Geography helps you to make sense of the world around you. It's a hands-on, relevant and forward-looking subject that gives you opportunities to question the world around you. It is often seen as a bridge between the sciences and humanities, enabling you to gain the necessary understanding and skills for a wide range of future careers.
Subject Information
Geography is likely to be a good choice for you if:
- You enjoyed studying Geography at GCSE.
- You are interested in learning more about people and their societies, economies, cultures and the environment.
- You want to understand more about climate change and its impact on people and places.
Geography offers a selection of new, interesting topics not covered at GCSE level and allows you to go into greater depth in some key elements you previously studied. It covers both the physical and human environments and the complex interaction of processes that shape our world. It will also, importantly, show the applied side of the subject – how human intervention affects the environment and how people adapt and mitigate the effects of processes on their environment.
There is plenty of room for discussion and extended research, which will help you become an independent thinker and learner. By the time you get to your exams, you will be able to show your understanding of a range of opinions and be able to illustrate your answers with case studies from local, national and international examples.
You will learn in a wide variety of ways: using maps, GIS skills, data analysis, photos, videos and podcasts, as well as taking part in field trips. You will be encouraged to frame your own questions using higher-level thinking skills and show your grasp of complex issues through report and essay writing. Fieldwork will be an essential part of your course.
Chesterton Sixth Geographers will become members of the Geographical Association and The Royal Geographical Society, giving them access to a wide range of networking opportunities.
Course Details
Geographers will experience a variety of teaching and learning opportunities including classroom debate and discussion, role play simulations, fieldwork and trips.
You will study both physical and human geography and complete your own fieldwork investigation based on a specification topic of your choice.
- Physical Geography – water and carbon cycles, coastal systems and landscapes, hazards (volcanoes, earthquakes, tropical storms, wildfires)
- Human Geography – global systems and global governance, changing places, contemporary urban environments
- Geography fieldwork investigation – you will complete an individual investigation (3000–4000 words) based on a question or issue you choose to develop, including collecting and analysing fieldwork data
You will undertake at least four days of fieldwork during the course. We expect to offer a residential fieldwork opportunity in additional to local trips.
Geography students will become members of the local branch of the Geographical Association, giving them access to the society’s lecture programme and to a range of local trips. They will also become members of The Royal Geographical Society and will be encouraged to enter competitions and to submit material for publication in the ‘Routes’ journal.
Covid-restrictions permitting, we expect to offer a range of enrichment trips locally within Cambridge and also further afield to London, the Norfolk Coast, Dorset and Iceland.
Subject Specific Entry Requirements
- Grade 6 in GCSE Geography.
Where could Geography take me?
Geography is a broad-based academic subject which will open up options for you in your future. Employers and universities see Geography as a robust academic subject rich in skills, knowledge and understanding and Geographers are among the most employable university graduates.
As a subject linking the arts and the sciences, Geography is very flexible. If you choose to take Geography on to university there are literally hundreds of courses to choose from and the range of career areas accessed by graduates of Geography will probably surprise you.
Geography is a facilitating subject – that is a subject most likely to be required or preferred for entry to degree courses. Choosing facilitating subjects will keep more options at the university level; Geography opens doors to other degrees such as business and administrative studies, law, engineering and technology, and the other social physical sciences.
Reading List
Read
- Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind, by YN Harari
- The Almighty Dollar, by D David
- Factfulness, by H Rosling.
- Invisible Women, by CC Perez
- Adventures in the Anthropocene, by G Vince
- The Cure for Catastrophe, by R Muir-Wood
- The Earth: A Very Short Introduction, by M Redfern
- Plate Tectonics: A Very Short Introduction, by P Molnar
- Water: A Very Short Introduction, by J Finney
Watch
- David Attenborough: A Life On Our Planet
- Into the Inferno
Explore
- Our World in Data
- The Economist: Schools Brief
