Geography

The A level Geography course investigates many of the complex issues facing the world and its people in the 21st Century. Students explore a wide range of topics such as climate change, globalisation, urban regeneration and management of global systems. Geography will appeal to students who are interested in the world’s places, people and environments. The course allows students to think independently, explore global and local issues in depth and develop research and fieldwork skills.

Iceland trip

Students will have an opportunity to take part in an Extra-Curricular trip to Iceland in the summer term of year 12. This trip is an opportunity to see Physical Geography in action with excellent links to our course material.

Topics studied across the two-year course include:

• Changing Places: how places are shaped by flows of people, resources, money, investment and ideas; connections between places from local to global scales. 
• Global Systems: the role of international trade; migration patterns; human development; global governance.
• Water and Carbon Cycles: issues facing carbon and water stores on land, in oceans and in the atmosphere; climate change.
• Landscape Systems: exploring the physical geography of coastal landscapes; landscape change; the role of human activity.
• Natural Hazards: investigating the causes, impacts and management of hazards such as wildfires, tropical storms, earthquakes and volcanoes.
• Fieldwork Skills: at least four days of fieldwork.
• Independent Investigation: the opportunity for students to explore a geographical issue or topic of personal interest in considerable depth, based on fieldwork data.

There are two written examinations in Geography which are both two and a half hours long. Paper One examines Physical Geography with a mix of short answer, data response and essay style questions. Paper Two examines Human Geography with a mix of short answer, data response and essay style questions. Each examination forms 40% of the final grade. The remaining 20% is from the Independent Investigation which is a 3,000 - 4,000 words personal fieldwork assignment.

Geography students are employed in a wide range of jobs including geographical information systems (GIS), sustainability and environmental management, tourism, transport planning, urban and regional planning, business, overseas development, hazard management and education.