GCSE Geography

(Option Subject)

Exam Board: OCR

Course Content

The GCSE course in Geography builds on the work done in Years 7-9. Geography is a subject that is long-established and you’ve already studied it for 9 years.  So you already know a lot about Geography and at GCSE you’ll learn more about the world, the environment and how people have affected the world.

In your lifetime the world will continue to change – for the better and quite possibly for the worse too.  As society has become more developed, the environment has often suffered and at times people have forgotten that life can be fragile.  Natural disasters, global warming, third-world poverty, over- population, depletion of the world’s resources are all issues that face us all. Studying Geography can help develop a deeper understanding of the wonderful and sometimes scary world we live in.

Geography has links with many other subjects. It is a skills based subject that supports the work done in English, Maths, ICT, and Science.  It is a real subject, studying the world we live in and students say it’s fascinating, challenging and interesting.  It’s designed to make you think.  It is the subject for you if you are interested in the world around you and you might consider combining it with History or Travel and Tourism.

Geography equips students with the knowledge and skills that make them more employable, according to research done by the Royal Geographical Society.  As Westborough results have been good for many years, seeing an 8% increase in A*-C grades since 2001, and 100% A*-G.

Assessment

25% of the GCSE is assessed by coursework. One of the pieces of coursework is based on fieldwork, in the Peak District, near Sheffield. Students are offered the opportunity to go on a residential field-trip to do their field-work if they wish. The Geography department makes frequent use of ICT in the GCSE course for researching, learning and presenting work.

At Westborough we follow the OCR Specification B which was developed by teachers to make it relevant and interesting for 14-16 year olds. The course is nationally recognised for being accessible to students of all abilities. There are 2 exams – the first offering a choice of questions, the second paper is a ‘decision making’ exercise, which requires less revision.

For further information, please contact Mr Barber or Mr Davies

Examples of Jobs and Careers for Geography: - Air Traffic Controller, Travel Consultant, Transport Manager, Tourist Information Worker, Land Surveyor, Town Planner, Ordnance Survey, Weather Forecaster, Geologist, Environmental Scientist.