Tips, tricks and advice about A level Geography for all the curious GCSE students out there.

In this post I am going to be answering the questions of current year 11 students, who have either decided they are going to be taking geography next year or are curious about taking geography at A level. And I am also going to be giving advice from both myself and other A level Geography students.

Questions from current GCSE students:

1.       I want to take A level Geography but I didn’t do it at GCSE can I take it at A level?

It depends upon the sixth form/ college but in most places, you do not need to have GCSE geography in order to do it at A level. It does help to have a basic understanding, yet it is perfectly possible to do A level geography with out GCSE geography and still achieve a high grade at the end.

2.       What are the case studies like at A level compared to at GCSE?

I would say that the case studies are definitely more intense than GCSE case studies, in terms of the fact that you have to include much more detail, for example in a recent case study on the Japanese 2011 tsunami, I had to include: social, demographic, environmental, economic, management/mitigation strategies, and human factors affecting vulnerability. However, I find that because of the increased amount of detail needed in the case studies, I find them more interesting, and I am able to pick up facts and figures I would have otherwise over looked. These small facts and figures when added into an answer in the right place can increase the quality of an answer, and can often be the difference between a C and a B.

3.       Is the way you structure paragraphs different? If so what methods/techniques do you use?

It isn’t that different to how you would answer questions in GCSE English, but that depends upon the number of marks a question is worth! For a 6/8 mark question yes, it is a little bit different to how you would answer questions at GCSE.

 For example, if a question asked ‘Explain why regeneration improves the environmental characteristics of an urban area over time’. You would give a brief description in your own words of what regeneration is. E.g. Regeneration is the redevelopment of a previously derelict and struggling area, bringing life back into the area. (Insert name of place in relevant case study) has undergone significant environmental regeneration over time.

Then in the following couple of paragraphs you would discuss the environmental improvements which were a result of regeneration.

However, for essays worth a greater number of marks, no the way you structure your answers is no different to answering an essay question in GCSE English, but you do have to include case study specific detail in answers, while making sure that the essay still flows.

4.       Is there a big jump between GCSE geography and A level geography?

Like with any subject, there is a little bit of a jump but is what you make of it that counts. If you are willing to work hard and put in effort from the get go, then you will find A level Geography relatively easy. However, if you put in minimum effort then you will notice quite a big jump. The content itself is not much harder than GCSE (at least in my opinion), but you do need to know everything in much more detail.

 

Advice from past and present A level geography students:

·         Make sure you read the question thoroughly and make sure you answer the right one, as the questions can be quite similar. For example, “Examine the success of one strategy used to manage the impacts of glacial processes and landforms on human activity. OR Examine the success of one strategy used to manage the impacts of human activity on glacial processes and landforms.” Have very similar wording but the questions are asking very different things.

·         Be curious and read around the subject, to make sure you know a little about a lot. As having extra information in essay answers can often help to push and essay up a grade boundary. If you don’t like reading that’s fine too. There are a number of different YouTube channels you can watch instead; ibx2cat, wonder why, Vox borders and more.

·         Make sure you put in effort from the start to make sure you are not in a mad rush before the exam to try and cram learning content.

·         Essay questions often give you a choice, when writing an essay pick the one you are most confident about and have the most knowledge in, not the one you think you should know about but don’t.

·         Plan your answers for any questions over 6 marks. It stops you repeating yourself and wasting time, and it also makes sure that any points you are going to add are relevant to the question. If you plan answers in enough detail and run out of time to answer the question, examiners can also mark your plans, so it can save your grade too!

·         Make sure you do as the command word in the question says! I will be making a post in the future about the different command words and what they want you to do.