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A Level Geography

The document summarizes the benefits and career prospects of studying geography A-Level at Sandbach School Sixth Form. It outlines the course structure and units, highlights the diverse career paths of geography graduates, and notes the high employability and low unemployment of geography graduates compared to other fields of study. The course provides transferable skills in fields, GIS mapping, data analysis, and understanding global issues that are valuable to employers.

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38 views3 pages

A Level Geography

The document summarizes the benefits and career prospects of studying geography A-Level at Sandbach School Sixth Form. It outlines the course structure and units, highlights the diverse career paths of geography graduates, and notes the high employability and low unemployment of geography graduates compared to other fields of study. The course provides transferable skills in fields, GIS mapping, data analysis, and understanding global issues that are valuable to employers.

Uploaded by

api-62035124
Copyright
© Attribution Non-Commercial (BY-NC)
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A Level Geography

Sandbach School Sixth Form


RELEVANT
There has never been a better or more important time to study geography. With growing interest in issues such as climate change, migration, environmental degradation and social cohesion, geography is one of the most relevant A level courses you could choose to study. Whether researching a volcano that stops air travel in its tracks, deciding where to locate a wind farm, or using geographical information systems (GIS) to help locate a business, the work of geographers across the world is as diverse as it is compelling. Often the top media stories of the day are underpinned by geography whether its crime statistics, the spread of disease, development (both local and international) or sustainability, to name just a few. Geographers specialist knowledge and ability to understand issues from a breadth of different perspectives means they are highly sought after in the workplace. The result has been more opportunities for geographers at a time when competition for jobs is higher than ever before. Many employers prize the knowledge and skills that studying geography can provide and geography in higher education is thriving. Geography students are among those gaining greatest satisfaction from their studies, and geography graduates have a relatively low level of unemployment. It's no wonder there is a growing demand to study the subject at university. This is underlined by the Russell Group of Universities, along with the Minister David Willetts MP, who both recognise geography as one of the key "facilitating" subjects for entry to degree level study. Whatever your passion for the world - fascination with landscapes or concerns about inequality - geography will provide you with knowledge and transferable skills that will reward you personally and advance you academically.

CURRENT

OPPORTUNITY

PROSPECTS

REWARDING

Fantastic A2 Results 2011


A*-A 35% A*-C 82% A*-E 100%
91% of students hit or exceeded their target grade!

BRIDGING THE GAP


Geography is a bridge between the arts and the sciences.
This gives you greater flexibility if you decide to go on to higher education.

FED UP WITH COURSEWORK?


NO COURSEWORK AT A/S OR A2

A-Level Geography Course (AQA Specification)


Unit 1
70% of AS, 35% of A Level 2 hour written exam in May of Y12

Physical & Human Geography


The study of core geographical concepts along with contrasting themes of contemporary or environmental impact, management and sustainability. Population Change Energy Issues Rivers, Flood & Management Cold Environments

Unit 2
30% of AS, 15% of A Level 1 hour written exam in January of Y12

Geographical Skills
Structured skills and generic fieldwork questions (investigative, cartographic, graphical, ICT and statistical skills). Y12 field trip to Stanner Brook.

Unit 3
30% of A Level 2 hour written exam in June of Y13

Contemporary Geographical Issues


An issues-based approach to contemporary geographical themes. Tectonics & associated hazards Weather & Climate & associated hazards World Cities

Unit 4
20% of A Level 1 hour written exam in January of Y13

Geography Fieldwork Investigation


Structured short and extended questions based on a fieldwork investigation and fieldwork skills. Year 13 field trip to Manchester

TRANSFERABLE SKILLS
The nature of peoples working lives has changed a job for life is now a thing of the past. As career paths become more varied, individuals will more readily transfer from working in one sector to another.

Fieldwork opportunities
Local river study Stanner Brook Cold Environments Snowdonia Fieldwork investigation Manchester

A world of opportunity
In a tough job climate, what is it about those with geography degrees that makes them so employable?
By Richard Garner
Thursday, 2 December 2010

The news for graduates about their employment prospects may have seemed unremittingly gloomy over the past few months. It is, according to statistics, at its worst level for 17 years. However, hidden in amongst the national statistics, there are some success stories that show all may not be as bad as it seems for everyone who graduated last year. Crucially, it can depend on what subject you studied as to how successful you will be in finding employment after graduation. One glimmer of light shines in the field of geography: its graduates, it seems, are finding it less difficult to obtain meaningful employment than the rest. The official figures show only 7.4 per cent of them were unemployed six months after graduating compared with 8.9 per cent of the student body overall. The world may be becoming their oyster as more and more companies see the virtue of having a green eye on board to advise them on environmental hazards. It was not always thus, of course. In fact, geography had such a low ranking in the eyes of academia that at my school, a leading independent school, Highgate you could not even take the subject if you were A-stream material. That was for the more academically challenged, masters would say sniffily, along with woodwork. It has taken some time to change perceptions. Even two years ago pupils were telling Ofsted, the education standards watchdog, that the subject was "boring and irrelevant". Numbers studying it have risen, though, with 230,000 youngsters opting to take it at GCSE this summer. The Royal Geographical Society has mounted a campaign to increase the take-up in schools even further with a letter from its president, Michael Palin, to all parents saying: "So many of the world's problems boil down to geography and need the geographers of the future to help us understand them. Global warming, sustainable food production, natural disasters such as earthquakes and tsunamis, the spread of disease, the reasons for migration and the future of energy resources are just some of the great challenges facing the next generation of geographers." He adds: "An A-level in geography is recognised for its academic 'robustness' and, most importantly, it also helps young people into the world of work. You will find geographers in a wide range of jobs, from the City to planning, working in the environment to travel and tourism, or in international charities or retail." In the past, when times have been hard, economists have looked at businesses with a ruthless lack of sentiment. A decade ago, they would have professed concern for the environment but when the chips were down people in green roles would have been shown the door. Martin Baxter, of the Institute of Environmental Management and assessment, said: "There seems to have been a change in the status of the environmental professional. They are better integrated into businesses." Don't take his word for it. Listen to Lucy Gosling, a geography graduate from East Anglia now assessing flood risks in new buildings with the Environment Agency. "Today's new developments could be around for 100 years so we need to ensure they're sustainable in terms of flood risk, and geography's at the heart of this," she says. Some of the geography graduates we have spoken to have not ended up in a job you would associate with the subject. However, they feel the skills they learned in making presentations during their university course and arguing an environmental case help them in whatever they pursue.

Follow the Geography Department on Twitter www.twitter.com/SandbachGeog Email your questions about the A Level Geography course [email protected]

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