Clearly fit for purpose

11th May 2007, 1:00am
The PE exams at all three levels were, if anything, almost too straightforward, says Steven McGuckin, principal teacher of PE and drama at Larbert High.

“Especially at Credit, it might not have differentiated pupils’ knowledge as much as it could,” he says.

Last year’s Credit paper had been very difficult, with some questions leaving candidates unsure of what was being asked of them. This year the questions were a lot clearer and gave pupils a good chance to expand on their knowledge, particularly later in the paper.

Mr McGuckin predicted that the rhythmic gymnastics question might have caused some difficulty, particularly if candidates had not read the question carefully.

In the General paper, the muscular endurance question might have been problematic for the FoundationGeneral group of pupils, but the other fitness question, which allowed them to choose an activity to write about, was straightforward.

The paper gave candidates plenty of guidance about how to start their answer and display their knowledge, he felt.

The Foundation paper frequently asked pupils to put things in order, or tick True or False, and did not ask them to write too much, which was “probably fair” for these pupils, he says.