This course will appeal to you if you have an interest in and concern for the environment. It is relevant to your own life and experiences and gives you the opportunity to carry out practical work outdoors as well as class work. If you enjoy travel and finding out about new people, places, landscapes and events, this is the course for you.
This course is an ideal preparation for a wide range of possible career and higher education opportunities. You learn and use a variety of transferable skills that are in great demand and are recognized by employers and universities and colleges as being of great value. Depending on the subjects that you choose at AS and A2 you could go straight to employment in areas such as administration and operational management, planning, management, conservation, agriculture, or on to university to study degree courses such as meteorology, surveying, forestry, oceanography, environmental science, tourism.
The course will build upon prior knowledge of the subject at GCSE level. It will be assessed by Unit (Modular) examinations during and at the end of the AS and A2 course.
The topics studied at AS Level include:
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Unit 1: rivers, coasts, population change and health issues.
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Unit 2: Geographical Skills. These are based on the content of Unit 1 and include basic, investigative, ICT, graphical, cartographical and statistical skills, research skills and fieldwork.
At A2 level you will study:
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Unit 3: Plate tectonics and associated hazards, weather and climate and associated hazards, and world cities.
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Unit 4b: Geographical issue evaluation using the skills gained throughout the course.
AS & A2, AEA
General college entry requirements. (See page 10 for details.) If Geography is taken at GCSE, you should have achieved grade C or above. If Geography is not taken at GCSE you need to have Grade C in an essay writing subject, e.g. GCSE English Language, English Literature or Religious Studies. AEA is offered, after consultation with staff, to A2 students who wish to take it..