Geography

Geography deals with what is going on in the world around us, whether that is an understanding of environmental issues and economic development or the steady erosion of landscape by rivers and ice. Resources, development and the environment are popular topics, and include the study of global warming and climate change, as well as the management of fragile environments.

Course structure
The course is made up of four themes of which the students only have to study three. These themes help students to make sense of the world around them today. Within each theme we look at a variety of issues and places.

The first theme looks at rivers and coasts, including how rivers are formed, the processes and features of a river and how they are managed to control flooding. For coasts we look at how the coast is used, the landforms and processes that are associated with coastlines and how these coastlines are managed.

The second theme looks at population and settlement, including how populations and settlements are changing and the ways in which governments are responding to these changes, both in terms of population growth and, in some cases, decline.

The third themes is natural hazards, including volcanoes, earthquakes, tropical storms and drought. We look how all of these are caused and the effects they have on the people that live in the regions that are affected by them.

The fourth theme, economic development considers wealth, development, employment structure, different types of industry, multinational companies, globalisation and how this affects the physical environment. We also look at climate change causes, effects and solutions.

Assessment Details
Students take two written examination papers at the end of the course. The first paper tests their geographical knowledge and understanding of the three themes and accounts for 50% of the final GCSE mark. The second paper is a decision-making exercise which allows the opportunity for learners to proceed through three stages of investigating issues of sustainable development. One of four key themes will be assessed in this unit, it is supported by pre release material and accounts for 25% of the marks.

The controlled assessment consists of two tasks: a fieldwork investigation of a hypothesis/question following on from fieldwork conducted by all students, and a shorter geographical investigation linked to one of nine topics including; disease, trade, ecosystems, sport, fashion and crime. The controlled assessment is worth 25% of the final mark and is internally assessed and externally moderated.

After the GCSE course
Students taking Geography at GCSE develop their understanding of human decision-making, as well as the physical forces that shape our world. As such, the subject sits well with both humanities and science subjects at A-level.