Physical Education Studies ATAR Course Year 12 Syllabus (2013/36002[v9], current from 2025)
The written examination runs for 10 minutes reading time and 2½ hours working time, and is built as three compulsory sections. Section One is 20 four-option multiple-choice questions worth 20% of the paper. Section Two is a set of compulsory short-answer questions (recently seven, worth 50%) built around short scenarios — a named or constructed athlete, team or event — with parts worth anywhere from 1 to around 12 marks each. Section Three offers four 20-mark extended-answer questions and candidates answer any two (30% of the paper); each question is usually split into two parts that draw on different content areas (for example a sport-psychology part alongside a biomechanics part), and can require a labelled diagram, graph or completed table as well as extended writing. Only standard equipment is permitted — pens, pencils, a sharpener, correction fluid/tape, an eraser, a ruler and highlighters — with no calculator, formula sheet or data booklet, so any numeric reasoning has to be simple enough to do by hand. Raw section totals can shift slightly from year to year (Section Two was 69 marks in 2024 and 72 marks in 2025) but the 20/50/30 weighting of the paper does not change. The written examination contributes 70% and the practical (performance) component 30% of the combined course mark.
Past papers on this subject span more than one syllabus. Papers written under an older one still work as practice, but the units and content areas they test have changed — the index labels every paper with the syllabus it was set under.
Syllabus for teaching from 2025 (current) — SPEA replaces the practical examination · 2025–2026Syllabus to 2024 — separate external practical (performance) examination · 2020–2024
The units and content areas, one by one
Each area below lists the concepts named in the syllabus, what the SCSA exam asks of them, and the mistake that most often costs marks.
- Unit 3 — Functional anatomy
- Unit 3 — Exercise physiology
- Unit 3 — Developing physical skills and tactics
- Unit 4 — Motor learning and coaching
- Unit 4 — Biomechanics
- Unit 4 — Sport psychology
Area 1 of 6
Unit 3 — Functional anatomy
This area of study is the mechanics of a single muscle contraction and the nerve signal that triggers it. It covers the connective-tissue layers of skeletal muscle (epimysium, perimysium, endomysium, fascicle, myofibril, sarcomere), the sliding filament theory (actin, myosin, cross bridges and the role of calcium), the force–velocity and force–length relationships, the structure of the motor neuron, the neural pathway from decision to movement, the 'all or none' law and motor-unit recruitment, and the characteristics of Type I, Type IIa and Type IIb fibres.
What the syllabus lists under this area · 8 points
- Structure of skeletal muscle (epimysium, perimysium, endomysium, fascicle, myofibril, sarcomere)
- Sliding filament theory: actin, myosin, cross bridges and the role of calcium
- Force–velocity relationship (concentric contraction)
- Force–length relationship (shortened, mid-length, lengthened)
- Motor neuron structure (dendrite, axon, cell body)
- Neural pathway from decision to muscle response
- 'All or none' law, motor unit size and number, fibre recruitment
- Type I, Type IIa and Type IIb fibre characteristics
What the exam asks
Recent papers pair a diagram-labelling multiple-choice question on muscle or neuron structure with a scenario short-answer question — for example describing the role of myosin, actin and calcium for a fighter's repeated muscle contractions, or naming and justifying the fibre type a basketball player relies on using its characteristics, not just its name.
Where marks go missing
Labelling a diagram correctly but never using the vocabulary in the written answer, and naming a fibre type without linking back to the actual characteristics (contraction speed, fatigue resistance, force output) that make it suit the sport in the scenario.
9 real SCSA questions indexed on this area →
Area 2 of 6
Unit 3 — Exercise physiology
This area of study asks how the body is fuelled, protected and progressed. It covers energy and nutrient needs before, during and after competition (fats, protein, carbohydrate and glycaemic index), hydration strategy, thermoregulation and the physiological effects of heat, humidity, cold and altitude, acclimatisation and management strategies, the risks and benefits of protein powders, anabolic steroids, caffeine, creatine, EPO and blood doping, periodisation across micro, meso and macro cycles and the pre-, in- and off-season phases, the training principles of peaking, tapering, recovery and maintenance, and the signs and symptoms of overtraining.
What the syllabus lists under this area · 8 points
- Energy demands and nutrition timing (fats, protein, carbohydrate, glycaemic index)
- Hydration strategies pre-, during and post-competition
- Thermoregulation in heat, humidity, cold and altitude
- Acclimatisation, adaptations and environmental management strategies
- Performance enhancers: protein powders, anabolic steroids, caffeine, creatine, EPO, blood doping
- Periodisation: micro, meso and macro cycles; pre-season, in-season, off-season
- Principles of training: peaking, tapering, recovery, maintenance
- Overtraining: signs and symptoms
What the exam asks
Section Two regularly supplies a nutrition table or training-load scenario and asks candidates to identify the best timing for a food or drink and justify it against the numbers given, or to describe a periodised program and complete a training-load table and graph. Section Three has asked candidates to weigh the risks and legal alternatives to a performance enhancer, and to explain physiological adaptations from altitude or heat training.
Where marks go missing
Confusing the three cycle lengths (micro/meso/macro) or the three season phases, and describing what a performance enhancer does without explaining the mechanism — markers reward the how, not just the effect.
12 real SCSA questions indexed on this area →
Area 3 of 6
Unit 3 — Developing physical skills and tactics
This area of study covers refining and adapting sport-specific skills and techniques, and selecting advanced tactical responses to conditions, opposition and phases of play. It is examinable content, but SCSA assesses it mainly through the practical (performance) side of the course.
What the syllabus lists under this area · 3 points
- Refining and adapting sport-specific skills and techniques
- Advanced tactical responses to conditions and opposition
- Assessed mainly through the practical (performance)/SPEA component, not the written exam
What the exam asks
Written papers do not set a standalone question on this area of study. It surfaces only as background context inside a Section Two or Three scenario — for example a coach refining a drill — where the marks sit in the biomechanics, physiology or motor-learning content, not in the skill or tactic itself.
Where marks go missing
Treating this as an area of study to revise for the written exam on its own. It has no dedicated marks here; time is better spent on the other five areas.
Area 4 of 6
Unit 4 — Motor learning and coaching
This area of study is about how skills are learned, corrected and led. It covers the categories and effects (positive, negative, zero) of transfer of learning, the Knudson and Morrison model of qualitative analysis (preparation, observation, evaluation, intervention, re-observation), coaching and training activities (shaping, chaining, static-dynamic), leadership styles (democratic, authoritarian, laissez-faire) and tools for correction and feedback (video analysis, checklists, peer or coach feedback, questionnaires).
What the syllabus lists under this area · 5 points
- Transfer of learning: categories and positive/negative/zero effects
- Knudson and Morrison qualitative-analysis model
- Coaching activities: shaping, chaining, static-dynamic
- Leadership styles: democratic, authoritarian, laissez-faire
- Correction and feedback tools: video analysis, checklists, questionnaires
What the exam asks
Recent papers have asked candidates to name the category of transfer occurring when an athlete practises a related skill and justify the choice, to compare a checklist against video analysis as feedback tools, to work through the four Knudson and Morrison steps for a specific coaching scenario, and to justify a leadership style for a named situation as part of a situational-leadership question.
Where marks go missing
Naming a leadership style or coaching activity without explaining why it suits the athlete or situation described — the marks are in the justification, and confusing shaping, chaining and static-dynamic with each other is a common slip.
6 real SCSA questions indexed on this area →
Area 5 of 6
Unit 4 — Biomechanics
This area of study applies physics to movement. It covers the impulse–momentum relationship, the coefficient of restitution and what changes it, moment of inertia, angular velocity and the conservation of angular momentum, third-class levers in the body and in sport, balance (base of support, height and line of centre of gravity, mass), simultaneous and sequential summation of forces, optimal projection, and fluid mechanics — laminar and turbulent flow, form/profile, surface and wave drag, Bernoulli's principle and the Magnus effect.
What the syllabus lists under this area · 8 points
- Impulse–momentum relationship
- Coefficient of restitution and its influencing factors
- Moment of inertia, angular velocity and angular momentum
- Third-class levers in the body and in sport
- Balance: base of support, height and line of centre of gravity
- Summation of forces: simultaneous and sequential
- Optimal projection
- Fluid mechanics: laminar/turbulent flow, drag types, Bernoulli's principle, Magnus effect
What the exam asks
Section Two and Three questions have asked candidates to explain the angular motion (moment of inertia, angular velocity, angular momentum) in an aerial trick and draw the relationship as a graph, to identify factors affecting a ball's coefficient of restitution, to analyse a wheelchair or hydrofoil design using drag and lift, and to compare the force–time principle at take-off and landing in a jump.
Where marks go missing
Naming the correct biomechanical principle but not tying it back to the specific object or action in the scenario, and mixing up the three drag types (form, surface, wave) or the direction of the Magnus effect for top spin versus back spin versus side spin.
10 real SCSA questions indexed on this area →
Area 6 of 6
Unit 4 — Sport psychology
This area of study covers the mental side of performance: strategies used before and during performance to manage stress, motivation, concentration, self-confidence and arousal (self-talk, relaxation, performance routines, goal-setting, imagery), the distinction between task and social cohesion, the strategies that build cohesion (leadership, communication, goal-setting, team building, roles and expectations), and the factors, including social loafing, that undermine it.
What the syllabus lists under this area · 4 points
- Pre- and during-performance psychological strategies (self-talk, relaxation, routines, goal-setting, imagery)
- Task and social cohesion
- Strategies to improve group cohesion
- Factors affecting cohesion, including social loafing
What the exam asks
Multiple-choice questions test recognising the right strategy for a described state (nerves before a race, a team that is drifting apart), while Section Three has asked candidates to name and explain the psychological strategy two athletes used before a jump and outline others they could have used, and to define social and task cohesion and describe the strategies a coach could use to build them.
Where marks go missing
Confusing task cohesion (unity around performing well) with social cohesion (unity around liking each other), and listing psychological strategies without matching each one to the specific psychological state named in the question.
4 real SCSA questions indexed on this area →