This document summarizes research on ability grouping in physical education. It describes 6 research papers that critically examine policies and practices around grouping students by ability in PE. The papers investigate how ability grouping is implemented in schools, how it affects teaching and learning, and the factors that influence grouping decisions. They find that setting by ability is common in PE and can negatively impact students' experiences and learning opportunities depending on their perceived ability level.

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ECER 2021 – "Mixed-ability Grouping in Physical Education: Investigating issues of
‘ability’ and ‘inclusivity’ in pedagogic practice."
Shaun D. Wilkinson (Northumbria University; s.d.wilkinson@northumbria.ac.uk;
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4405-7549)
and Dawn Penney (Edith Cowan University; d.penney@ecu.edu.au;
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2000-8953)
This conference presentation extends research critically engaging with policies and practices relating
to grouping in physical education. Issues of ability and inclusion have been at the fore of inquiry
designed to enhance understandings of the ways in which grouping policies are enacted in physical
education in different schools, what factors impact grouping decisions and approaches, and how
grouping policy is consequently expressed in teaching and learning.
This summary of published work to date is provided as a backdrop to the ECER 2021 presentation.
Wilkinson, S., & Penney, D. (2014). The effects of setting on classroom teaching and student learning
in mainstream mathematics, English and science lessons: a critical review of the literature in
England. Educational Review, 66(4), 411-427.
https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/00131911.2013.787971
This paper critically engaged with the assumption that the differentiation of students by “ability” advances
students’ motivation, social skills, independence and academic success in national tests and examinations
because students are “better engaged in their own learning”. Drawing upon qualitative research conducted in
primary and secondary mathematics, science and English setted classrooms in England, a literature review
explored how teachers’ pedagogic practices with low, middle and high “ability” sets facilitates and/or constrains
students’ learning and potential achievement. We also explored why, despite strenuous criticism and moves
towards egalitarianism in schools, the segregation of students on the basis of “ability” continues to be a common
feature in schools in England and Wales. Key issues that we directed attention to included fixed and permanent
grouping; the potential misplacement of students to sets and a culture of stereotyping where learners within a
set are taught as a single homogenous unit. We concluded the paper by suggesting a need for further
investigation of setting by “ability” in a broader range of subjects of the curriculum.
Wilkinson, S. D., Penney, D, & Allin, L. (2016). Setting and within-class ability grouping: A survey of
practices in physical education. European Physical Education Review 22(3), 336-354.
https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/1356336X15610784
This paper reflected that although there is extensive international research literature on ability grouping within
classroom-based subjects, limited research exists in the context of physical education (PE). This paper explored
ability grouping in PE in North East of England schools and specifically addressed the prevalence of setting and
within-class ability grouping in PE, the contexts of its use, how sets and within-class ability grouping were
established, and the rationales used to justify decisions about setting and within-class ability grouping in the
subject. Results of a survey sent to 194 PE Heads of Department from North East of England schools catering for
pupils in Key Stage 3 (ages 11–14) and/or Key Stage 4 (ages 14–16) were reported. Findings indicated that setting
was embedded in the organisational and pedagogical practices of PE in many secondary schools. Ability also
served as a basis upon which to organise pupils within mixed-ability and setted PE lessons. A variety of other
factors, including friendship and behaviour, were reported as also influencing grouping of pupils in PE lessons.
Our discussion pointed to the merits of further exploration and analysis of between-class and within-class
grouping practices in the subject.
Wilkinson, S. D. & Penney, D. (2021). Setting policy and student agency in physical education:
students as policy actors. Sport, Education and Society, 26(3), 267-280.
https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/13573322.2020.1722625

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In turning a spotlight on students in physical education, this paper sought to extend applications of policy
enactment theory, and particularly, the policy actor framework. Following the lead of Stephen Ball and
colleagues, the various dimensions of context shaping policy enactment in different schools were examined in
relation to ability grouping, and setting particularly, in physical education. The research involved case study work
in three mixed-gender secondary schools in England, with 15 physical education teachers participating in semi-
structured interviews and 63 students participating in semi-structured focus groups. This paper reported on the
data arising from focus groups with students. The actor framework was used to bring to the fore differences in
student responses to policy, their capacities to proactively engage with policy, and explore what shapes the
differences observed. Notably, the data signalled that students were by no means passive recipients of policy.
There were clear instances of students exercising agency in physical education, sometimes questioning and
challenging how they were positioned within and by setting policies, and at other times, responding in ways that
demonstrated their capacity to navigate and mediate policy and its impact on them as learners. This paper
therefore explored some of the ways in which students are both positioned by and position themselves in relation
to policy.
Wilkinson, S. D., Penney, D, Allin, L., & Potrac, P. (2021). The enactment of setting policy in
secondary school physical education. Sport, Education and Society, 26(6), 619-633.
https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/13573322.2020.1784869 (Open Access)
This paper reflected that the micro-level enactment of educational policy has received little attention in the
physical education [PE] literature, particularly as it relates to setting policy. This study employed enactment
theory in examining the ways in which setting policy was enacted by PE teachers in three mixed-gender secondary
schools in England. Data generated through in-depth, semi- structured interviews with 15 PE teachers who were
responsible for delivering the Year 9 PE curriculum, directed attention to the distinct and combined influence of
the situated, material, professional and external dimensions of context on setting policy and practices in PE in
these three schools. Our findings highlighted notable variation in the ways in which setting policy was translated
and enacted in PE in these three schools and the multiple factors shaping decisions about groupings and, in turn,
teaching and learning for students in different sets. This study particularly illustrated a dynamic interplay
between the external dimensions of context (i.e. neoliberal policy making and pressures and supports from the
local education authority [LEA] and the school inspectorate) and the internal dimensions of context (i.e. school-
based traditions, school demographics, and support and resourcing for PE) in policy enactment. We highlighted
equity issues inherent in, and arising from, the varied enactment of setting policy in PE and argued for greater
scholarly engagement with policy enactment, grouping strategies and constructions of ability in PE.
Wilkinson, S. D. & Penney, D. (2021). Mixed-ability grouping in physical education: investigating
ability and inclusivity in pedagogic practice. Sport, Education and Society,
https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/13573322.2021.1919612
This paper shifted research attention to the mixed-ability grouping that is commonly adopted in physical
education (PE) in many schools in the UK. The research sought to respond to an identified need for studies that
can extend understanding of the pedagogical assumptions, challenges and/or opportunities associated with the
use of mixed-ability grouping in various subject and school settings. Through case study research mixed-ability
grouping in Key Stage 3 (Years 7, 8 and 9) and Key Stage 4 (Years 10 and 11) PE lessons in a secondary school in
England was explored. Data from in-depth, semi-structured interviews with seven PE teachers was reported.
Findings illustrated the various ways in which teachers’ enactment of mixed-ability grouping was framed by
discourses of sport performance and gendered discourses, and highlighted, in particular, the impact that
‘grouping within groups’ has for the learning opportunities that different students are able to access in PE.
Analysis and discussion critically examined the conceptualisations of ability and inclusion inherent in the mixed-
ability grouping practices at the case study school. In conclusion we emphasised the need for further research
involving a larger sample of schools and teachers to extend the insights about mixed-ability grouping practices
in PE generated by this study.