GCSE

Students follow the OCR B syllabus.

This course will encourage students to be inspired, motivated & challenged by following a broad, satisfying and worthwhile course and gain an insight into how the various aspects of Geography are related. It will prepare the students to make informed decisions, develop as effective and independent learners and as critical & reflective thinkers with enquiring minds. It will also develop student's knowledge & understanding of geographical concepts and appreciate the relevance of these concepts to the changing world.

The key geographical themes the students will study are;

Rivers & coasts

Population & settlement

Natural Hazards

Economic development

Students are assessed in 3 ways

1. Sustainable Decision Making - an externally assessed exam which is based on resource material linked to one of the 4 key themes & will develop real-life skills relevant to future decision making (25% of final mark)

2. Geographical enquiry - This is based on fieldwork where primary data has to be collected & questions and hypotheses are set based on the topic and focuses on one of the key themes. Work will be completed in 16 hours of controlled assessment.(25% of final mark)

3. Key geographical themes is an external assessed written exam lasting 1 hour and 45 minutes where students will be tested on their knowledge of three of the key themes. Students answer all three exam questions. The other theme will have been the focus of the sustainable decision making activity. (50% of final marks)

Work outside the classroom is a compulsory part of the course.