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From kindergarten to year 10, all Australian students follow the national health and physical education (HPE<\/a>) curriculum. This expands in years 11 and 12 with a range of health and physical education selection options.<\/p>\n Depending on\u00a0which state you live in<\/a>, you may be able to do year 11 and 12 health and physical education subjects such as physical education (by itself), sport science, health studies, personal development, athlete development, food and nutrition, outdoor and environmental studies, and sport and recreation. These subjects include a variety of practical and theoretical options.<\/p>\n When\u00a0deciding<\/a>\u00a0which subjects to do in years 11 and 12, it is important to consider your interests and study load, as well as what you want to do after year 12.<\/p>\n Do you want to embark on university study, enter the workforce, learn a trade or something else?\u00a0Sport and recreation<\/a>\u00a0is a common choice for industry preparation, with ATAR and higher education pathways also available. But there are other options, too.<\/p>\n In recent decades a number of\u00a0reports<\/a>\u00a0have<\/a>\u00a0indicated<\/a>\u00a0studying health and physical education in year 11-12 is becoming more popular.<\/p>\n In 2016, almost 40% of students aged 16 to 17 across Australia\u00a0elected to enrol<\/a>\u00a0in health and physical education subjects in years 11 and 12. The PE subjects were slightly more popular among males, and health education among females.<\/p>\n Similarly,\u00a0in New South Wales<\/a>, trends show the proportion of senior secondary students studying health and physical education rose by almost 10% over the decade from 2008.<\/p>\n Many subjects are available under the health and physical education umbrella \u2013 depending on where you live. Alongside the combinations of\u00a0HPE<\/a>\u00a0or\u00a0PE<\/a>\u00a0(by\u00a0itself<\/a>), these can include:<\/p>\n For students who want to continue studying health and physical education at university as part of training to be a teacher, subjects that relate to\u00a0sport science<\/a>\u00a0such as biology, chemistry and physics are highly recommended and\u00a0scaled well<\/a>\u00a0towards ATAR scores in 2020.<\/p>\n They are also a great foundation for courses in exercise science, health promotion, nutritional sciences and physiotherapy.<\/p>\n Studying health and physical education in senior secondary school can give you an\u00a0insight<\/a>\u00a0and appreciation of how our psychology, social networks, culture, environments and bodies all connect to influence our activity behaviours and overall physical performance.<\/p>\n For instance, when planning how to get people moving and performing well, you might consider a person\u2019s motivation, the type of people to train with, the types of facilities available and levels of training preparation.<\/p>\n Many students choose senior secondary health and physical education for\u00a0future<\/a>\u00a0careers relating to movement and the body. These include coaching, teaching, sport science, nutrition and recreation. Others may simply want to better understand how to plan and promote active and healthy lifestyles.<\/p>\n Studying health and physical education can lead to improved confidence in your movement, ability to make decisions and to develop teamwork and leadership skills that will help across life. These skills are transferable across a\u00a0range<\/a>\u00a0of other\u00a0professions<\/a>\u00a0such as management, policing and the defence forces.<\/p>\n Across Australia,\u00a0schools are expected<\/a>\u00a0to deliver at least two hours of planned physical activities each week to students until year 10.<\/p>\n But there is no time requirement for schools to deliver physical activity in the\u00a0senior years<\/a>.<\/p>\n Global reports indicate physical activity reduces\u00a0through<\/a>\u00a0adolescence and to some extent into adulthood.\u00a0Researchers<\/a>\u00a0suggest the decline is most often due to a lack of time, followed by the amount of resources available and the level of school support to get students moving.<\/p>\n Physical activity is vital to\u00a0buffer stress<\/a>\u00a0in senior schooling. Even a few brief periods of four to eight minutes of intense activity such as push-ups in class each week can help senior students\u2019 mental health, learning engagement and overall fitness.<\/p>\n Although taking health and physical education in years 11 and 12 does not have the same\u00a0requirements<\/a>\u00a0to get you moving regularly as in the earlier stages of school, you will have the opportunity to develop a\u00a0deeper appreciation<\/a>\u00a0of what you need to do to get moving on your own.<\/p>\n If physical education is just not your thing, still make sure you get at least one hour of activity each day that \u201cmakes your heart beat faster<\/a>\u201d to weather the stress of the final years of school and the\u00a0evolving pandemic<\/a>\u00a0and to set up healthy habits for adulthood.<\/p>\nWhat subjects can I do?<\/strong><\/h4>\n
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What else will I learn?<\/strong><\/h4>\n
Keeping active in the senior years<\/strong><\/h4>\n