Contact: Miss E Walters	Exam Board & Code: Edexcel 8GE01/9GE01
Course: 2 Years to full A Level

 

What is Geography A level about?

Geography is all about the world around us and this new specification addresses key ideas and debates in our world today.  Students will explore a range of issues and examine potential solutions to them.

 

Is this course for me?

Pupils need to have taken GCSE Geography.  They need to have an interest in current affairs and the world around them, be it a curiosity about how a landscape has formed, or an interest in how a community might be affected by globalisation.  Class work will consist of group work as well as work as an individual.  There will be ample opportunity for discussion.  Students will be encouraged to be responsible for their own work, and study completed outside of the classroom is very important.  This may include essays, structured questions, background reading and research.

What do other students say?

‘Geography offers a wide and varied outlook on life’

‘Geography is an up to date and relevant subject, which will give you an extensive knowledge and help develop skills you use in other subjects.’

Fieldtrips

In Year 12, students participate in two fieldtrips. The first is a day trip to the London Docklands, Canary Wharf and the Olympic venues. Students learn about rebranding in an urban area and conduct primary research in Canning Town.

In the spring term, students go to Cornwall on a residential fieldtrip to investigate crowded coasts and coastal rebranding. This trip includes a visit to the Eden Project, Newquay, St Austell and the china clay pits.

 

Where could it lead?

Geographers can go on to study a range of higher level courses from straight Geography to others such as Oceanography, Environmental Sciences and Urban Management.

Geographers can go into a wide range of jobs including Advertising, Education, Finance, Law, Retailing and Marketing.

 

How is this course structured?

 

Unit Content	Unit Assessment
AS Unit 1:  Global Challenges; ‘World at Risk’ which focuses on global hazards, climate change and how to manage the impacts of these.  Also ‘Going Global’ focusing on issues such as population growth and globalisation.	One exam of 1 hour 30 minutes, exam worth 60% of AS marks (30% of total A level marks).
AS Unit 2: Crowded Coasts; understanding pressures facing coasts, and how to manage them. Rebranding Places; exploring how places reinvent themselves in an attempt to provide a more prosperous future.	One exam of 1 hour 15 minutes, exam worth 40% of AS marks (20% of total A level marks).There will be some fieldwork as part of this unit including a residential fieldtrip to Cornwall.
A2 Unit 3: Contested Planet; this introduces students to key contested global issues including the use of resources and conflict over their use, contrasts of resource consumption and the solutions to resource and inequality issues.	One exam of 2 hours 30 minutes worth 30% of the total A level mark.
A2 Unit 4: Geographical Research.  One topic is studied from a choice of six.  Students carry out research and write an extended essay in exam conditions.  Topics to choose from include Tectonic Activity, Cold Environments, Cultural Diversity and Pollution and Human Health.	One exam of I hour 30 minutes worth 40% of A2 marks 20% of the total A level marks.

 

<go back to courses