SACE Stage 2 Physical Education: 2026 guide to the focus areas and assessment

SACE Stage 2 Physical Education is the Year 12 course for South Australian students. It connects the practical experience of physical activity with the exercise science and social understanding that explain and improve performance. The course is built around three focus areas and is assessed with a 70 percent school-based component and a 30 percent external Group Dynamics task. This page is the index: below you will find the structure of the course, how the assessment works, and links to every dot-point study note we have written.

How SACE Stage 2 Physical Education is assessed in 2026

Your final result combines school assessment (70 percent) and external assessment (30 percent), across four assessments. There is no written examination in this subject. (Source: the SACE Board's Stage 2 Physical Education subject outline.)

School assessment (70 percent).

• Assessment Type 1: Diagnostics (30 percent). Two tasks in which you take part in physical activity to collect, analyse and evaluate evidence, applying focus-area knowledge (for example fitness testing, biomechanical comparison with an elite performer, or the effect of psychological strategies). Combined maximum 18 minutes or 3000 words.
• Assessment Type 2: Self-improvement Portfolio (40 percent). A personal journey of improvement: identify an aspect of your own participation or performance, implement strategies, collect evidence at regular intervals, modify, and evaluate. At least two cycles are recommended. Maximum 24 minutes or 4000 words.

External assessment (30 percent).

• Assessment Type 3: Group Dynamics (30 percent). Work with a group in a sport or physical activity, take on at least one role (fitness, technical, tactical or motivational coach), and analyse and evaluate the impact you had on other group members' participation and/or performance. Maximum 12 minutes or 2000 words.

The three focus areas

Focus Area 1: In Movement

The exercise science of performing: how the body fuels movement, how it responds and adapts, how skills are learned, and how forces and levers shape technique.

• Energy systems and physical activity
• Acute responses to exercise
• Chronic training adaptations
• Fatigue and recovery
• Components of fitness and fitness testing
• Skill acquisition and motor learning
• Information processing and decision-making
• Transfer of learning
• Biomechanics of movement
• Fluid mechanics in movement
• Angular motion and momentum

Focus Area 2: Through Movement

Learning through participation: how training is designed to produce adaptation, how the mind shapes performance, and how collaboration and tactics shape group performance.

• Training principles and methods
• Periodisation and program planning
• Nutrition and hydration for performance
• Arousal, anxiety and performance
• Motivation and goal setting
• The collaborative and tactical dimensions of performance
• Group dynamics and team cohesion

Focus Area 3: About Movement

The social context of activity: how sociocultural factors, institutions and technology shape participation, and the barriers and enablers that influence who takes part.

• Sociocultural factors in physical activity
• Barriers and enablers to participation
• Equity, inclusion and diversity in sport
• Policy and institutional influences on participation
• Technology and physical activity

Assessment tasks

The skills you are assessed on: turning theory into a measured improvement of your own performance, and improving the performance of others in the external Group Dynamics task.

• The Self-improvement Portfolio
• Group Dynamics: the external assessment

How to use this hub

If you are starting the year: read the Focus Area 1 notes first. Energy systems, skill acquisition and biomechanics give you the vocabulary you will apply in every task, starting with your Diagnostics.

If you are building your Self-improvement Portfolio: pick the Focus Area 1 or 2 note closest to your activity (energy systems and training methods for fitness goals, skill acquisition or biomechanics for technique goals) and use it to ground your analysis, strategy and evaluation.

If you are preparing for Group Dynamics: choose a role where you can collect clear evidence about other people, and use the group dynamics, collaboration and relevant Focus Area 1 notes to plan your strategies and evaluation.

For the official subject outline, performance standards and assessment requirements, refer to the SACE Board of South Australia at sace.sa.edu.au.