Key Stage 3 PE · Evaluating and improving

KS3 PE: analysing and improving performance

In Key Stage 3 PE, pupils are taught not only to take part but to think about how well they performed and how to do better. They compare a current performance with earlier ones, show improvement and work towards a personal best. They also learn what makes any performance effective and how to use those ideas to help themselves and others.

Analysing performance, explained

The National Curriculum asks secondary schools to teach pupils to analyse their performances compared to previous ones and demonstrate improvement to achieve their personal best. It also says that pupils should understand what makes a performance effective and how to apply these principles to their own and others’ work. This applies across activities, so the same thinking is used in games, athletics, gymnastics, dance and outdoor activities.

Analysis starts with evidence. Pupils might record a time, a distance, a score, the number of successful passes or a rating against a checklist, and keep the results so they can see how they change. Some schools also use video, which allows pupils to watch their technique and spot things they cannot feel. Comparing a new result with an earlier one tells a pupil whether they improved. This is the heart of the personal best idea: success means getting better, not beating other people.

The next step is working out why. A pupil who sees that most of their basketball free throws fall short might look at their technique and find that the elbow is out to the side, or that the legs are not helping. Pupils learn to name strengths and areas to improve, and to focus on one or two changes at a time, instead of trying to fix everything. They then set a target, practise and measure again. This cycle of plan, practise and review is what turns analysis into improvement.

Understanding what makes a performance effective also means knowing the criteria for a good performance in each activity, such as accuracy and control in a throw, fluency in a sequence, or good decisions in a game. Pupils use these criteria to give peers specific, kind and useful feedback, and to accept feedback themselves. Learning to say “your landing was steady, but you rushed the second balance” is a skill that helps well beyond PE.

Words your child will hear

Personal best: The best result you have achieved so far in an activity.
Baseline: The starting result you measure first, so you can see change later.
Strength and area to improve: What is already going well, and what needs work next.
Success criteria: The list of things that make a performance good, used as a checklist.
Feedback: Specific information about a performance given to help the performer improve.
Target: A clear, measurable goal for the next attempt, such as one more successful shot out of ten.
Reliable result: A result you can trust because it came from several attempts in similar conditions.

What the National Curriculum says

The programme of study for Key Stage 3 says:

Pupils should be taught to analyse their performances compared to previous ones and demonstrate improvement to achieve their personal best
Pupils should understand what makes a performance effective and how to apply these principles to their own and others’ work.

Objectives from the National Curriculum in England, © Crown copyright, used under the Open Government Licence v3.0.

Try it: analysing a free-throw routine

A pupil scored 4 out of 10 basketball free throws in lesson one. How do they analyse and improve their performance, and how do they know whether they have improved?

Record a baseline. Ten shots are taken from the same place. The result is 4 out of 10. A partner also notes where the misses landed: most are short of the ring.
Look for a reason. The partner watches the technique against a checklist. The knees barely bend, the elbow sticks out, and the follow-through is short. The shots fall short because the legs are not providing enough power.
Choose one target. Rather than correcting all three things, the pupil picks the most important one: bend the knees and push up through the legs as the ball is released.
Practise, then test again. After a week of short practice sessions, the pupil takes ten shots from the same place, in similar conditions. They score 6 out of 10.
Compare and conclude. 6 out of 10 is two more than 4 out of 10. The pupil also checks whether the misses are still short. They repeat the test on another day to check it is reliable, then set the next target, the elbow.

The pupil improved from 4 out of 10 to 6 out of 10 by recording a baseline, finding a cause, changing one thing and measuring again. A repeated test shows that the improvement is real and not a lucky day.

Common mistakes and how to help

A personal best means being better than other people

School sport often highlights winners and rankings, so pupils assume success means beating others.

What helps: Emphasise comparing with your own earlier results. Someone who improves by two seconds has succeeded, whatever place they came.

One good result proves you have improved

A single attempt can be affected by luck, weather, tiredness or the way a partner measures. It is easy to celebrate or be disappointed too quickly.

What helps: Repeat the test under similar conditions and look at the pattern. Several results are more reliable than one.

Only the score matters, not how it was achieved

Results are easy to see and measure, while technique is harder to describe. A pupil may score by luck or by a method that will not last.

What helps: Ask both questions: what was the result, and what did the technique look like? Good technique usually leads to better and more consistent results.

Feedback is just criticism, and the more of it the better

Pupils can hear feedback as a list of faults, and well-meaning observers try to fix everything at once.

What helps: Start with something that went well, then give one clear thing to try next. A single focused target is easier to act on than a long list.

How to help at home

Keep a simple record. Choose one measurable activity, such as how many keep-ups, how far in a standing jump, or how long a 1 kilometre walk or jog takes, and write the results down each week. Seeing numbers change is motivating.
Ask two questions. After a match or lesson, ask “what went well?” and “what will you try next time?”. These two questions cover the heart of analysing performance.
Use video carefully. A short clip of a skill, filmed from the side, helps a teenager see what they cannot feel. Watch it together and choose just one thing to change.
Celebrate improvement, not only winning. Notice when your teenager beats their own earlier result, even if the team lost. It reinforces the idea that progress counts.
Keep it low-pressure. Repeat tests are most useful when relaxed. Choose a safe place, warm up gently, and stop if anything hurts.

Builds on

Key Stage 2: Personal bests in PE

Leads on to

Key Stage 4: Evaluating performance and improving

Everything in Key Stage 3 PE

Updated 20 October 2026.