Introduction. This paper addresses a study into the professional orientation of physical education students through the analysis of their personal motives, and the motives of future professional, educational, recreational, and sports activities. Materials and methods: We conducted a longitudinal study aimed at studying the professional orientation of students from 2008 to 2019. The analysis of professional motivation included the motives divided into three groups: the motives of future

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... nal and educational activities; the motives of recreational and sports activities; and the personal motives. Discussion and results. The analysis of the motivational complex indicates the following: students often choose motives, which in some way contradict one another. This suggests that the motivational complex of the students is unshaped and they do not have clear goals and guidelines; the professional focus of the learning process is often not realized by students as a process of preparing for professional activity, and as a result, some students do not plan their future work in the field they study. At the same time, many students are aware of and understand new opportunities for professional self-actualization. Keywords: motives, students, physical education, educational activity, professional training