Geography: Key Stage 5

“Geography is the subject which holds the key to our future" - Michael Palin

There has never been a better or more important time to study A level Geography. Dealing with vital issues such as climate change, migration, environmental degradation, social issues and natural hazards, A level Geography is one of the most relevant subjects our students study. Students enjoy the scope of the material they cover in Geography, the insights it can provide into the world around us and the highly contemporary nature of the issues it tackles.

The A level Geography course follows the AQA specification and is split into Human and Physical Geography even though Geography is a very fluid subject with some of the issues overlapping. Human topics such as Population and the Environment; Global systems and Global Governance; Changing Places and are very good for generating debate and allowing students to apply their knowledge to a worldwide context.

Physical Geography looks at topics such a Water and Carbon cycles – directly related to the current climate change issues – Hazards – not just volcanoes and earthquakes but also the increasing intensity of tropical cyclones as the result of climate change and then also the increasing intensity of wild fires and the next topic is on Coastal Systems. Yet again the intensity of coastal flooding reasons for it and management techniques.

Assessment:

 

Paper 1: Physical Geography Physical geography

• Section A: Water and carbon cycles
• Section B: Coastal Systems and Landscapes
• Section C: Hazards

 

Paper 2: Human Geography

• Section A: Global systems and global governance
• Section B: Changing places
• Section C: Population and the environment

 

Non examined Assessment (NEA)

Students complete an individual investigation of 3,000-4,000 which includes data collected in the field. The individual investigation is based on a question or issue defined and developed by the student relating to any part of the specification content.