Geography

Entry Requirements:

Six GCSEs 9-4 (or A*-C),Two from English, Maths OR Science
Two at least grade 6 (or B)
If you have taken Geography at GCSE level a grade 5 or better
The department welcomes students who have not had the opportunity to study GCSE Geography.

Where we come from, what we do, what we eat, how we move about and how we shape our future are all directly the province of the geographer. More than ever we need the geographers’ skills and foresight to help us learn about the planet – how we use it and how we abuse it.
-Michael Palin – former President of the Royal Geographical Society

Course details

A Level Geography is for students seeking to understand how their planet works from physical topics such as plate tectonics, to human topics such as energy security. It includes a wide range of skills: cartographic, graphical, statistical, ICT and investigative.
There are numerous day field trips offered. In addition, the department offers residential field trips to Reykjavik, Iceland and California, USA.

The following topics are studied over the two years:

Coastal Systems and Landscapes
Resource Security
Changing Places
Hazards
Global Systems and Global Governance
Water and Carbon cycles

Component 1

A 2 hour 30 minutes paper made up structured short and extended questions and an essay. It tests your knowledge and understanding of Water and Carbon Cycles, Coastal Systems and Landscapes and Hazards. This is worth 40% of your A Level.

Component 2

A 2 hour 30 minutes paper made up of structured short and extended questions and an essay. It tests your knowledge and understanding of Global Systems and Global Governance, Changing Places and Contemporary Urban Environments. This is worth 40% of your A Level.

Component 3

An individual investigation, which must include data collected in the field. This is worth 20% of your A Level.

Studying geography has not only enabled me to achieve an outstanding A level grade but it has also been great preparation for university and given me an excellent insight into the wide range of future careers available.
– Geography Student

Skills

This course will equip you with a wide range of skills highly valued by universities and employers. Many of these skills are transferable to other courses of study such as essay writing, statistical skills, analytical skills, cartographic skills, graphical skills, problem solving, decision making, team working, etc.

Careers/Destinations

Geography is relevant to so many career paths such as urban planning, hydrologist, volcanologist, disaster relief, civil engineering, overseas development, environment agency analyst, environmental campaigner and to many other careers such as
accountancy, journalism, marketing and teaching.

There is no question that the understanding and skills that come from a study of geography are highly valued by employers.
-Darrel Sheinman, Managing Director of award winning company Polestar, a global GIS satellite tracking company

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