All about A level Geography – course information

What's A Level Geography about?

“Geography is the subject which holds the key to our future" - Michael Palin,

There has never been a better or more important time to study A level Geography. Dealing with vital issues such as climate change, migration, environmental degradation, social issues and natural hazards, A level Geography is one of the most relevant subjects you could choose to study. Students enjoy the scope of the material they cover in geography, the insights it can provide into the world around us and the highly contemporary nature of the issues it tackles.

The A level Geography course is often split into human and physical geography even though geography is a very fluid subject with some of the issues overlapping. Human topics such as urbanisation and globalisation are very good for generating debate and allowing students to apply their knowledge to a worldwide context.

Physical geography looks at topics such a natural hazards and look at how hazards occur, what can be done to predict them and the management that is in place if one occurs. Students often find this side of the subject more interesting, but more challenging due to unfamiliarity of the content.

Each exam board provides slightly different topic options within these broad areas. Have a look at the OCR Geography syllabus for more information.

What sort of work is involved?

To study A level Geography, you need to have an enquiring and open mind. Geography is a study of the world around us and you need to be aware of issues worldwide, not just in the UK. You need to be able to debate issues such as migration and to  think about them from political and social perspectives as well. Your opinion is important, but you also need to think about debates from someone else’s perspective. Reading newspapers and articles to keep your subject knowledge up to date is vital.

A basic grasp of maths is required and the ability to interpret graphs and analyse them is fundamental, along with basic maps skills. There is a lot of information and new vocabulary to learn, so you'll need a good memory!. You will learn case studies on specific topics and you will develop the skill of writing longer answers clearly and succinctly.

For the OCR exam board the final exam involves coursework where you will need to complete an investigation of 3000-4000 words. This coursework counts for 20% of your final marks, so is really important!

What background do I need?

There is no requirement to have studied GCSE Geography, but it can provide a head start to the information you have to learn. Having an interest in current affairs and reading newspapers is most important as this informs a lot of in-class discussion. You'll need a decent standard of maths and english to cope with  the writing and the work on graphs and data.

Where can it lead?

Geography is a highly respected academic A level. As well as Geography-based degrees it can support a wide range of other studies such as Biology, Business Studies and Economics.

One year course?

Taking the whole A level in one year is tough and has been made tougher by the requirement for course work. It is possible to do it well, but it requires a large amount of work out of the classroom. The course is content-heavy requiring the recall and application of a large amount of material.

Assessment

The A level is  assessed at the end of the second year through 3 exams and a piece of coursework. Exam boards differ somewhat in their exam structure: this is what OCR require.

Paper 1: Physical systems lasts 1 hour 30 mins, counts for 22%. This paper covers the main physical geography topics. From studying coasts, or glaciation or desert, how landforms developed and the influences of both climate and human activity on this. Water and carbon cycling, stores and processes, human activity affects on tropical rainforest and arctic tundra. Physical changes in  over time at a range of scales as well as global management strategies to protect these cycles.

Paper 2: Human interaction  lasts 1 hour 30 mins, counts for 22%. This paper covers the main human geography topics. The relationships and connections between people, the economy, and society and how these contribute to creating places, taking a topic each from global systems (trade or migration) and global governance (human rights or power & borders).

Paper 3: Geographical debates lasts 2 hour 30 mins, counts for 36% and covers synoptic (unifying)  themes in Geography. For this paper you study two of the following 5 topics: Climate change, Disease dilemmas, Exploring oceans, Future of food, Hazardous Earth.

Coursework: Investigative geography A project which counts for 20%, in which you define a question or issue to investigate, carry out the fieldwork , and write a report of 3000-4000 words showing independent analysis, evaluation of data, presentation of data findings and extended writing.

This article was written by Mark Leaford of Cambridge Centre for Sixth-form Studies