Geography or Computer Science GCSE
hi, i am selecting my GCSEs and and picking between Computing and Geography. i would say that i am probably better at computing but i have told that i can get an 8/9 in either. the geography course interests me slightly more than the computing course but of course i could see myself doing either happily and have not really looked at the computer science course that well. so now i want to put it down to what is more useful,,, so any help??
Both are useful. Tbh the subjects you do at gcse arent really relevant in anything expect if you need it do a specific a level. I suggest you look at the examboard that your school is doing and look at their computer science specification because I remember my friends complaining about doing this NEA that they needed to get their grade but didnt count for anything. Or you could ask a yr 11 what they think of both subjects
I didn't take geography but I'm doing computer science, so that's the only one I can talk about much. The last few year groups have had to do a programming project for coursework which doesn't count towards our grade (it used to be 20% but there was a problem with answers being put online) , I don't know what the situation is for your year group but you might want to find out as you could spend a lot of time on it.
If you have any kind of idea what you want to do for alevels or in the future maybe pick the subject most relevant to that, otherwise the one you enjoy the most. You could always try talking to a year 10 or 11 at your school to find out more, I'm happy to answer any questions you've got about computing
If you have any kind of idea what you want to do for alevels or in the future maybe pick the subject most relevant to that, otherwise the one you enjoy the most. You could always try talking to a year 10 or 11 at your school to find out more, I'm happy to answer any questions you've got about computing
It purely depends on your personal preference. But, having done Geography, I can tell you it is super interesting, I liked it ever since KS3. I also think it is a subject you can easily score a grade 8/9, if you revise the content and know how to answer to specific command words. Also, Geography will always be useful no matter what, it makes you more aware of everything around you and that’s what I love about it. If you know what you want to do in the future, see which subject will be more useful. I’m afraid I cannot give you much info about Computer Science, sorry. I hope it all goes well! 
Computer science anyday. You will find yourself falling asleep in geography. When I picked my GCSE's I always knew I was gonna pick CS because it reeps more rewards at the end. Up to you but I would say CS and the NEA is only a programming project which is very simple.
pick geography i did both geo and cs and i absolutely loved geography it's a very easy subject. just because you know how to do programming it doesnt guarantee a grade 9. i say that bc one of my friend was very good at programming but theory wasnt his forte and ended up with a 7 when everyone was expecting a 9 from him!!
Hey there! I'm in Year 11 doing both at GCSE, so hopefully I'm qualified to answer this!
Though course content will differ depending on what exam board you're with for them ( I'm with OCR in Computing, and Edexcel in Geography), I'm pretty sure difficulty doesn't vary too wildly.Geography prioritises case study knowledge - learn 5 points of data for each case study, apply these in 8 markers, you're set to get full marks in that question. Some small questions are relatively easy if you have common sense - e.g., how has agriculture lead to climate change (3 marks). Hint: mention fossil fuels and greenhouse gas emissions and you're fine!
The main issue in Geography I think is the dullness of the course content. You seem pretty interested which is awesome, and your specific course may have slightly more interesting content. However, the 'human' content is what I've only found to be interesting, and the 'physical' and 'fieldwork' section is gruelling not in terms of difficulty, but in how non interesting they are. If you can revise and remember processes and data (judging by your expected grades I think you can) then it should be no problem for you, as unlike other GCSE's the questions remain very very similar and easy to answer, for the most part.
Computing is slightly more difficult, but not enough to scare you! The hardware stuff can take a while to get lodged in your brain, but if you revise well and often it is a doddle. With OCR I like that I don't do programming coursework as a marked piece - this I found quite dull weirdly enough not because of the programming, but you have to explain your every line, and it takes 20 hours to do! However, unlike the 1st paper in hardware the 2nd paper is to do with programming, not only how to do it but the theory behind it as well. This has a lot less 'heavy' content to memorise and more just grasping how to program - again, with dedication you will learn.
Right... so usefulness. For this I would have to go Geography. Computing is very well respected ( this doesn't go for ICT I think ) but unless you're thinking about taking it A Level / beyond it won't offer you much specific benefits. Geography will open up more routes at college typically -
many people want to do a humanity at A Level and a level 6 is required in a humanity usually. Also, a lot of A Levels require a 5 at least in a written subject along with English, and Geography makes a nice candidate.
So overall? Up to you. Geography is helping me choose my A Levels by opening a lot of doors, easy questions, but I've hated the boredom of the content and remembering data is a bit of a pain. CS has quite a bit more to learn, but I've enjoyed my time with it and I'm going to use what I've learnt in my personal Python side projects to boost my CV, even though I don't think I'm going to go down that path.
I hope this was helpful! Feel free to ask about anything.
Though course content will differ depending on what exam board you're with for them ( I'm with OCR in Computing, and Edexcel in Geography), I'm pretty sure difficulty doesn't vary too wildly.Geography prioritises case study knowledge - learn 5 points of data for each case study, apply these in 8 markers, you're set to get full marks in that question. Some small questions are relatively easy if you have common sense - e.g., how has agriculture lead to climate change (3 marks). Hint: mention fossil fuels and greenhouse gas emissions and you're fine!
The main issue in Geography I think is the dullness of the course content. You seem pretty interested which is awesome, and your specific course may have slightly more interesting content. However, the 'human' content is what I've only found to be interesting, and the 'physical' and 'fieldwork' section is gruelling not in terms of difficulty, but in how non interesting they are. If you can revise and remember processes and data (judging by your expected grades I think you can) then it should be no problem for you, as unlike other GCSE's the questions remain very very similar and easy to answer, for the most part.
Computing is slightly more difficult, but not enough to scare you! The hardware stuff can take a while to get lodged in your brain, but if you revise well and often it is a doddle. With OCR I like that I don't do programming coursework as a marked piece - this I found quite dull weirdly enough not because of the programming, but you have to explain your every line, and it takes 20 hours to do! However, unlike the 1st paper in hardware the 2nd paper is to do with programming, not only how to do it but the theory behind it as well. This has a lot less 'heavy' content to memorise and more just grasping how to program - again, with dedication you will learn.
Right... so usefulness. For this I would have to go Geography. Computing is very well respected ( this doesn't go for ICT I think ) but unless you're thinking about taking it A Level / beyond it won't offer you much specific benefits. Geography will open up more routes at college typically -
many people want to do a humanity at A Level and a level 6 is required in a humanity usually. Also, a lot of A Levels require a 5 at least in a written subject along with English, and Geography makes a nice candidate.
So overall? Up to you. Geography is helping me choose my A Levels by opening a lot of doors, easy questions, but I've hated the boredom of the content and remembering data is a bit of a pain. CS has quite a bit more to learn, but I've enjoyed my time with it and I'm going to use what I've learnt in my personal Python side projects to boost my CV, even though I don't think I'm going to go down that path.
I hope this was helpful! Feel free to ask about anything.
Original post by InspiredPleb
The main issue in Geography I think is the dullness of the course content. You seem pretty interested which is awesome, and your specific course may have slightly more interesting content. However, the 'human' content is what I've only found to be interesting, and the 'physical' and 'fieldwork' section is gruelling not in terms of difficulty, but in how non interesting they are. If you can revise and remember processes and data (judging by your expected grades I think you can) then it should be no problem for you, as unlike other GCSE's the questions remain very very similar and easy to answer, for the most part.
i never understood why ppl find the physical part of geography boring e.e" i absolutely loved doing my fieldwork in carding mill valley o:
Original post by sqrt of 5
i never understood why ppl find the physical part of geography boring e.e" i absolutely loved doing my fieldwork in carding mill valley o:
Just looked up the place, it looks amazing! River Clywedog is what I used for my Bradshaw model fieldwork, and I don't know whether it's the average looking scenery or a lack of appreciation for nature, but I always have found it really dull to write about haha!
Original post by amelia06
hi, i am selecting my GCSEs and and picking between Computing and Geography. i would say that i am probably better at computing but i have told that i can get an 8/9 in either. the geography course interests me slightly more than the computing course but of course i could see myself doing either happily and have not really looked at the computer science course that well. so now i want to put it down to what is more useful,,, so any help??
Geography is by far the easiest GCSE above any. It's basically a free pass. If you like current affairs and know lots about the world in general, it'd be so easy to apply it to Geography. I took geography and found it rather interesting but to be honest, it was mainly stuff I already knew, especially when it comes to physical geography. Physical geography, on the other hand, was completely new and actually stems into other subjects like Biology - where you learn about the food chains and impacts on the environment. This has actually helped me significantly in biology.
Computer science, on the other hand, would only be useful if you wanted to enter a career in IT. Geography would unlock a lot more doors like Government and Politics or Sociology etc.
Original post by InspiredPleb
Hey there! I'm in Year 11 doing both at GCSE, so hopefully I'm qualified to answer this!
Though course content will differ depending on what exam board you're with for them ( I'm with OCR in Computing, and Edexcel in Geography), I'm pretty sure difficulty doesn't vary too wildly.Geography prioritises case study knowledge - learn 5 points of data for each case study, apply these in 8 markers, you're set to get full marks in that question. Some small questions are relatively easy if you have common sense - e.g., how has agriculture lead to climate change (3 marks). Hint: mention fossil fuels and greenhouse gas emissions and you're fine!
The main issue in Geography I think is the dullness of the course content. You seem pretty interested which is awesome, and your specific course may have slightly more interesting content. However, the 'human' content is what I've only found to be interesting, and the 'physical' and 'fieldwork' section is gruelling not in terms of difficulty, but in how non interesting they are. If you can revise and remember processes and data (judging by your expected grades I think you can) then it should be no problem for you, as unlike other GCSE's the questions remain very very similar and easy to answer, for the most part.
Computing is slightly more difficult, but not enough to scare you! The hardware stuff can take a while to get lodged in your brain, but if you revise well and often it is a doddle. With OCR I like that I don't do programming coursework as a marked piece - this I found quite dull weirdly enough not because of the programming, but you have to explain your every line, and it takes 20 hours to do! However, unlike the 1st paper in hardware the 2nd paper is to do with programming, not only how to do it but the theory behind it as well. This has a lot less 'heavy' content to memorise and more just grasping how to program - again, with dedication you will learn.
Right... so usefulness. For this I would have to go Geography. Computing is very well respected ( this doesn't go for ICT I think ) but unless you're thinking about taking it A Level / beyond it won't offer you much specific benefits. Geography will open up more routes at college typically -
many people want to do a humanity at A Level and a level 6 is required in a humanity usually. Also, a lot of A Levels require a 5 at least in a written subject along with English, and Geography makes a nice candidate.
So overall? Up to you. Geography is helping me choose my A Levels by opening a lot of doors, easy questions, but I've hated the boredom of the content and remembering data is a bit of a pain. CS has quite a bit more to learn, but I've enjoyed my time with it and I'm going to use what I've learnt in my personal Python side projects to boost my CV, even though I don't think I'm going to go down that path.
I hope this was helpful! Feel free to ask about anything.
Though course content will differ depending on what exam board you're with for them ( I'm with OCR in Computing, and Edexcel in Geography), I'm pretty sure difficulty doesn't vary too wildly.Geography prioritises case study knowledge - learn 5 points of data for each case study, apply these in 8 markers, you're set to get full marks in that question. Some small questions are relatively easy if you have common sense - e.g., how has agriculture lead to climate change (3 marks). Hint: mention fossil fuels and greenhouse gas emissions and you're fine!
The main issue in Geography I think is the dullness of the course content. You seem pretty interested which is awesome, and your specific course may have slightly more interesting content. However, the 'human' content is what I've only found to be interesting, and the 'physical' and 'fieldwork' section is gruelling not in terms of difficulty, but in how non interesting they are. If you can revise and remember processes and data (judging by your expected grades I think you can) then it should be no problem for you, as unlike other GCSE's the questions remain very very similar and easy to answer, for the most part.
Computing is slightly more difficult, but not enough to scare you! The hardware stuff can take a while to get lodged in your brain, but if you revise well and often it is a doddle. With OCR I like that I don't do programming coursework as a marked piece - this I found quite dull weirdly enough not because of the programming, but you have to explain your every line, and it takes 20 hours to do! However, unlike the 1st paper in hardware the 2nd paper is to do with programming, not only how to do it but the theory behind it as well. This has a lot less 'heavy' content to memorise and more just grasping how to program - again, with dedication you will learn.
Right... so usefulness. For this I would have to go Geography. Computing is very well respected ( this doesn't go for ICT I think ) but unless you're thinking about taking it A Level / beyond it won't offer you much specific benefits. Geography will open up more routes at college typically -
many people want to do a humanity at A Level and a level 6 is required in a humanity usually. Also, a lot of A Levels require a 5 at least in a written subject along with English, and Geography makes a nice candidate.
So overall? Up to you. Geography is helping me choose my A Levels by opening a lot of doors, easy questions, but I've hated the boredom of the content and remembering data is a bit of a pain. CS has quite a bit more to learn, but I've enjoyed my time with it and I'm going to use what I've learnt in my personal Python side projects to boost my CV, even though I don't think I'm going to go down that path.
I hope this was helpful! Feel free to ask about anything.
This was actually quite helpful, thank you very much. I'm thinking choosing Geography now. I love Computer science but I want to study law so it might not be too helpful. And yes, going through the content, physical section of Geography is definitely quite dull. I'm still undecided, but Geography is in the lead rn
Original post by amelia06
hi, i am selecting my GCSEs and and picking between Computing and Geography. i would say that i am probably better at computing but i have told that i can get an 8/9 in either. the geography course interests me slightly more than the computing course but of course i could see myself doing either happily and have not really looked at the computer science course that well. so now i want to put it down to what is more useful,,, so any help??
Hey, first thing, I am only 13 years old looking for my GCSE also, I also do not know which is better but I took Computer science because the world would be mainly around it. But again do not take my word and I am only sending this to show you my opinion.
Original post by AryanThakur16
Hey, first thing, I am only 13 years old looking for my GCSE also, I also do not know which is better but I took Computer science because the world would be mainly around it. But again do not take my word and I am only sending this to show you my opinion.
This person would have left secondary school a few years ago. Please don't bump a four year old thread...
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