Geography – A-Level AQA
Course entry requirements
English Language and Maths at grade 6 or above and Geography at grade 6 and above If studied at GCSE level (or equivalent GCSE).
OVERVIEW OF COURSE
The AQA specification offers an opportunity to excite students minds, challenge perceptions and stimulate their investigative and analytical skills. The course content gives students the opportunity to develop an in-depth understanding of physical and human geography, to study units which reflect the world today, and to become critical, reflective and independent learners.
COURSE DETAILS AND ASSESSMENT INFORMATION
| Paper 1 – Physical Geography Section A: Water and carbon cycles Section B: either Hot desert systems and landscapes or Coastal systems and landscapes or Glacial systems and landscapes Section C: either Hazards or Ecosystems under stress |
Written exam: 2 hours 30 minute 120 marks 40% of A-level |
| Paper 2 – Human Geography Section A: Global systems and global governance Section B: Changing places Section C: either Contemporary urban environments or Population and the environment or Resource security |
Written exam: 2 hours 30 minutes 120 marks 40% of A-level |
| Field work – What’s assessed Students complete an individual investigation which must include data collected in the field. The individual investigation must be based on a question or issue defined and developed by the student relating to any part of the specification content. |
3,000–4,000 words 60 marks. 20% of A-level marked by teachers moderated by AQA |
WHERE CAN THIS COURSE TAKE ME?
Geography graduates tend to be fairly open-minded and interested in the world around them. There are a broad range of careers open to a geography graduate. You could do anything from working in the war room of a royal navy vessel, to working with the environment agency, running housing schemes, or working almost anywhere in the public sector.
With further qualifications or training, you could teach geography, do urban design or town planning, or become a chartered surveyor. In the last few years some of our students went on to study degrees in Development Geography at Bath Spa, Marine & Freshwater Biology at Hull, and Geography at Southampton, Swansea and Birmingham.
I CAN FIND OUT MORE INFORMATION BY
Visiting some of the websites: Geographyinthenews.org.uk, Earthweek.com, Oxfam.org.uk, Worldmapper.org, Geography.org.uk.