GEOGRAPHY A LEVEL

Examination Board   University of London (EDEXCEL)

Syllabus Numbers      AS   8GEO1   A2   9GEO1

Assessment Modules for AS
Examinations with a mixture of short response, essay and synoptic questions.
Unit 1 60%        1 hour 30 minute examination
Unit 2 40%        1 hour examination.
Assessment Modules for A2
Units 2 and 3   Examinations with a mixture of short response, essay and synoptic questions.

Course Description
The course focuses on understanding the inter-relationship between people and their varied environments and the questions, issues and problems which arise from these relationships.

Unit 1 Global Challenges:  
• The World at Risk: This unit poses questions which seek to explore the meaning, causes and impacts of a number of headline global issues such as Natural Hazards and Climate Change.
• Going Global: Megacities, Globalisation, Population Growth and the issues of migration.
Unit 2 Geographical Investigations:
• An opportunity to look at issues at a local scale through fieldwork and relate these to our own lives as well as a wider world context.
• This unit will involve a residential visit to a fieldwork centre and will focus on extreme weather and rebranding places.
Unit 3 Contested Planet:
• The use and management of resources is a key issue for geography in today’s world.  
• Consumption patterns highlight stark inequalities between regions, countries and groups of people.  
• Many resources are finite, and rising consumption means that difficult decisions over the use of resources will have to be taken more frequently.
Unit 4 Geographical Research
• Students select one topic from a wide range including Tectonic Activity and Hazards, Cold Environments, Landscapes and Change, Life on the Margins — the Food Supply Problem,
• The World of Cultural Diversity, Pollution and Human Health at Risk and Consuming the Rural Landscape — Leisure and Tourism.

Skills Required:
AS and A2 Geography will help to develop a range of skills including decision making, essay writing, fieldwork techniques and report writing.

Career Pathways.
Geography is probably one of the most versatile of the subjects on offer at AS and A2 level, sitting comfortably alongside both the sciences and the arts.   It is universally accepted as an appropriate entry qualification to Higher Education, areas of environmental concern, all the professions including accountancy, banking, medicine and surveying, careers needing competent decision making skills, strong analytical ability and / or spatial awareness.