IGCSE in Geography
Exam Board: Edexcel Syllabus Code: 4GE1
“So many of the world’s current issues, at a global scale and locally, boil down to geography, and need the geographers of the future to help us understand them.” Michael Palin
For students who are curious about the real world outside the classroom, Geography provides opportunities to deepen their understanding of the complex planet on which they live. IGCSE Geography increases knowledge and confidence in dealing with challenging issues of both the physical and human environment, building on the work studied at Key Stage 3.
Students will enjoy the scope of the work they cover, the insights it provides into understanding the world around us and the contemporary nature of the issues it touches upon and tackles. This ensures that students will never have to look far to see the relevance of this subject to their day-to-day lives and the future they will inhabit.
Studying Geography provides students with a wide range of valuable and transferable skills, not only for their further academic studies, but also into the workplace. The Edexcel IGCSE Geography specification particularly provides the opportunity to develop students’ map skills, (including GIS), analysis, problem-solving, debate and decision making, as well as hands-on fieldwork during a two-night residential trip to Margam Park Field Studies Centre in South Wales*. Consequently, the course provides an excellent foundation for those students who intend to continue their study of Geography to a higher level and also an excellent basis for further study in a variety of other subjects including Politics, Economics and Business.
To enhance student learning, we use the school grounds and local area to bring physical processes to life, as well as topical case studies and examples to ensure the course is up-to-the-minute and engaging. We aim to inspire and enthuse our students through our delivery of Geography and this, we believe, is the key to our great success as a department.
The IGCSE specification is divided into two papers, physical geography and human geography, which will be examined in two externally assessed written exam papers at the end of Year 11.
Paper 1: Physical Geography – 1 hour 10 minutes examination
Section A River environments & Coastal environments Section B Practical geographical investigation* of river environments
Paper 2: Human Geography – 1 ¾ hour examination
Section A Economic activity and energy & urban environments Section B Practical geographical investigation* of urban environments Section C Fragile environments and climate change
*The fieldwork investigations students undertake on their residential trip will provide the knowledge and experience necessary to answer the ‘section B’ elements of both their final examinations.
If you have any queries about this course, please contact Head of Department: Oliver Staines.
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