Key Stage 3 · ages 11 to 14
Key Stage 3 PE: what your child learns
In Years 7 to 9, students learn tactics for beating opponents in team and individual games, with schools choosing sports such as netball, rugby or tennis. Technique is refined in sports such as athletics and gymnastics, dance uses advanced techniques in a range of styles, and outdoor challenges build problem-solving, teamwork and trust. They also analyse their own performance, learn why exercise matters for long-term health and are encouraged to join clubs outside school.
Guides for parents
Key Stage 3 PE
Dance techniques and styles
What KS3 PE teaches in dance: technique, performance quality, choreographic ideas and styles such as contemporary, street and cultural dance, with ideas for home.
Key Stage 3 PE
Analysing performance
How KS3 PE teaches pupils to analyse performances, compare them with earlier ones and aim for a personal best, with a worked example, common mistakes and home ideas.
Key Stage 3 PE
Athletics technique
What KS3 PE teaches about athletics technique: sprinting, distance running, jumps and throws, how pupils improve performance, common mistakes and ideas for home.
Key Stage 3 PE
Gymnastics technique
What KS3 PE teaches about gymnastics: body tension, shapes, balances, rolls, linking moves into sequences, how pupils improve, common mistakes and ideas for home.
Key Stage 3 PE
Invasion games tactics
How KS3 PE teaches tactics in invasion games such as football, netball, hockey, basketball and rugby: attacking, defending, spacing, common mistakes and ideas for home.
Key Stage 3 PE
Long-term health benefits of activity
What Key Stage 3 PE teaches about how regular activity protects health for life, how much teenagers need, common myths and simple ways to support it at home.
Key Stage 3 PE
Net and wall games tactics
How KS3 PE teaches tactics in net and wall games such as badminton and tennis: shot placement, rally planning, singles and doubles, common mistakes and ideas for home.
Key Stage 3 PE
Outdoor and adventurous activities
What KS3 PE teaches in outdoor and adventurous activities: problem solving, orienteering, teamwork and trust, staying safe, common mistakes and ideas for home.
Key Stage 3 PE
Sport and clubs outside school
What Key Stage 3 PE expects about competitive sport outside school, how clubs and community links fit in, common worries and practical ways to help your teenager.
Key Stage 3 PE
Striking and fielding tactics
How KS3 PE teaches tactics in striking and fielding games such as cricket and rounders: batting, bowling, field placement, common mistakes and ideas for home.
Everything in the Key Stage 3 PE curriculum
The National Curriculum topics for Key Stage 3, in the order the National Curriculum lists them.