Engagement Patterns
Why do some groups take part in sport far more than others? Learn the five personal factors that shape participation - and, just as importantly, how the barriers they create can be reduced.
Learn it by doing, the way you will be assessed
Free and interactive, so you can rehearse the thinking away from the workshop or studio.
Start revising freeWhat you'll cover
Who takes part, and who does not
Not everyone takes part in sport and physical activity at the same rate. Engagement patterns are the differences in participation between groups of people. Edexcel asks you to explain these patterns using five personal factors: gender, age, socio-economic group, ethnicity and disability. The key idea is that these differences come from barriers in society - cost, time, provision, representation and access - and that those barriers can be reduced.
The five personal factors
These are the only five Edexcel names. Each can raise or lower how much a group takes part - always because of barriers and opportunities, never because of anything fixed about the group.
Match each factor to a barrier it can create
- Socio-economic group
- Disability
- Age
- Ethnicity
- The cost of fees, kit and travel puts an activity out of reach
- Facilities and activities are not adapted to be accessible
- Less free time or fewer suitable sessions at a given life stage
- Too little representation, so a group feels less welcome or included
Which factor is this?
A leisure centre finds that older adults take part far less once a pool closes its quieter daytime sessions, which suited people who are retired. Which personal factor is most in play?
- Age - life stage and suitable provision shape participation
- Socio-economic group - the cost of the pool
- Disability - accessible facilities
- Gender - provision differences between groups
Why cost is such a barrier
The socio-economic factor is about money and time. Sport can be expensive: club fees, kit, equipment, travel and coaching all add up, and some sports cost far more than others. People on lower incomes, or working long or irregular hours, may simply not be able to afford the cost or find the time - so participation falls. Reducing this barrier means cheaper or free provision, local facilities and subsidised schemes, so cost stops being the thing that decides who plays.
Which are Edexcel's personal factors?
Edexcel names exactly five personal factors. Select the TWO options below that ARE on that list.
- Disability
- Ethnicity
- The weather on the day
- A team's recent run of form
Barrier, meet solution
Every barrier has a matching way to reduce it. The exam rewards you for pairing the two - naming the problem and the fix that opens the activity up.
How a scheme raises participation
Put the steps of a scheme that lifts participation in an under-represented group into a logical order.
- Identify a group whose participation is low and the barrier behind it
- Design a scheme that targets that barrier (cost, access or provision)
- Promote it using role models and media so the group feels welcome
- People from the group start to take part in the new sessions
- Participation rates for that group rise as the barrier falls
What reduces a barrier?
Select the TWO actions that would genuinely reduce a barrier and raise participation.
- Offer subsidised sessions so cost is no longer a barrier
- Install accessible facilities and adapted equipment
- Raise membership fees to make a club feel more exclusive
- Do no promotion and hope people find the sessions
Why the gap exists
A group takes part in a sport much less than another group. What is the correct way to explain that pattern in the exam?
- Barriers in society - cost, provision, access or representation - which can be reduced
- The group is simply less able at that sport
- The group is just not interested and never will be
- There is no way to change the pattern
Raise the participation rate
A local sports trust wants to raise participation among three under-represented groups. Choose the best action each time.
- Take-up among people on lower incomes is very low because the nearest club is costly and far away. What is the best action?
- Few disabled people use the leisure centre because it has steps everywhere and no adapted equipment. What helps most?
- A group takes part less partly because they rarely see anyone like themselves in the sport. What is the strongest response?
The factors, and the barriers
Edexcel names _____ personal factors that shape engagement patterns: gender, age, _____ group, ethnicity and disability. Differences in participation come from _____ such as cost, access and representation - not from anything fixed about a group. Making facilities _____ and offering _____ sessions are two ways to reduce those barriers.
Two factors that shape participation
Choose TWO of the five personal factors (gender, age, socio-economic group, ethnicity, disability). Explain how each can lower participation in sport, and give one way the barrier could be reduced.
- Name the two factors you have chosen
- For each, explain the barrier it can create (for example cost, access, provision or representation)
- For each, give a realistic way to reduce that barrier and raise participation
- Make clear the gap comes from barriers in society, not from anything fixed about the group
Five, not more
A quick grade-9 tip that saves marks. Edexcel names exactly five personal factors - gender, age, socio-economic group, ethnicity and disability. That is the whole list. Unlike some other boards, Edexcel does not add a separate list of "contributing factors". Role models, media coverage and accessibility are not extra factors to name - they are ways to reduce the barriers the five factors create. So in the exam, work through the five, and use role models and provision as your solutions, not as more factors to list.