2.1.a. Engagement patterns of different social groups in physical activities and sports - Participation in physical activity and sport — OCR GCSE Physical Education
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2.1.a. Engagement patterns of different social groups in physical activities and sports - Participation in physical activity and sport explained
2.1.a. Engagement patterns of different social groups in physical activities and sports - Participation in physical activity and sport covers 3 specification points, including • age • gender • ethnicity • religion/culture… and • promotion • provision • access.
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Open a point below for its explanation and revision guidance.
understand how different factors can affect participation, including: • age • gender • ethnicity • religion/culture • family • education • time/work commitments • cost/disposable income • disability • opportunity/access • discrimination • environment/climate • media coverage • role models
This topic asks you to explain how a range of factors can raise or lower a person's participation in physical activity and sport. The listed factors are age, gender, ethnicity, religion/culture, family, education, time/work commitments, cost/disposable income, disability, opportunity/access, discrimination, environment/climate, media coverage and role models. For each factor you should be able to say how it acts as a barrier or an enabler, ideally with a concrete example. For instance, cost may limit access to equipment or club fees, while a role model can inspire someone to take up a sport. A strong answer names the factor, explains the mechanism, and links it to participation rather than simply listing the factor.
understand strategies which can be used to improve participation: • promotion • provision • access
Participation can be raised by three linked strategies. Promotion means publicising an activity so under-represented groups know it exists and feel welcome: a club runs a social-media campaign and a taster day aimed at teenage girls. Provision means supplying the activity itself: a council opens a floodlit all-weather pitch, funds a women-only swimming session or trains coaches for disability sport. Access means removing the barriers that stop people taking part: cheaper sessions, better bus links, step-free changing rooms, childcare at the venue or sessions at times that fit shift work. The three work best together, because advertising a session nobody can reach or afford will not raise participation.
be able to apply examples from physical activity/sport to participation issues.
This criterion asks you to take a real participation issue and show, with a specific sporting example, how it affects a group and what could change it. Choose a group (for example girls, older people, people with a disability, or a low-income community), name the barrier (cost, transport, time, confidence, facilities or cultural expectations), then give a concrete example: a teenage girl stops netball because the only session is a 40-minute bus ride away and clashes with her part-time job. Link the example to a strategy: the club could provide a local session at a different time (provision) and advertise it through the school (promotion), while offering a reduced fee and a lift-share (access). Explain the effect on participation, not just the activity.
Your focus
- Explain how each listed factor can act as a barrier to participation
- Explain how each listed factor can act as an enabler of participation
- Apply a named factor to a concrete example of a group or activity
Show all 9 objectives
- Distinguish promotion, provision and access when each is described in a scenario.
- Select the strategy that matches the focus of a multiple-choice question stem.
- Explain how one strategy alone may fail to raise participation without the others.
- Apply a specific sporting example to a named participation issue.
- Explain how a barrier affects a group's participation in a chosen activity.
- Recommend a promotion, provision or access strategy that addresses the example given.
2.1.a. Engagement patterns of different social groups in physical activities and sports - Participation in physical activity and sport exam tips
Marking Points
- Names a listed factor and explains how it can act as a barrier to participation
- Names a listed factor and explains how it can act as an enabler of participation
- Links the factor to a specific mechanism, such as cost limiting access to equipment or fees
- Uses a concrete example to show how the factor affects a particular group or activity
- Identifies promotion as raising awareness of an activity through advertising, campaigns, taster sessions or role models.
- Identifies provision as supplying the activity itself, such as new facilities, sessions, equipment or qualified coaches.
- Identifies access as removing barriers to taking part, such as cost, transport, timing, childcare or step-free facilities.
- Selects the option that matches the strategy described in the question stem rather than a strategy that merely sounds positive.
- Recognises that the three strategies reinforce one another, so a single measure may be described under more than one heading.
- Names a specific social group and a specific participation issue affecting that group.
- Gives a concrete example from a named physical activity or sport that illustrates the issue.
- Explains how the example affects the group's ability or willingness to take part.
- Links the example to a strategy such as promotion, provision or access that could improve participation.
- Uses more than one example or group to show the issue is not confined to a single case.
- Draws a conclusion about what the example shows for participation rather than only describing the sport.
Examiner Tips
- 💡Name the factor first, then explain the mechanism, then link it to participation
- 💡Use a short concrete example to make the explanation specific
- 💡Check the question asks about barriers or enablers and answer in that direction
- 💡Underline the key word in the stem (promotion, provision or access) before reading the options.
- 💡Test each option by asking whether it changes awareness, changes what is offered, or changes whether people can reach and use it.
- 💡Eliminate options that describe an unrelated benefit, such as improving elite performance, rather than participation.
- 💡Where two options seem plausible, choose the one that most directly matches the named strategy.
- 💡Plan two or three examples before writing so each paragraph covers a different group or barrier.
- 💡Use the pattern: group, barrier, sporting example, effect, strategy.
- 💡Keep examples realistic and specific, such as a named type of session or facility, rather than vague statements.
- 💡Finish with a short judgement about which strategy would most improve participation and why.
Common Mistakes
- Lists factors without explaining how each one affects participation; add the mechanism and an example
- Treats a factor as only a barrier; explain how it can also enable participation
- Invents a factor outside the listed set; use only the factors named in the specification
- Confuses provision with access; keep provision for what is supplied and access for whether people can reach and afford it.
- Treats promotion as simply telling people the rules of a sport; keep promotion for raising awareness and encouraging uptake.
- Chooses an option because it sounds like good practice without checking which strategy the stem asks about; re-read the stem before selecting.
- Assumes one strategy alone guarantees higher participation; recognise that promotion, provision and access usually need to combine.
- Describes a sport in general without linking it to a participation issue; connect every example back to who takes part and why.
- Names a group but gives no specific sporting example; supply a concrete activity, setting and barrier.
- Lists barriers without explaining their effect; explain how each barrier reduces participation.
- Offers a strategy that does not match the barrier described; align promotion, provision or access with the issue raised.