Course Information
Title: Geography
Type: A Level
Entry Requirements:Standard entry requirements plus a minimum of a grade 5 in GCSE geography.
Course Length: 2 Years
About
Studying geography helps you better understand the world's people, places and environments, how they interact and how they change. It is a subject which directly addresses many of the key issues facing our world, such as how we manage the UK's geopolitical relationships with the wider world, deal with the challenges of climate change or balance the needs of our societies and economies with the management of our ecosystems.
You will be encouraged to:
- develop your knowledge of locations, places, processes and environments, at all geographical scales from local to global
- recognise and be able to analyse the complexity of people-environment interactions and appreciate how these underpin understanding of some of the key issues facing the world today
- become confident and competent in selecting, using and evaluating a range of quantitative and qualitative skills and approaches
- understand the fundamental role of fieldwork as a tool to understand and generate new knowledge about the real world, and become skilled at planning, undertaking and evaluating fieldwork in appropriate situations
- develop as critical and reflective learners, able to articulate opinions, suggest relevant new ideas and provide evidenced argument in a range of situations
How will I be assessed?
Written exam: 2 hours 30 mins (40% of the A-Level award).
Section A: Water and Carbon Cycles.
Section B: Coastal systems and Landscapes.
Section C: Hazards.
Written exam: 2 hours 30 mins (40% of the A-Level award).
Section A: Global Systems and Global Governance.
Section B: Changing Places.
Section C: Contemporary Urban Environments.
Students complete an individual investigation which they choose themselves, creating their own investigation title and enquiry questions. They collect their data over the summer, then write it up in lessons in the Autumn term. A three-day residential field trip towards the end of Y12 is part of preparation for the NEA.
How it's assessed:
- 3000 - 4000 words.
- 60 marks.
- 20% of A-level.
- marked by teachers.
- moderated by AQA.
Where can geography lead?
Geography brings together the natural and social sciences and opens up a wide range of career options and you will find geographers working in every sector
of the economy: in businesses and not-for-profit organisations, as well as in government and policy-making. Geographers have many transferable skills
including critical thinking, data analysis and observation. National statistics show that undergraduate geographers - when compared to almost every other
university subject - are more likely to enjoy and finish their degree studies and are more likely to be in work and earn above average salaries for graduates.
So, if you want to understand how the world works, help make it a better place, enjoy further study in the subject, gain a job and earn a reasonable salary,
choosing geography could be the subject for you!
What Students Say:
"Geography is brilliant! - the field trips have been great, it's good to study at sites, rather than just through textbooks."