Geography GCSE (AQA 8035)

All students will follow the AQA geography specification for GCSE. Geography is the study of the world and the relationships between people and their environments. It enables you to study issues which affect your everyday life, both now and in the future, and allows you to see the world from multiple perspectives. Students will begin studying the content for the course in Year Nine.

Geography enables students to study issues which affect our everyday life, both now and in the future. The course is designed to deliver transferrable skills, essential when entering higher education. or employment.

AQA Level 2

The course is equivalent to 1 GCSE qualification, during which students will study a mixture of Human and Physical topics, which are both equally weighted.

The course also provides the opportunity for the planning and undertaking of two compulsory fieldwork trips to two contrasting environments.

Course Content

During the course students will study the following:

• Living with the Physical Environment:

Tectonic/Weather Hazards & Climate Change,

Tropical Rainforests & Deserts, Rivers & Coasts

• Challenges in the Human Environment:

Urban issues and challenges, The changing economic world, resource management

• Geographical Applications: analysing a geographical issue, via a pre-release, and two compulsory fieldwork trips.

Fieldwork and Geographical skills are also integrated into units of study throughout the GCSE course.

Assessment

At the end of the course students will be assessed through three examinations:

Paper 1 – Living with the Physical Environment – 1hr 30 minute paper worth 35% of the total GCSE.

Paper 2 – Challenges in the Human Environment  – 1hr 30 minute paper worth 35% of the total GCSE.

Paper 3 - Geographical applications -  1hr 15 minute paper worth 30% of the total GCSE. A pre-release paper is available 12 weeks prior to the exam to aid preparation.

Progression

The course offers progression to A Level Geography and would also support students with other Humanities/Social Science A Levels such as History and Psychology which they have not previously studied, in addition to a wide variety of careers from Law to Research to Public Services.