OCR AS Level Physical Education Past Papers

Energy system questions require understanding both the mechanisms and the performance contexts for each system. The ATP-PC (phosphocreatine) system provides energy for very high-intensity efforts lasting up to approximately 10 seconds — a 100m sprint is the classic example. It requires no oxygen and produces no lactate, but phosphocreatine stores are limited and take approximately 3 minutes of rest to replenish. The anaerobic glycolysis (lactic acid) system produces ATP rapidly from glucose without oxygen, for efforts lasting 10 seconds to approximately 2 minutes — 400m running is a good example. Lactic acid accumulates in the working muscles, causing acidosis and fatigue. The aerobic oxidation system uses carbohydrates, fats, and proteins in the presence of oxygen for sustained efforts lasting more than 2 minutes — marathon running is the clear example. It produces the most ATP but is the slowest to respond. For arousal questions, the Inverted U hypothesis (Yerkes and Dodson) predicts that performance increases with arousal up to an optimal point, then decreases — giving the characteristic inverted U-shaped curve. The key variables are: task complexity (optimal arousal is lower for complex or fine motor tasks, higher for simple or gross motor tasks) and individual differences (introverts typically have lower optimal arousal levels than extroverts). The Catastrophe model (Hardy) refines this by incorporating cognitive anxiety: when somatic arousal is high, the addition of cognitive anxiety causes a catastrophic drop in performance rather than a gradual decline. For socio-cultural barriers to participation questions, structure your response around the specific group being discussed, using concrete evidence. For women in sport: participation rates have increased significantly since the 1970s following legislative changes and campaigns by Sport England and the Women's Sport Trust, but women remain underrepresented in elite coaching roles (only 18% of national governing body coaches are women, per UK Coaching data), and media coverage of women's sport represents approximately 10% of total sports coverage. Identify both the barriers (stereotyping, lack of media coverage, lower prize money) and the initiatives addressing them (the This Girl Can campaign, the Lionesses effect, mandatory gender pay gap reporting).