How to get a H1 in the Leaving Cert PE Physical Activity Project

How is the PAP assessed? 

The PAP is a digital written project worth 20% of your overall Leaving Certificate grade. It will take place over an 8 to 10-week period from early October to mid-December and will take approximately 20 to 25 hours of work (expect longer!).

How do I choose my activity? 

Before you begin the PAP, you will need to choose a physical activity to work with. You must choose a competitive sport which has a recognised National Governing Body. If you are unsure about this, you can ask your teacher or search for your activity here:

https://www.sportireland.ie/national-governing-bodies/ngb-contact-finder.

You can choose to complete the PAP in one of the following roles:

Your teacher will let you know the three physical activity choices that are available for the Performance Assessment (PA). It is highly recommended that you decide on the sport you will use for your PA prior to carrying out the PAP. This is because in the PA you will be graded on your ability to perform a skill from your chosen sport.

What is a needs analysis? 

When you choose your physical activity, you then need to carry out a needs analysis. This is where you analyse your sport and pick out the key components that are needed for optimal performance.

You should choose a broad range of components to research such as:

Section A: Performance Analysis

The performance analysis write-up should be approximately 700 words.

• A brief introduction about you
• The reason you selected this physical activity for your PAP
• The level of skill you identify yourself at within the sport
• The key findings of your need analysis using supporting references from several sources

Section B

Section B is where most of the marks are awarded but you have a lot of information to cover in just 400 words. That’s approximately 130 words for each performance goal so you need to be clear and concise!

When you compare your results to the normative data you will find out the areas that need to improve within your performance.

Section C

The final step in the write-up is to complete section C. This write-up should be approximately 500 words. Before you begin you will need to return to the testing carried out in section A.

All tests from section A must be retested, not just the tests used for your performance goals. The examiner wants to see you identify your unintended outcomes i.e. areas of your performance that improved unexpectedly from carrying out your 3 training programmes.

For all of Karen's tips, read the full guide below: