Edexcel A Level Geography Tutors Online

Edexcel A Level Geography is code 9GE0, and its full title is the Pearson Edexcel Level 3 Advanced GCE in Geography. First teaching was September 2016 and first certification was 2018. This page works from Issue 6, dated December 2024.

The qualification consists of three externally examined papers and one non-examination assessment component, and students must complete all assessment in May and June in any single year.

Paper 1 is code 9GE0/01, worth 30% of the total qualification. It is a written examination of 2 hours 15 minutes and it is out of 105 marks. It draws on Area of study 1 and Area of study 3: Topic 1 Tectonic Processes and Hazards, Topic 2 Landscape Systems, Processes and Change, Topic 5 The Water Cycle and Water Insecurity, and Topic 6 The Carbon Cycle and Energy Security.

Topic 2 includes optional sub-topics, and students choose one from two: either 2A Glaciated Landscapes and Change or 2B Coastal Landscapes and Change. The paper comprises three sections. Section A relates to Topic 1, Section B relates to Topic 2 with students answering on either 2A or 2B, and Section C relates to Topics 5 and 6. The examination includes 12 mark and 20 mark extended writing questions, and calculators may be used.

Paper 2 is code 9GE0/02, worth 30%. It is a written examination of 2 hours 15 minutes and it is out of 105 marks. It draws on Area of study 2 and Area of study 4: Topic 3 Globalisation, Topic 4 Shaping Places, Topic 7 Superpowers, and Topic 8 Global Development and Connections.

Paper 2 contains two separate choices, which is more than any other paper in the qualification. Topic 4 has optional sub-topics and students choose one from two: either 4A Regenerating Places or 4B Diverse Places. Topic 8 also has optional sub-topics and students choose one from two: either 8A Health, Human Rights and Intervention or 8B Migration, Identity and Sovereignty. The examination includes 12 mark and 20 mark extended writing questions, and calculators may be used.

Paper 3 is code 9GE0/03, worth 20%. It is a written examination of 2 hours 15 minutes and it is out of 70 marks. The specification contains three synoptic themes within the compulsory content, which are Players, Attitudes and actions, and Futures and uncertainties, and the synoptic investigation is based on a geographical issue within a place-based context that links to those three themes and is rooted in two or more of the compulsory content areas.

Paper 3 is unlike the others in three ways. A resource booklet contains information about the geographical issue, all questions draw synoptically on knowledge and understanding from compulsory content drawn from different parts of the course, and the extended writing questions use different tariffs: 8 mark, 18 mark and 24 mark. Students must answer all questions, and calculators may be used.

The qualification has one non-examination assessment: Independent Investigation, code 9GE0/04, worth 20%. It is non-examined assessment out of 70 marks, it is internally assessed and externally moderated, and the student produces a written report of 3000 to 4000 words.

The investigation is genuinely independent. The student defines a question or issue for investigation relating to the compulsory or optional content, and the topic may relate to any aspect of geography contained within the specification. The investigation incorporates fieldwork data, collected individually or as part of a group, together with the student's own research or secondary data. The fieldwork may be human, physical or integrated physical-human, and the report must evidence independent analysis and evaluation of data, presentation of data findings and extended writing. Students are also expected to show evidence that they have used both quantitative and qualitative data.

The assessment objectives are three, and they are printed as single figures rather than ranges. AO1, demonstrate knowledge and understanding of places, environments, concepts, processes, interactions and change at a variety of scales, is 34 per cent. AO2, apply knowledge and understanding in different contexts to interpret, analyse and evaluate geographical information and issues, is 40 per cent. AO3, use a variety of relevant quantitative, qualitative and fieldwork skills to investigate geographical questions and issues, interpret, analyse and evaluate data and evidence, and construct arguments and draw conclusions, is 26 per cent.

Applying knowledge is the largest objective at 40 per cent. The fieldwork skills objective is 26 per cent, and where it sits is the most important thing to understand about this qualification.

The breakdown shows that almost all of AO3 sits in the independent investigation. Paper 1 is 13 per cent AO1, 15.75 per cent AO2 and 1.25 per cent AO3. Paper 2 is identical. Paper 3 is 5.5 per cent AO1, 6 per cent AO2 and 8.5 per cent AO3. The independent investigation is 2.5 per cent AO1, 2.5 per cent AO2 and 15 per cent AO3.

So the investigation carries 15 of the 26 per cent of AO3, and Papers 1 and 2 carry only 1.25 per cent each. A student who treats the coursework as a side project and puts everything into the examined papers is leaving most of the fieldwork skills marks on the table, because that is where they actually are.

The qualification is graded and certificated on a six grade scale from A* to E using the total subject mark, and individual papers and the non-examination assessment component are not graded. The first certification opportunity was 2018, and students whose level of achievement is below the minimum judged by Pearson to be of sufficient standard receive an unclassified U result.

On codes: the qualification number is 601/8417/6 and the subject code is listed as A Level 9GE0. The paper codes are 9GE0/01, 9GE0/02 and 9GE0/03, with the non-examination assessment at 9GE0/04. No discount code number is printed in this specification. Appendix 12 states only that discount codes are published by the Department for Education and points to the GOV.UK website.