Geography plays a crucial role in understanding our world. It makes an important contribution to our knowledge of the rapidly changing environmental and social challenges facing us and how we should tackle them.

Students will travel the world from their classroom, exploring case studies in the United Kingdom (UK), higher income countries (HICs), newly emerging economies (NEEs) and lower income countries (LICs).

Topics of study include natural hazards, climate change, poverty, deprivation, global shifts in economic power and the challenge of sustainable resource use. Students are also encouraged to understand their role in society, by considering different viewpoints, values and attitudes.

Living with the physical environment – The challenge of natural hazards, The living world, Physical landscapes in the UK.

Challenges in the human landscape – Urban issues and challenges, The changing economic world, The challenge of resource management.

Geographical Applications – Issue Evaluation (based on a pre-release booklet on a topical geographical issue) and Fieldwork (human and physical).

As part of the GCSE course, students are required to undertake both physical and human fieldwork to fulfil the requirements of the specification. For their physical fieldwork, we visit the coastal town of Hunstanton and spend a day investigating coastal features and processes. For the human geography element, the fieldwork is based in Lincoln, where students carry out an enquiry which focusses on regeneration of different parts of the city. Students will be assessed on their fieldwork techniques in their paper 3 exam.

There are 3 written exams, all at the end of Year 11.

• Paper 1 – Physical Geography (1 hour 30 minutes)
• Paper 2 – Human Geography (1 hour 30 minutes)
• Paper 3 – Issue Evaluation and Fieldwork (1 hour 30 minutes)

After studying GCSE Geography you could study A-level Geography at Bourne Academy Sixth Form.

Studying Geography opens up a wide range of possible career routes. There are a multitude of jobs involving both physical and human Geography, including meteorologists, climate change scientists, researchers, town planners, international development officers, disaster management, armed forces, conservation officers, landscape architect, teachers and environmental consultants to name just a few.

Geography is a highly respected subject by future employers, as students gain a variety of important skills, whilst having a deep understanding of the world around them.