Faculty: Humanities
Subject: GCSE Geography
Subject Leader: Mr C Monk (Director of Humanities)
Staff and Responsibility: Mr W Sweeney, Mr T Thomas
Course Content
Students taking GCSE Geography can expect to study diverse and exciting subjects, that cover a variety of topics which affect the world we live in. The Geography Department follow the
AQA Exam board and the course is split into three sections:
- Unit 1- Physical Geography
- Unit 2- Human Geography
- Unit 3- Geographical applications.
Students will be expected to sit three exams at the end of Year 11 in the following areas:
| Paper 1 – Living with the Physical Planet (35%) |
| (Natural Hazards, Physical Landscapes and the Living World) |
| Natural Hazards – Students are given the opportunity to study a range of environments and geographical processes that help to create the amazing planet that we live on. The unit looks at tectonic plate boundaries and the study of volcanoes, earthquakes and Tropical Storms. |
| Physical Landscapes in the UK – We study the ways in which we are affected by rivers and the processes that take place within them, and then we look at the amazing coastal areas that are sculpted by physical processes. |
| The Living World – Students are able to build on their knowledge from KS3 and are required to look at key Ecosystems around the world e.g. Tropical Rainforests and Hot Deserts |
| Urban Issues & challenges, The changing economic world, The challenge of resource management |
| Written exam 1 hour 30-minutes To create a finely balanced GCSE, Geography also looks at the human impacts on the planet. This unit is concerned with human processes, systems and outcomes and how these change spatially and temporally. We look at real modern approaches to current Geography with up to date issues facing us around the world. |
| Paper 2 – Challenges in the human environment (35%) |
| Paper 3 – Geographical applications (30%) |
| Written exam 1 hour 15-minutes This assessment provides students with the opportunity to demonstrate geographical skills and applied knowledge by looking at a particular issues. Students will receive a pre-release resource sheet before the exam to prepare for the question on a Geographical topic. As well as this section students have the opportunity to complete two forms of fieldwork that will be tested in this final exam. |
