should i do geography a level?

hi! so im currently doing my gcses and thinking about my a level choices. i dont do geography gcse, but i really regret it. i really want to do geography a level, but im not sure if it will be too hard without having done the gcse. the sixth form im going to lets you do geography without doing the gcse but its obviously expected that most people did the gcse.

would appreciate any advice from anyone doing geography a level now or who had a similar situation to mine! thank you!

(my other subjects are bio and chem, and im hoping to do zoology at uni)

Well Geography is notably not required for Zoology, so don't fret about that. It is a 'facilitating' subject that looks good, and does also relate to Zoology (although I would say, if you love Ecology, Geography is a bit disappointing: some of the A-level courses I've seen for it generally focus on Human geography and physical geography, but the physical geography being mostly things like geology, land use, etcetera, not ecosystems and such. Something to bear in mind as it confused me a bit). It also gives you good essay skills which are respected.

There are two things I'd say that you need to get into A-level without GCSE Geography; I would say that you should be confident with 1) essay writing, due to long questions, and 2) Case studies: a big part of most Geography A-level is the independent Case Study which some find hard. Obviously you won't have done this at GCSE level, but I would say it's useful to know what you're getting into study-wise. If you've got that, you're definitely good for learning A-level, as Geography is one of those where if you're motivated, you can hop on anytime - hence why most universities don't even require A-level for a degree. Perfectly doable to join it as an A-level.

You may even want to check out Revision Guides for GCSE level: quite cheap second-hand, but they might give you a good idea of what to expect? It may also be worth checking out the Specifications for the exam board your school uses (on the website), to see what stuff you'll be learning - if it interests you, that's a brilliant sign that you're good to go.

In short, you're fine to go for Geography A-level . You might want to consider what you'll be doing, but if you feel you have a passion for it you can pick it up well. Hope that helps! Best of luck with your choices, and your GCSEs

thank you so much for responding!

ah, i do really enjoy the tiny bit of ecology in biology at the moment, but i wasnt too hopeful that would continue into geography. shame i cant just do ecology a level ahah. but i do also enjoy physical geography, and the course im looking at has quite a lot of that.

i take history now and i can write decent essays, so hopefully that will carry across to geography. im not sure about the case study, but i liked writing the coursework i did for history and i heard you can pick (within reason) what you write about, so hopefully i could pick something interesting to write about.

i was intending to borrow my friends geography textbook just to look through before september but a revision guide might also be a good shout

i think i will do geography - im quite excited for fieldwork! thank you so much!