CTEC Level 3 | Sport and Physical Activity – Leighton Park

A CTEC Level 3 is equivalent to an A Level and can be studied in the Sixth Form.

Exam Board

OCR

Will the Course Suit Me?

This course covers a wide range of sporting activities, topics and current issues. You should be playing sport outside of school, for the school and/or have an interest in sport and the wider issues that surround it. This course has three mandatory units and three optional units. The mandatory units cover body systems and sport physiology, sports coaching and leadership and the organisation of sport. The optional units cover a wide range of subject areas from sport psychology, injury rehabilitation, diet and nutrition and sports performance.

Course Description

The three mandatory units we cover are:

Unit 1: Body Systems and the effects of Physical Activity

Whether you are aiming to become a coach, nutritionist, personal trainer or leisure centre manager, knowledge of the human body, its systems and how they function will help you to ensure that your clients gain the benefits of an active, healthy lifestyle. By understanding the effects that physical activity, training and lifestyle can have on the body systems you can ensure that sports and activities are properly focused and do not risk a client’s health or wellbeing and will help you to persuade others to pursue and maintain a balanced, active, healthy lifestyle. In this unit you will gain an understanding of the structures and functions of the key body systems, how these support and impact performance in sport and physical activity and the effects that physical activity, training and lifestyle can have on them.

This unit has a 1 hour 30 minutes exam normally sat in the Summer at the end of the Lower Sixth. The exam can be retaken in the Upper Sixth if needed.

Unit 2: Sports Coaching & Activity Leadership

This unit will give you an understanding behind the theory of what makes good sports coaches and activity leaders and methods that can be employed to improve the performance of participants. You will explore the roles and responsibilities of coaches and leaders and how these differ from each other and others involved in delivering and teaching sport and physical activity. The main part of the unit is related to you developing the skills and understanding necessary to effectively plan and deliver a series of sports or activity sessions reflecting on your own practice and using this feedback to improve your performance as a sports coach or activity leader

This unit is internally assessed and externally moderated via a series of assignments set by the department.

Unit 3: Sport Organisation and Development

In this unit you will gain an understanding of the organisations involved in sport in the UK, their roles and responsibilities and how they work together. You will also gain an understanding of sports development, including the organisations involved, who sports development is targeted at and why, how sports development is carried out and how the success of sports development initiatives can be measured.

Then using their knowledge and understanding candidates identify their weaknesses; suggest the causes of these weaknesses and the appropriate corrective measures.

This unit has a one hour exam normally sat in January of the Upper Sixth. The exam can be retaken in the Summer of the Upper Sixth if needed.

There are a number of optional units.

Future Opportunities

Nationally, the course is recognised as a valuable stepping stone to a wide range of Higher Education degrees. All will lead directly into Sports Studies, Physical Education teaching, coaching and Sports Management at University but also this could lead to many more courses including careers in marketing, fire and police service, armed forces, sports development, physiotherapy, sports science, sports nutrition, sports psychology, grounds management, elite performer development, leisure centre attendant, sports agency, sports law, sports administration and lecturing.

If you should have any questions about this course please contact Head of Department: Simon Bradbury

To apply for our Sixth Form, please see our Admissions page.