GEOGRAPHY

Specification: AQA Geography (8035) 

You should have already developed a range of relevant skills and knowledge from studying Geography over the past few years. These will be of great help in GCSE Geography.  The GCSE course will take you further.  It will introduce you to new skills and new places and new ideas. You will also be able to apply what you are learning and understand more about how people’s decisions shape the world in which we live.

What is GCSE Geography all about?

• • You live in the world – why not find out more about the challenges and opportunities it offers, and how to get involved? In GCSE Geography, you will travel the world from the classroom, exploring case studies in the United Kingdom (UK), newly emerging economies (NEEs) and lower income countries (LICs). You will be encouraged to understand your role in society, by considering different viewpoints, values and attitudes. 

During the three year course, you will:-

• •  Examine how today’s global economies are changing

  •  Discover how people are using different environments, both in our own country and those in other parts of the world

  •  Investigate issues of sustainability and consider whether the Earth will be able to continue to produce for us with all the resources we take for granted  now

  •  Discover how different landscapes have developed and learn to appreciate the great natural forces involved

  •  Study the causes of ‘natural hazards’ such as floods, tropical storms, earthquakes and volcanoes and learn how people can cope with them

  •  Examine how the global climate is changing and consider how humans can manage this change

Will I enjoy this course?

• • You will enjoy this course if you want to study a subject that:-

  • is relevant to the world you live in, and to your future

  • encourages you to discuss current affairs and issues

  • focuses on the environment

  • involves practical work outdoors

  • is studied through investigation as well as through listening and reading

  • develops a full range of skills that will be useful in other subjects you study, and in future employment

 The Course Outline

The course is divided into four units. You will study all four units. In the Living with the physical environment and Challenges in the human environment units, the content is split into sections, with each one focusing on a particular geographical theme.  The Geographical applications unit sets out the requirements for fieldwork and issue evaluation. The Geographical skills sets out the geographical skills that students are required to develop and demonstrate.

Living with the physical environment (Paper 1)

• • Section A:            The challenge of natural hazards

  • Section B:             The Living World

  • Section C:             Physical landscapes in the UK

 Challenges in the human environment (Paper 2)

• • Section A:            Urban issues and challenges

  • Section B:             The changing economic world

  • Section C:             The challenge of resource management

Geographical applications (Paper 3)

• • Section A:             Issue evaluation

  • Section B:             Fieldwork

Geographical skills

Geographical skills: students are required to develop and demonstrate a range of geographical skills, including cartographic, graphical, numerical and statistical skills, throughout the course. Skills will be assessed in all three written examinations.

What about Fieldwork?

Students will need to undertake two geographical enquiries during the three-year course, each of which must include the use of primary data, collected as part of a fieldwork exercise. The fieldwork enquiries will not be submitted, but questions related to the fieldwork will be assessed in Paper 3 - Geographical applications.

As the fieldwork experiences will take place out of school there will be a charge for these. 

What about assessment and examinations?

This course is a linear course meaning that you will have to sit all three examination papers at the end of Year 11. There is no longer any controlled assessment. The assessment process is as follows:-

Paper 1: Living with the physical environment

•    Written examination: 1 hour 30 minutes

•    88 marks (including 3 marks for spelling, punctuation, grammar and specialist terminology (SPaG))

•    35% of GCSE

Questions

•    Section A: answer all questions (33 marks)

•    Section B: answer all questions (25 marks)

•    Section C: answer any two from questions 3, 4 and 5 (30 marks)

•    Question types: multiple-choice, short answer, levels of response, extended prose

Paper 2: Challenges in the human environment

•    Written examination: 1 hour 30 minutes

•    88 marks (including 3 marks for spelling, punctuation, grammar and specialist terminology (SPaG))

•    35% of GCSE

Questions

•    Section A: answer all questions (33 marks)

•    Section B: answer all questions (30 marks)

•    Section C: answer question 3 and one from questions 4, 5 or 6 (25 marks)

•    Question types: multiple-choice, short answer, levels of response, extended prose

Paper 3: Geographical applications

•    Written examination: 1 hour 15 minutes

•    76 marks (including 6 marks for SPaG)

•    30% of GCSE

•    Pre-release resources booklet made available 12 weeks before Paper 3 examination

Questions

•    Section A: answer all questions (37 marks)

•    Section B: answer all questions (39 marks)

•    Question types: multiple-choice, short answer, levels of response, extended prose

Aptitudes needed for this course

•     Good communication skills

•     The ability to work independently and as part of a team

•     A diligent and conscientious approach to learning

•     Problem solving and decision making skills

•     Good organisation