Advice for A-level geography?

Original post by dfb368

I am thinking of taking A-level geography (edexcel) next year and I would really appreciate any advice people could give regarding the course!

I did a-level geography and would definitely recommend it.
I cant remember what exam board we did. But I found it really interesting. Some topics we did at gcse, and some were completely new. But we did everything in a lot more depth than gcse.
Make sure you memorise the case studies. There are plenty of them. But they arent too hard to understand or anything

Reply 2

OP

Entertainment Forum Helper

Original post by Emma:-)

I did a-level geography and would definitely recommend it.
I cant remember what exam board we did. But I found it really interesting. Some topics we did at gcse, and some were completely new. But we did everything in a lot more depth than gcse.
Make sure you memorise the case studies. There are plenty of them. But they arent too hard to understand or anything

Thank you

Reply 3

Emma:-)

Original post by dfb368

Thank you

What other subjects are you going to be doing?

Reply 4

OP

Original post by Emma:-)

What other subjects are you going to be doing?

I was planning on taking biology and economics alongside geography :smile:

Reply 5

username2911200

Entertainment Forum Helper

Original post by dfb368

I was planning on taking biology and economics alongside geography :smile:

Do you know what you might like to study at university?

Reply 6

Emma:-)

Original post by dfb368

I was planning on taking biology and economics alongside geography :smile:

They sound good.
I cant comment on the other 2 as i didnt do them at a-level (my 6th form didnt even offer economics).
I would have liked to have done economics though if my 6th form had offered it.

Reply 7

Amefish

20

The specification has recently changed so I can't really say. But I've just finished the previous specification, and I loved the content.

Reply 8

username1292215

22

Original post by dfb368

I am thinking of taking A-level geography (edexcel) next year and I would really appreciate any advice people could give regarding the course!

I do new spec

I study A level Geography and I love it. Beware though, it is a hard A level, but gets better the more work you put in and if you are interested :smile:

. At the start of the year I struggled for example I remember struggling on the Primary Hazards and Secondary Hazards of Volcanoes and Earthquakes. But I kept revising, and practicing and it became a piece of cake and it came up as a 6 and 4 marker in my exam :smile:

. Make sure you practice everything even the skills part of it

I am doing the coursework atm and I think its going to be good. Just make sure you plan everything well for fieldwork.

Reply 9

AlexLamberti

10

Just keep on top of it because there is a lot of content and wider reading/case studies are so so important so make sure you do wider reading throughout the course, its a really good A-Level (i've just finished it) and would recommend it

Reply 10

username3433134

It's pretty balanced between human and physical geography so do be prepared for that. I'm a human geographer myself (BA(Hons)) and I found the physical elements a bit tedious. Nevertheless, I did enjoy the A-level as a whole and I felt that Economics worked well alongside it in regards to similar coursework/homework/lecture style structure!

If you have any more specific questions do feel free to ask :smile:

Reply 11

username3433134

Original post by jessicaharbord

The only other thing I'd want to warn you about is the 'Regenerating Places' topic (there is a choice of either this topic or the 'Diverse Places' topic, and I'm not sure what that topic is about and how similar it is). EVERYONE I know absolutely hated this topic, because it just feels so wishy-washy / bull***. To me, geography isn't about asking yourself 'what makes a place a place?' and trying to define what a 'place' is. It was just really f-ing weird.

Haha that sounds so much like my Geography degree! Bachelor of Arts Geography focused a lot on geographical psychologies and philosophies. There's a difference between Place and Space, and all Places/Spaces have geographical layers and structures etc. If you like Philosophy though it's extremely interesting!

(edited 6 years ago)

Reply 12

essihbd

7

Original post by PerhapsPhysio

Haha that sounds so much like my Geography degree! Bachelor of Arts Geography focused a lot on geographical psychologies and philosophies. There's a difference between Place and Space, and all Places/Spaces have geographical layers and structures etc. If you like Philosophy though it's extremely interesting!

That sounds so weird - not my kinda geography!!!

Reply 13

willmcl144

Original post by dfb368

I was planning on taking biology and economics alongside geography :smile:

Hi, I have just finished A level Geography and A level economics, I also did A level accounting, geography and economics at A level were great, I probably preferred geography and I am going on to study Geography and Mountain Leadership at university.
A level geography is much live GCSE geography, but you have to answer the questions slightly differently and in more detail. I would recommend it 100%, and I would also recommend economics at A level.

Hope this helps

Reply 14

username3433134

Original post by jessicaharbord

That sounds so weird - not my kinda geography!!!

What I love about Geography is how varied it is! There's something for everyone. :smile:

Reply 15

OP

Original post by willmcl144

Hi, I have just finished A level Geography and A level economics, I also did A level accounting, geography and economics at A level were great, I probably preferred geography and I am going on to study Geography and Mountain Leadership at university.
A level geography is much live GCSE geography, but you have to answer the questions slightly differently and in more detail. I would recommend it 100%, and I would also recommend economics at A level.

Hope this helps

Thank you for the insight :smile:

Reply 16

OP

Original post by jessicaharbord

I've just finished Edexcel AS Geography and am planning to carry it onto A Level (A2) next year. The new course (which this was the first year of) is rather different to the old course, and it places more emphasis on the interaction of different geographical processes, key players, etc. in 'Synoptic Links'. In the AS exam the longest mark question is about the interaction between two different topics, for example in the specification paper it was about Coasts and Tectonics where you had to think about human uses of coastlines and the impacts of tsunamis on coastlines and on people living at the coast. And at A2 level one whole exam paper is about the interactions of different key players and people involved in something geographical.
The only other thing I'd want to warn you about is the 'Regenerating Places' topic (there is a choice of either this topic or the 'Diverse Places' topic, and I'm not sure what that topic is about and how similar it is). EVERYONE I know absolutely hated this topic, because it just feels so wishy-washy / bull***. To me, geography isn't about asking yourself 'what makes a place a place?' and trying to define what a 'place' is. It was just really f-ing weird.

Thank you for the insight :smile:

Reply 17

br0oke_xx

7

Original post by dfb368

I am thinking of taking A-level geography (edexcel) next year and I would really appreciate any advice people could give regarding the course!

I'm not sure how helpful my response will be, but figured I'd answer anyway! I've just completed my 2 year AQA geography course at alevel. The course itself I really enjoyed, but I think having a class full of brilliant people really helped with that. We studied tectonics, weather and climate and world cities and did paper 4B which was an issue evaluation exercise. The thing with geography alevel is that you're expected to know A LOT of things from the course, but it's also expected that you are able to add a lot of information from your own research, which isn't directly related to the course. This means you really need to be doing wider reading of some sort, whether it's reading nat geo magazines or BBC news stories, just so you have a wider knowledge on events happening around the world.

People like to mock us geographers saying we just colour in, and calling us names, but in actual fact it's a very technical subject. contrastingly, it's bloody brilliant too, and makes you so aware of how things work, why something acts the way it acts and what makes the planet tick. What I would say with regards to the course is there is a huge amount of information that you're expected to learn. So long as you start your revision from the very beginning, you'll be fine. As soon as you slack off, the pressure gets unbearable and you end up with more hours of revision to do than the hours in the day will allow.

I'd 100% recommend geography (but I'm a little bias as I'm starting my geography degree in September!!) please message me if you need any more information, or if you want any of my notes or links for websites that I've used :smile:

Reply 18

ScienceGeek1878