Year 12

The Water and Carbon Cycles

This section specifies a systems approach to the study of water and carbon cycles. The content invites students to contemplate the magnitude and significance of the cycles at a variety of scales, their relevance to wider geography and their central importance for human populations. The section offers the opportunity to exercise and develop geographical skills, including observation, measurement and geospatial mapping skills, together with data manipulation and statistical skills including those associated with and arising from fieldwork.

Coastal Environments

This section of our specification focuses on coastal zones, which are dynamic environments in which landscapes develop by the interaction of winds, waves, currents and terrestrial and marine sediments. In common with water and carbon cycles, a systems approach to study is specified. Student engagement with subject content fosters an informed appreciation of the beauty and diversity of coasts and their importance as human habitats. The section offers the opportunity to exercise and develop observation skills, measurement and geospatial mapping skills, together with data manipulation and statistical skills, including those associated with and arising from fieldwork.

Changing Places

This section of our specification focuses on people's engagement with places, their experience of them and the qualities they ascribe to them, all of which are of fundamental importance in their lives. Students acknowledge this importance and engage with how places are known and experienced, how their character is appreciated, the factors and processes which impact upon places and how they change and develop over time. Through developing this knowledge, students will gain understanding of the way in which their own lives and those of others are affected by continuity and change in the nature of places which are of fundamental importance in their lives.

Hazards

This optional section of our specification focuses on the lithosphere and the atmosphere, which intermittently but regularly present natural hazards to human populations, often in dramatic and sometimes catastrophic fashion. By exploring the origin and nature of these hazards and the various ways in which people respond to them, students are able to engage with many dimensions of the relationships between people and the environments they occupy. Study of this section offers the opportunity to exercise and develop observation skills, measurement and geospatial mapping skills, together with data manipulation and statistical skills, including those associated with and arising from fieldwork.

Fieldwork Investigation

All students are required to undertake fieldwork in relation to processes in both physical and human geography. Students must undertake four days of fieldwork during their A-level course. Fieldwork can be completed in a number of ways: locally or further afield, on full days or on part days. Schools and colleges will be required to confirm that all A-level geography students have been given an opportunity to fulfil this requirement.

Year 13

Fieldwork Investigation

All students are required to undertake fieldwork in relation to processes in both physical and human geography. Students must undertake four days of fieldwork during their A-level course. Fieldwork can be completed in a number of ways: locally or further afield, on full days or on part days. Schools and colleges will be required to confirm that all A-level geography students have been given an opportunity to fulfil this requirement.

Contemporary Urban Environments

This section of our specification focuses on people's engagement with places, their experience of them and the qualities they ascribe to them, all of which are of fundamental importance in their lives. Students acknowledge this importance and engage with how places are known and experienced, how their character is appreciated, the factors and processes which impact upon places and how they change and develop over time. Through developing this knowledge, students will gain understanding of the way in which their own lives and those of others are affected by continuity and change in the nature of places which are of fundamental importance in their lives.

Global Systems and Global Governance

This section of our specification focuses on globalisation – the economic, political and social changes associated with technological and other driving forces which have been a key feature of the global economy and society in recent decades. Increased interdependence and transformed relationships between peoples, states and environments have prompted more or less successful attempts at a global level to manage and govern some aspects of human affairs. Students engage with important dimensions of these phenomena, with particular emphasis on international trade and access to markets and the governance of the global commons. Students contemplate many complex dimensions of contemporary world affairs and their own place in and perspective on them. Study of this section offers the opportunity to exercise and develop both qualitative and quantitative approaches to gathering, processing and interpreting relevant information and data, including those associated with and arising from fieldwork.

Intent

Human geography concerns the understanding of the dynamics of cultures, societies and economies, and physical geography concerns the understanding of the dynamics of landscapes and the environment.

Geography puts this understanding of social and physical processes within the context of place - recognising the great differences in cultures, political systems, economies, landscapes and environments across the world, and exploring the links between them. Understanding the causes of differences and inequalities between places and social groups underlies much of the newer developments in human geography.

Geography provides an ideal framework for relating to other fields of knowledge. It is not surprising that those trained as geographers often contribute substantially to the applied management of resources and environments.

Geography informs us about:

• The places and communities in which we live and work
• Our natural environments and the pressures they face
• The interconnectedness of the world and our communities within it
• How and why the world is changing, both globally and locally
• How our individual and societal actions contribute to those changes
• The choices that exist in managing our world for the future
• The importance of location in business and decision-making

Ethos

Geography is, in the broadest sense, an education for life and for living. Learning through geography – whether gained through formal learning or experientially through travel, fieldwork and expeditions – helps us all to be more socially and environmentally sensitive, better informed, and more responsible citizens.

Careers in Geography

Geography enables learners to develop a wide and varied skill set that is essential to many vocational areas.  Geographers are able to use and analyse complex and large data sets to establish patterns and relationships.  Geographers also approach their studies with a holistic and synoptic approach that allows them to integrate ideas into the fabric studies.  These are skills prized by employers.  Geography based careers include:

• Geospatial Analyst
• Urban Planner
• Cartographer
• Landscape Architect
• Travel Writer
• Environmental Scientist
• Environmental Consultant
• Surveyor
• Market Analyst
• Teacher
• Economic Consultant
• Transport Planner
• Climate Scientist