Comparing Geography and History GCSE

Hello, I am at the end of year 9 and I have chosen my options. So I planned to choose geography but my blocks made it so I either had to give Geography up and take History or give 3D-Design up and do Graphics and I chose to give up Geography .

But… I have specified I want to take Geography so heres hoping. Anyway I am just curious about any work load differences, or different exam question styles, or if one in general is more fun, or how useful the subject is etc. I had my heart set on Geography so I am biased against History. Don’t get me wrong History is good in its own right. I am just trying to open myself up to the possibility of doing History, which I think will probably happen. Also work load isn’t too much of an issue. I am doing triple science and a MFL. But I am also doing Computer Sci and 3D-Design so that kind of balances it out. Anyway I would appreciate any advice

Hi! I'm in year 11 and I take History and personally it is my favourite and best performing subject. Firstly, take a look at your exam board, and if possible, try to ask teachers on the modules you'll be studying because there are a range. I know not doing Geography is disappointing considering it was your initial option, but I'm sure you'll come to love history if you've got a good teacher. In terms of exam structure, Geography is similar to science with 5 markers usually with the highest mark tariff, whereas History is very essay based in the sense that you'll have 16 markers which are considerably lengthy. Both I'm sure are useful, History can aid you in English, whereas Geography can definitely aid you in science, especially Biology (I also do triple) because ecology is essentially Biology. Chemistry also has a focus on topics also seen in geography, which I guess is favourable.
Your disappointment is very understandable, and I know it's easier said than done, but going into your History lessons with an open mind will definitely aid in hopefully enjoying it a bit more. Hope that helped in any way!

Thanks, I will keep that in mind Just looked at my booklet and we do the Norman Conquest, Crime and Punishment, Making of America and then living under Nazi rule. They look pretty enjoyable. This year I noticed that my German in a small way links to Nazi rule so thats a possible plus. Do you have experience with any of these topics?

I do Crime and Punishment It's my paper 1 topic, so it's coming up quite soon. If at any time during your GCSE course you need clarification or you're struggling with something, just let me know. I don't do living under Nazi rule, but I do Weimar and Nazi Germany so there may be some similarities. My exam board is Edexcel, if yours is AQA or OCR, it may not be exactly the same

Hello, I am at the end of year9 and I have chosen my options. So I planned to choose geography but my blocks made it so I either had to give Geography up and take History or give 3D-Design up and do Graphics and I chose to give up Geography .

But… I have specified I want to take Geography so heres hoping. Anyway I am just curious about any work load differences, or different exam question styles, or if one in general is more fun, or how useful the subject is etc. I had my heart set on Geography so I am biased against History. Don’t get me wrong History is good in its own right. I am just trying to open myself up to the possibility of doing History, which I think will probably happen. Also work load isn’t too much of an issue. I am doing triple science and a MFL. But I am also doing Computer Sci and 3D-Design so that kind of balances it out. Anyway I would appreciate any advice

P.S I didn’t research History too much, because I had the mindset I was doing Geography. Also, the option evening was before I saw the clash in blocks (No idea why we got the option blocks after the option evening…) so I didn’t even go to see History either. Oops…

Hi, I’m in year 13 and I took both History and Geography at GCSE. It really just comes down to personal preference. I found geography easier, but I enjoyed history more. It depends whether you’re more of an essay-writing person or a science based person as to which you’ll enjoy more. I would say don’t worry if you feel you’ve picked the wrong one after a month or so doing History, your teachers will probably let you change. If not however, to do history or geography at A Level you don’t need to have done them at GCSE so you’re not ruling out doing them in the future. Hope that helps

I don’t know my exam boards but at least we are learning similar content, if I end up doing History I will give it my best shot. Thanks for the help

Hello, I am at the end of year 9 and I have chosen my options. So I planned to choose geography but my blocks made it so I either had to give Geography up and take History or give 3D-Design up and do Graphics and I chose to give up Geography .

But… I have specified I want to take Geography so heres hoping. Anyway I am just curious about any work load differences, or different exam question styles, or if one in general is more fun, or how useful the subject is etc. I had my heart set on Geography so I am biased against History. Don’t get me wrong History is good in its own right. I am just trying to open myself up to the possibility of doing History, which I think will probably happen. Also work load isn’t too much of an issue. I am doing triple science and a MFL. But I am also doing Computer Sci and 3D-Design so that kind of balances it out. Anyway I would appreciate any advice

P.S I didn’t research History too much, because I had the mindset I was doing Geography. Also, the option evening was before I saw the clash in blocks (No idea why we got the option blocks after the option evening…) so I didn’t even go to see History either. Oops…

Hi, I don't know much in detail, however history is quite an essay-based subject, so it ties in well with subjects like english or sociology. If you aren't an essay person then don't worry, because in Year 10 and 11 you will be introduced to lots of practice and preparation. And once you figure out how the subject works and what is expected from you, you will be able to manage it and work through it.
If you do get history, try to give it a fair chance and see if you find it more interesting than you did before. If not, then you might still be able to transfer to geography. I hope this helps and good luck with your options!!

Thank you, I do need to practice essays so this will give me a good chance to. Worst comes to worst I will change 3D design to Graphics do I can transfer from History to Geography.

Essays are not my strongpoint and I enjoy science, so Geography is my obvious one. However, I still have no idea if I am doing History or Geography… My school allows you to change until after 3 weeks so if History really isn’t my thing I will swap out my 3D-Design. Luckily one of my parents is experienced in English Lit/Lang so they could help me improve my essays. I am not bad at memorising facts and dates so I only really need to improve my essays and writing.

Hello, I am at the end of year 9 and I have chosen my options. So I planned to choose geography but my blocks made it so I either had to give Geography up and take History or give 3D-Design up and do Graphics and I chose to give up Geography .

But… I have specified I want to take Geography so heres hoping. Anyway I am just curious about any work load differences, or different exam question styles, or if one in general is more fun, or how useful the subject is etc. I had my heart set on Geography so I am biased against History. Don’t get me wrong History is good in its own right. I am just trying to open myself up to the possibility of doing History, which I think will probably happen. Also work load isn’t too much of an issue. I am doing triple science and a MFL. But I am also doing Computer Sci and 3D-Design so that kind of balances it out. Anyway I would appreciate any advice

P.S I didn’t research History too much, because I had the mindset I was doing Geography. Also, the option evening was before I saw the clash in blocks (No idea why we got the option blocks after the option evening…) so I didn’t even go to see History either. Oops…

Why do you have to take History? Isn't there something you'd rather take?

Geography, but I had option blocks. I wanted to do Geography, 3D-Design, Computer Science . With my blocks I either had to switch 3D-Design for Graphics or Geography for History. So I chose the later. I have requested Geography but I don’t have high hopes. I was thinking of prioritising Geography because I thought that would be good for Architecture . However I have found out that 3D-Design is more useful so Geography had to go.