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GCSE Geography at Benton Park School
We follow the OCR Syllabus B which the students seem to find both interesting and relevant.
The content is in 4 sections ie.
- Water, Landforms and People which includes studies of rivers, coasts, floods and drought and the effects on people.
- People and Place which is the study of people living in contrasting cities and rural areas of the world.
- People, Work and Development which includes reasons for differences in rich and poor countries and studies of various types of industry.
- Climate, the Environment and People, which includes the study of weather and climate and the effect on living things.
The GCSE course is assessed by both examinations and coursework.
Coursework accounts for 25% of the total grade.
The first piece of coursework is based on practical field work. This will involve an overnight stay in a Youth Hostel. This takes place in Year 10.
The second piece, in Year 11, is classroom based and does not entail any work at home.
The examination papers are in 2 tiers but the tier for entry does not have to be decided until January of Year 11. This means that each student can be entered for the examination which gives them
the opportunity to do their best work.
Higher tier papers allow access to grades A* to D only.
Foundation tier papers allow access to grades C to G only.
The first examination paper tests knowledge and understanding of 3 out of the four areas of content.
The second examination paper is based on the remaining area of content. It is more skills based and involves map and graph work as well as studies of photographs. The students have to use all the information to make a decision or devise a plan to solve a geographical issue.
These three different pieces of assessment mean that geography GCSE grades are always high and students are able to achieve their potential.
The whole course allows each student to develop a wide range of both skills and knowledge which they will find relevant and useful for employment and in adult life.
About Geography
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