Geographers today view the world as one interconnected system which is vulnerable and faces many challenges. Companies and governments need people that can solve and adapt to these challenges in a fast-changing world. Geography is the subject that prepares our students to address such challenges thorough an evidence-based approach.

Our world is always changing and therefore geography is also a subject that is continuously changing. Climate change, sustainable development, conflict, natural disasters, the spread of disease, migration, and the future of energy resources are just some of the topics that we cover in geography. Our students are global citizens. We celebrate our diversity, learning about reasons for inequality in the world whilst considering the type of actions to be taken to make the world a better place.

At The Grey Coat Hospital, we encourage a ‘go and see for yourself’ attitude. Across one academic year, the geography department runs approximately 18 external trips a year, in addition to a number of fieldwork activities on our school grounds. These are designed to engage our students and helps to prepare them for their assessed fieldwork activities in KS4 and KS5.

The subject is compulsory at Key Stage 3 and then becomes an option at GCSE and A level. Geography is recognised at A level for its academic ‘robustness’ and, importantly, it helps young people into the world of work as it contains a myriad of transferable skills.

Employers prize the wide range of skills that studying geography can provide, be it data skills, planning skills, research techniques, report writing skills, team work, use of contemporary technologies, and communication skills. In addition to this, governments and companies across the world are expanding their sustainability and climate change teams and need more employees that can tackle contemporary changes and challenges. This makes geography extremely employable as a university degree.

 

The Curriculum

Geography is compulsory at KS3

Key Stage 3 programme of study:

In Year 7 we investigate:

• Skills for Geography
• Map skills
• Settlement
• Weather and climate
• Russia
• ICT Skills for Geography

In Year 8 we investigate:

• Earthquakes and volcanoes
• Our World: investigating share places and resource conflicts
• UK population: migration and change
• Ecosystems
• The Middle East

In Year 9 we investigate:

• Coasts
• Climate Change
• Development 
• Globalisation
• Africa: People and the Environment

 

Key Stage 4 Geography

“So many of the world’s current problems boil down to Geography, and we need the geographers of the future to help us to understand them... Geography illustrates the past, explains the present and prepares us for the future...what could be more important than that?”

Michael Palin, Immediate Past President of the Royal Geographical Society

At GCSE, we deliver the Edexcel B Geography course which covers a wide range of both human and physical geography topics. Students will learn how human and physical processes bring about changes and interactions at different scales. Topics we cover include: earthquakes and volcanoes, climate change, tropical cyclones, rivers and coastal processes (physical); changing urban environments, development studies, and UK population dynamics (human); management of forests, the biosphere, and future energy pathways (environmental).

 

Course Overview

​Edexcel B

Component 1 Global Geography	Component 2 UK Geography	Component 3 Making Decisions
The challenge of urbanisation Hazardous Earth - Plate tectonics Development Dynamics Weather and Climate - includes tropical cyclones and climate change	The UK's evolving physical landscape (rivers, coasts, glaciation and geology) The UK's dynamic cities Fieldwork - rivers or coasts plus rural or urban	Ecosystems - Tropical Rainforest and Tundra Energy and Resource Use
90 min exam 37.5%	90 min exam 37.5%	75 min exam 25%

 

 

Key Stage 5

The A Level geography course covers both physical and human environments and the complex interaction of processes that shape our world. It will also, importantly, show the applied side of the subject - how human intervention affects the environment and how people must adapt to physical environmental challenges. There is plenty of room for discussion and extended research, which will help students to become independent thinkers and learners.

Students will develop a wide variety of skills, such as using maps, GIS software, data analysis, statistical analysis, photos, videos, podcasts, as well as attending lectures and study days. Fieldwork is an essential part of the A Level course, and all students will travel to the Lake District on a residential trip, where they will collect data for their independent investigations. This provides an opportunity for students to dive into a research area of their own interest, and helps to prepare them will essential fieldwork skills that will be applicable at university level.

 

Programme of study

Paper 1	Tectonic processes and hazards The water cycle and water insecurity The carbon cycle and energy security Coastal landscapes and change	2hrs 15mins exam	105 marks – 30% of qualification
Paper 2	Globalisation Superpowers Regenerating places Health, human rights and intervention	2hrs 15mins exam	105 marks – 30% of qualification
Paper 3	Synoptic investigation The synoptic investigation will be based on a geographical issue within a place-based context that links to the three synoptic themes and is rooted in two or more of the compulsory content areas.	2hrs 15mins exam	70 marks - 20% of the qualification
Paper 4	Coursework (Independent investigation)	Non-examined Assessment	70 marks – 20% of the qualification

 

What can the course lead to in terms of higher education and future careers?

Geography is a broad-based subject which provides lots of opportunities for future progression. For example, geography is an obvious choice for careers in sustainability and green issues, urban planning, energy, managing the effects of hazards and climate change, and many more area. For careers in the world of business, an understanding of global economics forms an important part of geography. If you are thinking of a career in law, human rights, international relations or welfare, then geography gives you the opportunity to consider relevant issues such as; How do we measure development? What are the consequences of migration on societies? If you are working towards a future course in medicine or veterinary medicine then geography is a good choice to give your A Level options the breadth that universities seek, as you will gain a clear understanding of how the environment affects health and survival of people, animals and ecosystems as well as enhancing your skills of writing essays and extended reports.

Many A Level students do not yet have a clear idea of what kind of career they might want to pursue. If you are in this position, remember that geography as an A level gives you the chance to keep your options open, as it covers a wide range of useful skills and knowledge. Geography also combines well with a wide range of subjects.

The Russell Group report published named geography as one of the eight facilitating subjects, it repeatedly has been ranked as one of the fastest growing A level subjects, and is consistently one of the most employable. With growing environmental and social pressure around the world, g