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Geography

At St Edward’s, our Geography curriculum will equip our students with the skills to cope with life in the fast changing world of the 21st Century.

Curriculum Intent

In Geography we have built a curriculum that has interest at its heart. We want our students to become interested and engaged with the world around them. We seek to feed their natural curiosity with a love of learning and inspire them to explore about the world around them. We value and encourage them to learn about diverse cultures, environmental challenges, and the interconnectedness of global communities. This knowledge empowers them to become informed, compassionate citizens capable of making impactful decisions. We encourage your child's exploration of geography; it's not just about maps and places, but about shaping a brighter, more connected future for all

In each year at St. Edwards, students will progress in the skills, develop better powers of analysis, writing and maths.

As Geography teachers, we aim to unleash the potential that a powerful academic subject can.

Course Contact

Mr Craig Major
Geography Subject Leader

Key Stage Three

At Key Stage Three, students study a broad range of topics about the natural and human world from a range of places, both within and outside the UK.

In Year 7 students will discover environmental concerns via plastic pollution, how life is in the context of a less developed region of Ghana, why the UKs weather and climate varies, how cities are meeting the demands of the 21st century, change along the Dorset Coast as well as how the River Nile continues to be a life blood to East Africa.

In Year 8 students will explore human and natural change in Brazil, mass extinction and conservation of wildlife on earth, global population explosion as well as ageing and migration concerns and opportunities, understanding earthquake and volcanic hazards as well as the beauty of underground cave systems.

In Year 9 students will embrace our globalised world, see how places change via study of Boscombe, grasp that Climate change because of natural as well as human causes and the huge consequences that this is having on us and our planet, health issues are often firmly rooted in difference in Geography as well as exploring the cause and impact of conflicts around the world.

Key Stage Four

In our modern, globally interconnected society, it is more important than ever that people understand the world around them. This new specification gives you the chance to learn about those changes. 

  • Paper 1: Living with the physical environment will give you a sound understanding of the natural world processes such as earthquakes and volcanoes, ecosystems, the atmosphere and climate and the water cycle.  
  • Paper 2: Challenges in the human environment focuses on human geography. You will study how populations grow and change, where people live and work and how they exploit and use resources. 
  • Paper 3: Geographical applications focuses on practical geography. This requires field study skills and techniques.

Method of Assessment

AQA Exam based - No coursework 

Paper 1 & 2, each worth 35% of GCSE. Exam papers are resource based. You will have maps, photographs and diagrams to help you answer the questions. Questions will range from short questions up to larger extended writing questions.  

Paper 3, worth 30% of the GCSE geographical applications, is a decision-making exercise based on resources given. These will consist of a colour resource booklet on a geographical issue or location. Questions will assess your understanding of the resources in relation to environmental issues and sustainability. You will also be expected to apply your fieldwork knowledge and skills to respond to a range of questions.  

In GCSE geography there is no controlled assessment (coursework) unit. Instead you will complete two fieldwork and data collection enquiries for knowledge and skills experience, to aid preparation for Paper 3.  

Key Stage Five

In A Level Geography you will see how and why the world is changing. 

Geography is a great choice if you are interested in studying about the world, making sense of why things happen as they do, how people and places are linked, and why we will have to understand this for the future of our species. 

The course content requires you to enhance communication skills, literacy and numeracy, IT skills, spatial awareness, team working, problem solving and environmental awareness.  Field work/visits are an integral part of the course. 

This course is particularly suitable if you are interested in people and events from around the world.

Learn more

Future Pathways

Geography is a broad-based academic subject which is well respected by employers and educational establishments. GCSE geography may well be the first step to further education. Geography graduates have one of the highest rates of graduate employment. Geographers enter a very wide range of career areas, the main benefit of studying geography is that the investigation focus will allow young people to develop an incredible range of transferable skills as well as important transferable attributes such as communication, presentation and team-working. Some of the well-paid jobs geographers go into include; engineering, planning, researching and sciences, travel and tourism, banking and insurance, law, journalism, government, marketing, presenting, health services and management.

Student Testimonials

"What I enjoy most about Geography is the range of topics and interesting discoveries we learn about."

Lucy, KS3 Geography student

"I enjoy developing new knowledge about geography I didn’t know before, learning about different types of hazards is my favourite."

Jesse, KS4 Geography student 

"What I enjoy most is experiencing the whole world through a classroom."

Sam, KS5 Geography student