Background and purpose: Perceptions of social status can marginalize and exclude students participating in educational group work. In physical education, students may alter interactions based on the group composition. However, research has offered limited evidence to identify characteristics that can potentially predict social hierarchy. The purpose of this study was to investigate status characteristics that predict social hierarchy during a Sport Education field hockey unit in physical education. Method: Participants were 46 grade five students (M[subscript age] = 11.8) attending an elementary school in the southeastern region of the United States. The participants (19 males and 27 females) took part in daily physical education for two and a half hours per week. In addition, two classroom teachers signed consent to participate in the study. Students participated in a four-week Sport Education field hockey unit. Data were collected for the following variables -- social status hierarchy, attractiveness, popularity, perceived skill ability, sex, weight, height, personality, actual skill ability, and cognitive ability. Students completed peer nomination surveys for social status, attractiveness, popularity, and perceived skill ability. School records provided sex, weight, and height of the students. The classroom teachers rated all students in terms of a dominant personality, measured through a modified version of the Revised Interpersonal Adjective Scales (IAS-R). The Team Sport Assessment Procedure (TSAP) measured actual skill ability, collected using GoPro recorded lessons. Lastly, cognitive ability was measured through a knowledge test of field hockey. Results were analyzed in a two-tier format. First, peer nomination scales were analyzed using the sociometric protocol to determine social status. Second, a simple logistic regression determined which status characteristic predicted high or low-status of students. Results and discussion: Results indicated perceived athletic competence and height predicted social status. Students perceived as being more skilled or athletic were 1.5 times more likely to be ranked high-status within their group based on their perceived competence in the group task, or in this case the Sport Education season. Additionally, taller students were more likely to be considered high-status. These findings open avenues for future research in terms of social status hierarchy and its consequential influence on participation to maximize the benefits of group work in physical education.