There are growing concerns related to child and youth physical activity and health within and beyond the UK. Therefore providing opportunities for children and young people to learn about health is considered a global health priority (World Health Organisation, 2018). Schools, and particularly Physical Education (PE), have been identified as an appropriate context within which to educate children about health (Hooper, Harris and Cale, 2022) and the area is a component of the PE curriculum in most English speaking countries. This includes, for example, teaching children how to be healthy, developing positive associations with being physically active, and encouraging and developing pupils’ confidence to continue to be physically active outside of PE (Cale and Harris, 2009). Within the current National Curriculum for Physical Education (NCPE) in England, health features in the overarching ‘purpose of study’ and ‘ensuring thatall pupils: lead healthy, active lives’ represents one of the four aims for the subject (Department for Education, 2013).

Despite the above, researchers within the field have highlighted that the teaching of health within PE has a narrow focus with some key aspects such as ‘health benefits’ and ‘activity promotion’ being afforded less attention (Harris, 2009). It has been contested that although teachers adopt a ‘fitness for life’ philosophy (promoting physical activity to retain and enhance health), teachers generally enact a ‘fitness for performance’ philosophy in practice, teaching health in reductive, performance focused ways and emphasising measurable outcomes (Harris and Leggett, 2015; Stirrup and Damant, 2022). One such example is the practice of fitness testing.

Fitness testing has been identified as one of the most common practices to teach about health within PE across the globe (O’Keeffe, MacDonncha and Donnelly, 2020; Alfrey and Landi, 2023). Yet, it has also been one of the most fiercely debated topics within the field. Proponents advocate various educational purposes for testing whilst others contest the practice can lack meaning and be a negative, embarrassing, and demotivating experience for some pupils.

Good practice recommendations for physical educators regarding how to teach in, through and about fitness testing, to enhance its educational experience for pupils have been offered for some time (recent examples include those by Phillips, Marttinen and Mercier, 2017; Huhtiniemi et al., 2021). Although recommendations differ, they are largely underpinned by the same broad principles. For example, they recommend deemphasising the public nature of fitness testing, avoiding comparison and competition and preparing and encouraging pupils to independently participate in physical activity outside of school. Whilst welcomed, the extent to which such recommendations are reaching teachers and influencing fitness testing practice is unclear, with some researchers highlighting a gap between the recommendations and practice (Mercier, Phillips and Silverman 2016; Cale, Harris and Chen, 2014).

Considering the reported widespread prevalence of fitness testing as a PE-for-health practice, yet the long standing concerns regarding its educational purpose, and the apparent gap between recommendations and practice, an exploration of current thinking and practice surrounding fitness testing is needed. This study therefore aimed to i) determine the prevalence of fitness testing; and ii) explore teachers’ experiences and attitudes of the practice. To the authors’ knowledge, a study of this nature has not been conducted in the UK before.

Prior to the commencement of the study, ethical approval was granted by the University’s research ethics committee. An online survey was developed to explore fitness testing practices in PE departments and teachers’ experiences of fitness testing. The following previously utilised and published surveys and scales were drawn on to inform the survey design and questions: the ‘Health, Activity and Fitness Monitoring’ survey (Chen, 2010), ‘Health Related Physical Fitness Testing in Physical Education: A National Review’ (O’Keeffe et al. 2020) and ‘Physical Education Teacher Attitudes toward Fitness Tests Scale (PETAFTS) (Keating and Silverman, 2004). The survey was centred on 6 themes: (1) The frequency and nature of fitness test use, (2) The place of fitness testing in the broader PE curriculum, (3) The design of fitness testing lessons, (4) The recording, monitoring and use of fitness test results, (5) Attitudes towards fitness testing, and (6) Factors influencing the implementation of fitness testing in PE. The survey contained mostly closed but also some open-ended questions, with the latter giving teachers the opportunity to describe their intentions, practices and reasoning behind implementing fitness testing. Further, Likert-type scales were included to measure teachers’ attitudes towards different aspects of fitness testing. Participants answered each item on a 5-point scale, ranging from 1 (strongly disagree) to 5 (strongly agree). The survey was designed using Qualtrics (an online platform). The survey was sent to PE teachers in secondary schools across the UK (n=4138). It was directed to the Head of Physical Education (HOPE) because they are responsible for the design and delivery of the PE curriculum in their schools. However, it was explained that the survey could be completed by another PE teacher in the department and that only one response was required per school. In total, 260 responses to the survey were obtained, representing an overall response rate of 7%. The response rates by country were as follows: England (6%), Wales (13%), Scotland (3%) and Northern Ireland (9%). Once the survey closed, all quantitative responses were exported from Qualtrics into an excel spreadsheet for descriptive analysis. Qualitative data were uploaded to NVivo and then thematic analysis was employed, following Braun and Clarke’s ‘6-phase guide’ (Braun and Clarke, 2006). This included coding the data and identifying common themes in relation to the teachers’ responses to the open-ended questions.

The findings of the survey revealed that fitness testing is a common practice in secondary school PE in both core and examination lessons. Nonetheless, there was an unclear picture surrounding ‘why?’ and ‘how?’ teachers fitness tested, with varied attitudes and pedagogical practices evident. Teachers’ attitudes towards fitness testing were mixed. For example 60% agreed that ‘fitness testing should be part of the curriculum in all schools’, whereas 40% were uncertain or disagreed. A range of learning intentions for fitness testing lessons were put forward, ranging from intentions of a performative nature, focusing heavily on scores to those where scores were referred to as ‘irrelevant’. Concerningly, some teachers commented that there were no learning intentions underpinning their fitness testing lessons. The survey revealed varied pedagogical practices to be employed by teachers when fitness testing with only a few recommendations being adopted. Two thirds of teachers reported to be either unsure about or unaware of fitness testing recommendations and it is therefore no surprise that they weren’t implementing them. Some teachers showed awareness of the sensitivities surrounding fitness testing and the potential negative outcomes from testing. Over 60% of teachers (62%) were uncertain or agreed that fitness testing can have a negative impact on pupils’ psychological health, with only a small minority (2%) strongly disagreeing. These latter findings need serious consideration given the popularity of testing and if the practice is to continue in PE. The study concludes that future research should explore pupils’ experiences and outcomes of fitness testing and additionally, create time and space for teachers to share their experiences of fitness testing further.

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