Physical Education

Physical education is concerned with how movement, sport, and physical activity contribute to human development across the lifespan. It draws on exercise physiology, psychology, sociology, pedagogy, and curriculum theory to understand how physical education is taught, what it achieves, and how it can be improved. PE is not simply a subject in schools: it is a site where questions about health, inclusion, competition, identity, and the purpose of education itself are played out in real time.

This three-year full-time programme at the University of East Anglia develops your understanding of physical education from both a subject-specialist and an educational perspective. You will study the scientific bases of physical performance, the pedagogical principles that underpin effective PE teaching, the sociology of sport and physical activity, and the policy frameworks governing physical education in schools and community settings. With a typical tariff of 152 points, the programme is selective and attracts students who combine genuine engagement with physical activity with the intellectual curiosity to study it at degree level.

UEA's strong education faculty provides the pedagogical depth that a programme concerned with teaching requires.

The programme develops both your subject knowledge, understanding how the body moves, learns, and develops physically, and your capacity to understand and communicate about PE as an educational and social practice. You will engage with evidence on what effective PE teaching looks like and what physical activity contributes to children's development and wellbeing, building an evidence-based approach to the subject.

Graduates from physical education programmes move into teaching careers, typically via a PGCE or School Direct route, or into roles in sports development, coaching, community health, leisure management, and youth work. Some continue to postgraduate study in PE, sport science, or education, and others move into curriculum development, advisory, or leadership roles within the education system.