires. The coach can then select relevant fitness tests and training. Testing players’ strengths and weaknesses comes after identifying those demands.
B1e: Lactate tolerance
Average 1.5/4. 32% scored zero. Only 8% got full marks.
Where students went wrong: They confused lactate tolerance with LIP or omitted the adaptation behind the improvement.
What they should have done: Explain increased muscle buffering capacity and connect it to Curtis’s kayaking performance.
Intermediate-interval training could improve Curtis’s muscle buffering capacity, helping him tolerate hydrogen ion accumulation during anaerobic glycolysis. That could let him sustain forceful paddle strokes and maintain speed through his 200 m race. Explain that adaptation and performance benefit. Describing a later lactate inflection point answers a different question.
B4f(i): Critiquing speed training
Average 1.4/4. 34% scored zero. Only 3% got full marks.
Where students went wrong: Incomplete critiques missed a strength, weakness, improvement or overall judgement.
What they should have done: Judge the actual session against its goal of improving Aryna’s speed.
The 3-second and 5-second efforts suit short-interval work, but the prescribed RPE of 7 is too low for maximal speed. Recommend increasing it to 9 or 10. Then conclude that the session needs changing to target speed effectively. “Interval training improves speed” does not evaluate the numbers provided.
B4f(ii): Reducing recovery
Average 0.8/3. 53% scored zero. Only 7% got full marks.
Where students went wrong: They assumed making training harder automatically made it suitable progression.
What they should have done: Check whether the change preserves the session’s purpose.
Reducing rest leaves less time to restore creatine phosphate between sprints. If Aryna then cannot repeat the required speed, the session no longer targets speed effectively. Shorter breaks only work as progression if she can still meet the session’s energy system and fitness demands. Explain that condition instead of just saying the session is harder.
B7a: Impulse
Average 1.8/4. 35% scored zero. 21% got full marks.
Where students went wrong: They increased the force in their answer, although the question kept force the same.
What they should have done: Compare the time over which each bowler applies that force.
Impulse equals force multiplied by time. Bowler B’s longer swing allows force to act for longer, increasing impulse and the bowl’s change in momentum, so it travels further. Bowler A’s shorter swing produces the opposite result. Compare both bowlers and finish with the effect on distance.
B8: The 10-mark laser-run question
Average 3.4/10. 11% scored zero.
Where students went wrong: They wrote about the four topics separately instead of connecting them to the event.
What they should have done: Link physiology, training and psychological strategies to specific running and shooting demands.
The first 600 m took 1:52.33, followed by an 8.20-second shooting round. Sport-specific intervals can develop the aerobic contribution needed across repeated runs. Increased heart rate and breathing support oxygen delivery during running; the brief shooting break also allows some aerobic restoration of creatine phosphate before the next acceleration. Controlled breathing during shooting can reduce excessive arousal to support accuracy. Connect training frequency and specificity to those demands rather than adding unrelated definitions.
Try B2b, B2d and both parts of B4f before reading their report sections. Together they are worth 13 marks. Then rewrite any answer that ignored the athlete, timing or training goal in the question.
Use the VCE Physical Education hub and past papers and examiner reports alongside this.
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