Examination Board: Edexcel
Examination Details:
You will study Edexcel syllabus B.
At the end of the course you will take two exam papers, and complete one item of coursework.
The first paper is a Decision Making Exercise (DME). A few weeks before the exam you will be given information about a particular issue. You will have the chance to go through this information in detail with your teacher. In the exam you will be asked questions about the issue, and be asked to decide on the best way of handling it.
The second paper has questions covering the rest of the information and skills you have learned on the course. There is a choice of questions, depending on which topics you have studied. Each question is broken down into a number of shorter parts.
Coursework
You will do some fieldwork as part of your course, where you go out and put your skills and knowledge into practice. The information for this will not come from textbooks or videos, but will be an opportunity for you to investigate what is happening in the real world. You must write up a report of your investigation, including diagrams to present the information you have found out. Your teacher marks this and the marks go towards your final exam result. You will have plenty of time to carry all this out, and it means that you won’t just be judged on how well you do on one day in the exam.
Course Content:
The course is divided into three main ‘core’ units and two shorter ‘optimal’ units:
Unit A1 Providing for population change
Unit A2 Planning for change
Unit A3 Copying with environmental change
Unit B5 Weather and climate
Unit C7 Recreation and tourism
• You live in the world, why not find out more about the challenges and opportunities it offers, and how to get involved?
• This subject looks at the issues that are facing people in all parts of the world today, and asks how they might affect you as a citizen of tomorrow’s world – and how you might be able to influence events.
• Find out more about how people are using different environments, both your own and those in other parts of the world.
• Investigate issues of sustainability – will the Earth still be able to provide us with all the resources we take for granted now?
• Is global warming happening? How will it affect the Earth?
• Where should we build the new houses we need? Should the countryside be protected?
• What sort of jobs will there be in the future? Where will they be?
• What really causes ‘natural disasters’ like floods, earthquakes and volcanoes? How can people cope with them?
Sixth Form and Career Opportunities:
A GCSE in Geography is a stepping-stone to a whole range of future opportunities. The skills you develop will support you in further studies and employment.
A good grade at GCSE will help you move on to AS, A level or vocational A level courses. If you enjoyed your Geography GCSE, you might want to continue with this subject, or study a related subject. Biology, Geology, Environmental Science, Government & Politics, Economics, Travel & Tourism and Leisure & Recreation all have close links with some of the material you studied for this GCSE.
Employment opportunities where your geographical skills will be particularly valued include journalism and media, the law, engineering, business management, ICT, environmental management, teaching, economic planning, marketing, leisure, recreation and tourism.
