Research has highlighted the significance of how the subject-specific training students receive during their degree programme (Freak and Miller, 2017; Morgan and Hansen, 2008), coupled with negative experiences of PE throughout schooling, impacts on their confidence and competence for teaching PE (Elliot et al., 2011). Although primary Initial Teacher Training (ITT) courses provide theoretical and practical opportunities for students to learn general and subject-specific aspects of teaching within the university, student experiences vary widely on placement (Randall, 2023). The shift in provision of PE in school towards the practice of outsourcing to external activity providers (McEvilly, 2021) effectively de-skills generalist primary teachers and can also have a significant effect on PE teaching opportunities for ITT students (Randall, 2023).

Occupational Socialisation Theory (Lawson, 1983a, 1983b) was used to examine the backgrounds of trainee teachers through the three phases of acculturation (childhood),