Geography A Level

Why should I study this course?

What impact will Brexit have on trade patterns?  How do the environment agency manage a declining coastal defence budget? What are the implications of climate change on the world today? How will our energy reserves need to adapt when our carbon supplies run short? Is the world becoming an increasingly hazardous place to live? These are a few examples of questions geography deals with.  The world is becoming increasingly connected through technology but in some senses divided through politics. As geographers we try to understand the way in which the natural world works (or doesn’t) in harmony with human kind.

What will I learn?

Globalisation: What are the causes, implications and ways to manage our increasingly connected world?

Regeneration: How can we cope with the changes to our rural/urban landscapes?

Coasts: What processes are at work along coastlines? How do we manage them?

Tectonics: What is involved with a tectonic shift and how can this be managed?

Superpowers: Who are the world's superpowers and how can the resulting conflicts be managed?

Carbon and Water Cycles: What are the physical, political and environmental implications of these natural processes?

Health and human rights: What are the global variations in health and human rights?  How can these be managed and what are the implications of this?

How will I learn?

Teacher led activities, individual and group work, presentations, discussions, role-play and game simulations.  You will use newspapers, TV programmes and digital resources to research current geographical issues.  You will undertake fieldwork in Devon and in and around our great city of Bristol. The Autumn lectures at Bristol University will help with the finer details for your year 13 topics. We will also try to generate independent learners equipped with the research and project skills so highly desired by employers

What can I do with my qualification?

Geography is seen by employers as a subject that produces a worldly wise person who is equipped with suitable skills for the workplace.  We undertake project work and push students to work independently. The 20% CSWK element gives you the opportunity to do a piece of work which echoes geography in the real world.

What do students say?

“Devon is definitely a highlight added to the fact we get to produce a real piece of CSWK.”

“It is hard but definitely worth sticking with.  I feel like I am beginning to understand what is happening on a global scale and why!”