QCE Physical Education exam 2026Exam: Wed 28 Oct · QCAA timetable
Your QCE Physical Education exam:
When and how long
- Physical EducationMorning session2 h plus 5 min perusal or planning time
QCAA's timetable sets the day and the morning (AM) or afternoon (PM) session, not a start time: your school tells you when to arrive. Durations are working time plus perusal or planning time.
Source: QCAA external assessment timetable 2026 (QCAA), checked Wednesday 23 September 2026. Where a start time, reading time or duration isn't shown, the timetable doesn't publish it: check your personal timetable and the front of your paper.
Paper format
We haven't been able to confirm the 2026 paper format from a public QCAA document yet, so we don't describe it here. Check the QCAA syllabus and your teacher's advice; our mock exam flags the same caveat.
What the exam covers
We don't have past-paper frequency data for this exam, so here is the course, module by module. Make sure every module is covered.
- Unit 1: Motor Learning, Functional Anatomy and Biomechanics in Physical Activity2 dot points
- Unit 2: Sport, Physical Activity and Exercise in Australian Society1 dot point
- Unit 3: Tactical Awareness, Ethics, Integrity and Physical Activity6 dot points
- Unit 4: Energy, Fitness and Training Integrated into Physical Activity8 dot points
Night-before and exam-morning checklists
The night before
- QCAA's timetable fixes the day and the AM or PM session only: confirm the start time and venue with your school.[2]
- Check your calculator is on QCAA's approved list for the subject.[1]
- Pack a clear plastic container or zip-lock bag: black or blue pens, pencils, eraser, sharpener, a highlighter.[1]
- An ordinary watch only if you want one (no smart watch or fitness tracker); it goes on the desk.[1]
- Pack a water bottle (it stays on the floor).[1]
Exam morning
- Arrive at least 30 minutes before the start.[1]
- Switch your phone off and leave it in your bag outside the room.[1]
- More than 40 minutes late needs permission, and you lose perusal and planning time.[1]
- During perusal and planning time, don't write in the response book or touch your calculator.[1]
- You can't leave in the first 40 minutes or the last 10 minutes.[1]
Exam-week survival kit: The last 7 days · The night before and exam morning · What to bring, and what's banned · How to use reading time · If you're sick or something goes wrong · Handling exam-week stress.
Last-week revision
QCE Physical Education cram sheet
Key formulas, definitions and facts copied from our Physical Education syllabus pages. One page when printed.
Unit 3: Tactical Awareness, Ethics, Integrity and Physical Activity
The constraints-led approach has three constraint categories: learner (individual), task, and environment. Task constraints (rules, area, player numbers, scoring) are the ones a coach manipulates most directly to shape decision-making, because changing them changes the affordances the performer perceives.
The ethical decision-making framework is a five-step process: identify the dilemma and the value tension, find relevant information (primary and secondary data), analyse the dilemma, devise an ethics strategy as a course of action, and evaluate its effectiveness on all stakeholders to optimise integrity and engagement.
Unit 4: Energy, Fitness and Training Integrated into Physical Activity
Supercompensation means performance dips after training, then rebounds above the starting level during recovery. The next training load should fall at the peak of supercompensation: too soon causes accumulating fatigue and overtraining, too late loses the gain through reversibility.