Geography

Helping you make sense of the world. Geography tackles the big issues:

  • Environmental responsibility
  • Our global interdependence
  • Cultural understanding and tolerance
  • Commerce, trade and industry

The world we live in is likely to change more in the next 50 years than it has ever done before. Geography explains why, and helps students prepare for those changes.

The transferable skills which Geography fosters are an asset to the complex world of employment today. Geography is about the future and encourages flexible thinking. It is less likely that today’s students will spend their lives with one company or organisation (the ‘job for life’), so flexible thinking is a great attribute. Geography fosters these qualities and provides a firm basis for life-long learning.

Key Stage 3 

Years 7, 8 and 9

The study of geography stimulates an interest in and a sense of wonder about places. The Geography curriculum at Lady Margaret School is designed to help young people make sense of a complex and dynamically changing world. It explains where places are, how places and landscapes are formed, how people and their environment interact, and how a diverse range of economies, societies and environments are interconnected. It builds on students’ own experiences to investigate places at all scales, from the personal to the global.

Topics during Key Stage 3 include:

  • A local geographic study of Parsons Green – what the area is like and how it is changing
  • Rivers and how they can impact people who live around them
  • Coastal processes and the impact of changing coastal landscapes
  • Population change – issues of migration and the impact and ethical issues involved in population policies such as China’s One Child policy
  • The global diamond trade – how diamonds are formed, who is involved in the diamond trade, issues involved with conflict diamonds
  • Development – issues of different types of trade versus aid
  • Glaciated Landscapes
  • The new India and the implications of global economic change
  • Tectonic processes and their impact on human populations.

All these topics are designed to examine the links between the human and physical environments and cover greater issues such as the challenges of economic, environmental and social sustainability.

Key Stage 4 

GCSE – Year 10/11
Examination Board Edexcel A –

Geography at GCSE is not only up-to-date and relevant, it is one of the most exciting, adventurous and valuable subjects to study today. So many of the world’s current problems boil down to geography, and need the geographers of the future to help us understand them.

Global warming, sustainable food production, natural disasters such as earthquakes and tsunamis, the spread of disease, the reasons for migration and the future of energy resources are just some of the great challenges facing the next generation of geographers.

GCSE Geography provides students with a clear, overall view of aspects of our world in the first part of the 21st century. Teaching methods encourage and stimulate students to become active and independent learners. Like geography itself, the aims of the course are wide-ranging and give students the opportunity to:

  • Acquire a knowledge of geographical concepts, develop a sense of place and an appreciation of the environment
  • Appreciate the dynamic nature of Geography and our rapidly changing world
  • Understand the significance of people’s values and attitudes in decision making
  • Be aware of their responsibilities to other people, the environment and the sustainability of the planet and develop an understanding of global citizenship
  • Undertake individual research and investigative work and to make use of modern information technologies, including Geographical Information Systems
  • Acquire and apply geographical skills and techniques: communication skills, graphical skills, interpersonal skills through debate and discussion, literacy and numeracy, problem-solving skills, entrepreneurial skills and awareness of career possibilities.

The Edexcel A specification provides a balanced coverage of physical, human and environmental aspects of Geography. The information below shows an overview of the content and assessment of the specification.

Exam board Edexcel A
Physical exam (Paper 1)

Section A: Coastal landscapes and processes AND river landscapes and processes. Section B: Weather hazards and climate change Section C: Ecosystems, biodiversity and management 
This paper is a 1 hour and 30 min written exam worth 94 marks which 37.5% of your overall grade. 

Human exam (Paper 2)

Section A: Changing cities 
Section B: Global development 
Section C: Energy resource management 
This paper is a 1 hour and 30 min written exam worth 94 marks which 37.5% of your overall grade. 

Geographical investigations: fieldwork and UK challenges (Paper 3)

In this paper you will be tested on fieldwork techniques and knowledge of the UK from paper 1 and paper 2

This paper is a 1 hour and 30 min written exam worth 64 marks and worth 25% of the qualification.

Key Stage 5 – Year 12/13

Carrying on with Geography from GCSE to A level can open the doors to a university degree, either specifically in Geography or by combining Geography with other A levels to gain a place on a degree programme in another subject. Geography is recognised for its academic robustness and, most importantly, it also helps young people into the world of work. Employers prize the knowledge and skills that Geography can provide, be it knowing how the world works, planning research and report writing, working in a team, using new technologies and communication skills – and much more. You will find geographers working in a wide range of jobs, from the City to planning, working in the environment to travel and tourism, or in international charities or retail. Studying Geography helps young people achieve careers that are professionally and financially rewarding and also enjoyable.

Geography at A level should be studied by those who want to further their understanding of the world in which they live. The subject provides the scope to engage with the relationship of human populations to each other over space and time and the opportunities and challenges of the physical environment. Students will be expected to undertake their own research and make presentations. There is a field trip to the Nettlecombe Field Studies Centre on the northern fringes of the Brendon Hills, within the Exmoor National Park in Year 12 for students to learn and develop fieldwork skills for their NEA.

Year 12

In year 12, all candidates will study core human and physical geography. Students will develop a variety of geographical skills, which will broaden and deepen existing knowledge and gain a greater degree of independence.

Topics studied in Year 12:

Dynamic Landscapes
1. Tectonic Processes and Hazards
2. Landscape Systems, Processes and Change- 2B: Coastal Landscapes

Dynamic Places
3. Globalisation
4. Shaping Places- 4A Regenerating Places
 
Topics studied in Year 13: 
Physical Systems and Sustainability
5. The water Cycle and Water Insecurity
6. The Carbon Cycle and Energy Security

Global Development and connections
7. Superpowers
8. Global Development and connections- 8A: Health, Human Rights and Intervention
 
Exam overview

Paper 1 – 30% of qualification

  • Assessing topics 1,2B, 5 and 6 and geographical skills
  • 2 hours and 15 minutes
  • 105 marks

Paper 2 – 30% of qualification

Assessing topics 3, 4A, 7 and 8A and geographical skills

  • 2 hours and 15 minutes
  • 105 marks

Paper 3 – 20% of qualification

  • Synoptic Investigation
  • 2 hours and 15 minutes
  • 70 marks

Coursework- 20% of the qual.
Independent Investigation

  • Internally assessed, externally moderated written report (3000-4000 words)
  • 70 marks

The final unit at A2 is a Geographical Issue Evaluation exercise which gives students the opportunity to use their skills of analysis, synthesis and evaluation.