geography a-level (i need advice!)

hiya guys
i did not take geography at GCSE but when i went for my final sixth form interview i could not do certain subjects becaue of clashes and had to choose geography.

i know absoloutly nothing about it.
any help on what it is about??

Reply 1

Robbie10538

Geography is probably one of the hardest subjects to describe what its about. Basically it has physical geography (e.g. coasts) and human (e.g. crowded cities). It's about issues surrounding these physical and human topics and how they interlink. I find it really interesting because you can relate a lot of it to your own personal knowledge and experiences.

Reply 2

rav rakkar

thanks
i obviously did it in years 7,8,9 but what you learn there must be completly different to a-level right??
i suppose the disadvantage is not taking it for a-level, i have no idea what im getting into, it was either geography or german!!!
and i am not very good at langauages.
if i was to really work hard and revise loads could i get a decent grade?

Reply 3

pippa23

my friend didnt take it at gcse, got a B at AS, resat some units and got an A at A2 and is now studying it at uni! and she took it because she had to as well! so dont worry about it too much, just get hold of a gcse textbook to have a read through as AS is very similar to the gcse.

Reply 4

TheWizard

Yep. If you put a decent amount of effort into it (Not necessarily more than any student who studied it at GCSE) you can come out with a really good grade :smile:

I'm at University now but I did do Geography A level (I did do it at GCSE too). What I found is that the stuff I did at GCSE was very basic in comparison to A level. In fact many of the technical words we used in GCSE wern't used in A levels - We had to learn newer, more technical and "harder" words :p:

Of course someone who has done GCSE may be at a slight advantage, but it's by no means something that would hold you back. It's a really interesting course and a lot of it focuses on you being able to describe consequences/advantages/disadvantages of physical/human aspects of Geography, rather than concrete knowledge of Geographical theory :wink:

A lot of Geography is common sense i.e. what are the consequences of a volcanic eruption near an urban area? I'm sure you don't need GCSE knowledge to figure out at least some :biggrin:

What A level does is provide you with more a more in depth and analytical view of such a question, there could in fact be some advantage of a volcanic eruption near an urban area! As everyone else points out, when you first begin A levels, there isn't really a big difference between GCSE and AS, I guess AS is more of a slightly advanced GCSE course.

Oh and I was also in the same boat as you but I did A level business studies instead which I hadn't done previously, and I was also a little concerned :smile:

. Now, in my opinion business studies is much easier than Geog but I came out on top of the class, beating those who did it at GCSE :biggrin:

I wouldn't go so far as to say GCSEs are meaningless but they shouldn't be seen as setting a 'path' for future studying. You will find in most A level subjects that GCSE is, at most, an introduction to a subject.

Reply 5

rav rakkar

thanks guys your information really helped me feel better!
i have my first lesson fist thing tomorrow. il tell you how it goes.
i also had to take media studies because of a clash! people say that is fun and easy!
does the exam board you study geogrpahy with effect the chances of a good grade?
what exam board is the best for geography?