Geography – AS & A Level

Edexcel

Description of the Specification

For students the aims of this course are to:

  • Develop awareness of the complexity of interactions within and between societies, economies, cultures and environments at scales from local to global
  • Develop as global citizens who recognise the challenges of sustainability and the implications for their own and others’ lives
  • Improve as critical and reflective learners aware of the importance of attitudes and values, including their own
  • Become adept in the use and application of skills and new technologies through their geographical studies both in and outside the classroom
  • Be inspired by the world around them, and gain enjoyment and satisfaction from their geographical studies and understand their relevance

Type and Nature of the Work Involved

  • Develop knowledge and understanding of selected physical, human and environmental processes that underpin key geographical concepts
  • Develop a knowledge and understanding of the key concepts of scale, place, space, diversity, interdependence, people–environment interaction, the processes associated with these, and change over time
  • Carry out research, and out-of-classroom work including fieldwork.

Method of Assessment

There is no coursework, all assessment of the Units is by examination.

AS

Unit 1: Global Challenges

The meaning, causes, impacts and management of global challenges

30% of total A level mark

Unit 2: Geographical Investigations

How physical and human issues influence lives and can be managed.

  • Topic 1: Extreme Weather
  • Topic 2: Rebranding Places to re-image and regenerate rural and urban places, using appropriate strategies.

20% of total A level mark

A2

Unit 3: Contested Planet

The use and management of resources

  • Topic 1: Energy Security
  • Topic 2: Water Conflicts
  • Topic 3: Biodiversity Under Threat.
  • Topic 4: Superpower Geographies
  • Topic 5: Bridging the Development Gap.
  • Topic 6: The Technological Fix?

30% of total A level mark

Unit 4: Geographical Research

Students must select and study one option:

  • Option 1: Tectonic Activity and Hazards
  • Option 2: Cold Environments — Landscapes and Change
  • Option 3: Life on the Margins — the Food Supply Problem
  • Option 4: The World of Cultural Diversity
  • Option 5: Pollution and Human Health at Risk
  • Option 6: Consuming the Rural Landscape — Leisure and Tourism

20% of total A level mark

Specific Entry Requirement: A minimum of a grade B if this option was studied for GCSE