GCSE PE can act as a vital stepping stone towards a career in sports. Once the relevant A-Levels/ BTEC/ degrees have also been completed the world is your oyster! Here is a range of careers that GCSE PE can lead to in later life:
1. A coach/ instructor
Try and step away from the usual gym instructors or elite sports coaches- although these are quite plausible! What about spending a few ski seasons in the Alps teaching people how to ski or going to the Caribbean as a qualified SCUBA diver? Don’t fancy that? How about an outdoor sports specialist based in the South of France catering for school trips? Gaining a GCSE in PE will help to make your pupils more appealing to any employee in the sport and activity world and what a motivating tool this could be to any pupil who fancies being paid to travel the world!
2. A teacher/ lecturer
One of the more obvious career choices but how can you inspire your students? Surely having a stable job with 13 weeks ‘Holiday’ is a good starting point! Not forgetting the opportunity to demonstrate a range of sports 5 days per week, lead teams into National competitions and gain pleasure from seeing your pupils achieve. It is always good to remind students that they can teach pupils between the ages of 4 and 18 – not solely secondary school students!
3. Sports commentator
A really strong starting point for any potential commentator is GCSE PE. You get to experience a wide range of sports whilst learning the rules and key terminology that would be expected within the media industry. Your understanding of the media, sponsorship and demands of elite performance will be enhanced significantly. All of these factors will help attract your pupils to any future employees.
4. Sports physiotherapist
This is a very popular career choice and the attraction is there for all to see. With clients being charged £35 plus per hour the appeal is strong, once a loyal client base is achieved. The job description includes diagnosing injuries and designing specific programmes or exercises to help athletes return to full fitness.
5. Sports policy at a local and national level
This could entail writing proposals to secure funding for projects of interest on a local scale, leading research to establish what sporting opportunities local communities desire or even working for Sport England on a National scale and deciding how funding for sport should be distributed throughout the country. See Sport England for more information.
6. Supporting roles at elite clubs
This final area is so large we’ll just provide a few exemplars for you: Sports psychologist, nutritionist, coach or media manager…the list is endless! For more information about these roles and more please see: Careers in Football – Jobs in Football – Working in Football.
Hopefully, some of the jobs listed above might inspire your pupils to work a little bit harder when studying their GCSE in PE and help them to achieve the best grade possible. For more information, please see the links below:
Careers in Physical Education (PE) | Physical Education Jobs (successatschool.org)
Careerpilot : Jobs by subject
If you are embarking on your PE teaching career and would like some engaging resources with interactive lesson plans and schemes of work then visit PE Office.
The platform is perfect for PE departments and NQTs to help support their delivery of PE lessons to their students. Call 01909 776 900 or send an email to mail@peoffice.co.uk for more information.
