GCSE Geography is completed over two years in Years 10 and 11. We follow the AQA GCSE Geography course (8035) which was introduced in 2016 and we have enjoyed some very good results. 

The course is divided into six main sections, divided into Physical and Human Geography themes. The Physical Geography includes: 'The Challenge of Natural Hazards', 'The Living World' and 'Physical Landscapes' of the UK. The Human Geography covers: 'Urban Issues and Challenges', 'The Changing Economic World' and 'The Challenge of Resource Management'. Topics therefore, range from hazards like volcanoes and tropical storms, understanding ecosystems to coastal and river processes - whilst also encountering changing cities, issues affecting levels of development around the world and strategies for better managing the world’s resources.  It is a fast moving and very topical course that will very often draw from current affairs and events in the news.

There are three examinations, all at the end of the course. There is no coursework or Controlled Assessment in GCSE Geography. Paper 1: covers all of the Physical Geography topics, Paper 2: the Human Geography topics and Paper 3: is a Skills Examination. Paper 3 includes sections based on making use of some of the Geographical skills developed during the course, a section in which a decision will have to be made and justified based on evidence provided, whilst testing the skills developed on the fieldwork activities which form a vital part of the course.  At present, this includes fieldwork visits to Exeter and its' surrounding areas, to Dartmoor, locally on Exmouth seafront and to Plymouth.