Geography

Key Stage 3

In Years 7 – 9 boys follow a curriculum which includes both Physical and Human Geography topics, using the geog.123 series textbooks published by Oxford University Press. This starts with an emphasis on the local Charnwood Area, including a field trip which takes place in October. In Year 8 boys study topics including weather & climate, coasts, ecosystems and crime. In Year 9, boys study topics including refugees, tourism and Antarctica.

GCSE

At GCSE we follow the AQA A Specification (2030). All boys presently take the higher level papers and results are excellent with nearly 40% achieving A* and 80% A*/A. The examination has two papers: Physical and Human Geography. In addition there is a controlled assessment unit (coursework) which accounts for 25% of the GCSE mark and fieldwork for this work is conducted in November of Year 11 and will involve a different topic each year.

AS and A2

At AS we use new AQA specification which covers topics including Rivers, Glaciation, Population and Health. At A2 Level options on Weather and Climate, Hazards, World Cities and Development & Globalisation are studied. We are proud of our excellent examination results with; 75% A/B grades at AS level; and 95% A* – B grades at A Level in 2010.

Fieldwork

Fieldwork and coursework play an important part in the curriculum and in each year pupils undertake some form of fieldwork or coursework, for example: Year 7 take part in the Charnwood trip and a Campus Litter Survey; Year 8 undertake a Micro-climate Study of the Campus; at GCSE a study of land-use in Loughborough takes place while in the Sixth Form there is a residential field course in North Yorkshire and fieldwork in the summer. This year we investigated the re-development of the London Docklands. The Department has its own weather station which is operated by geographers from years 10 to 13 and the weather data is also available on the School's intranet site.