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Geography — Disciplinary Progression

A research-informed progression framework for the disciplinary concepts and habits of mind required in Geography, from Year 7 through to A-Level. Organised across eight disciplinary strands with five year-group bands.

View the 7-Year Journey →

Year 7 is a foundational year. Students arrive from diverse primary experiences: some will have encountered locational and place knowledge through a well-planned primary curriculum; many will not. Geographical vocabulary is often limited. Powerful everyday preconceptions about the world — that Africa is a country, that flooding means ‘too much rain,’ that ‘development’ means ‘becoming like us’ — are widespread and deeply held. Crucially, most students do not yet understand that geography is a discipline with its own ways of thinking.

Year 7 instruction must therefore do two things simultaneously: build secure substantive knowledge (locations, places, processes, vocabulary) and establish — through explicit modelling — what it means to think geographically. When studying a local river, for instance, students learn to read grid references and describe the landscape; when comparing the UK and Kenya, they begin to see that ‘place’ is more than a dot on a map. Cognitive load is at its highest: every concept, every skill, every way of thinking is being encountered for the first time in a disciplinary context. Heavy scaffolding, worked examples, and structured frameworks are not optional; they are essential. The goal by the end of Year 7 is that students understand geography asks particular kinds of questions — about where, why there, what’s connected, who’s affected — and can begin to answer them with evidence.

1
Place
Begin to describe what makes a place distinctive by identifying its physical and human characteristics. Recognise that places can be represented in different ways — maps, photographs, statistics, personal accounts, media — and that different representations emphasise different things. Begin to compare two places, noticing both similarities and differences. Understand that their own experience of a place is not the only experience: a resident, a tourist, a government official and a young person may all describe the same place differently.
Students at this stage often hold ‘single stories’ about places — particularly places in the Global South. A student may believe ‘Africa is poor’ without recognising that Africa is a continent of 54 countries with radically different characteristics. Instruction should begin to disrupt these from the outset by presenting every place as multi-dimensional. Ofsted, 2023, found this was a persistent weakness across both primary and secondary schools.
For example: Studying their local area, a student might compare photographs, census data and their own experience to describe what makes their neighbourhood distinctive — and recognise that a visitor might describe it very differently.
Coming from KS2
At primary school, students typically encounter places through locational knowledge (naming countries, capitals, continents) and simple descriptions. Place knowledge is often superficial — a single characteristic attached to a single location. The idea that places are multi-dimensional and can be represented in different ways is generally new territory.
Preparing for Year 8
In Year 8, students will move from describing what makes a place distinctive to comparing places with greater analytical precision, recognising that development is multi-dimensional and that no place is adequately described by a single indicator.
2
Space and Pattern
Notice that geographical phenomena are distributed — they are not randomly spread but occur in patterns. Begin to describe these patterns using simple locational language: concentrated, dispersed, clustered, linear. Use maps and images to identify where things are and begin to ask why there? Recognise that plotting data on a map can reveal patterns that are not obvious from a table or text alone. Read and use basic maps with developing fluency: grid references, compass directions, scale, contour lines, map symbols.
At this stage, students are learning to see geographically — to notice that spatial arrangement requires explanation. The intellectual move from ‘things are somewhere’ to ‘things are distributed in a pattern that has a cause’ is the foundational disciplinary threshold. Map skills are taught here not as an end in themselves but as the means by which patterns become visible.
For example: Plotting earthquake locations on a world map, a student might notice they cluster along plate boundaries — and begin to ask ‘why there?’ rather than treating the distribution as random.
Coming from KS2
At primary school, students may have used maps at a basic level — identifying countries, using simple grid references, recognising compass directions. The idea that spatial patterns exist and require explanation is largely new; most primary geography focuses on locational knowledge rather than spatial reasoning.
Preparing for Year 8
In Year 8, students will move from noticing patterns to describing them with precision and beginning to explain them, linking distributions to underlying processes such as plate boundaries, population density and biome distribution.
3
Scale
Understand that geographical features and processes can be studied at different scales — local, regional, national, global. Begin to recognise that the same issue might look different depending on the scale at which it is examined: a river is a local feature, but the water cycle it is part of is global. Study familiar, local examples alongside broader, more distant ones.
Students at this stage tend to encounter one scale at a time. The goal is not yet to move fluently between scales but to recognise that scale exists as a dimension of geographical thinking — that ‘how big?’ and ‘how far?’ are questions that change the answer.
For example: Studying flooding, a student might see that a local flood on their street is connected to rainfall across a whole river catchment — the same event looks different depending on the scale at which they examine it.
Coming from KS2
At primary school, students typically study places at a single scale without recognising that scale is a deliberate analytical choice. They may have compared ‘their local area’ with ‘a place far away’ without understanding that these represent different scales of geographical enquiry.
Preparing for Year 8
In Year 8, students will begin to recognise that the same issue looks different at different scales — not just that different scales exist, but that scale changes the explanation. An earthquake is simultaneously a local disaster, a national emergency and a manifestation of global plate tectonics.
4
Connections and Interdependence
Identify simple connections between places or between human activity and the environment, with explicit teacher modelling: trade links a factory in one country to consumers in another; deforestation in one place affects flooding downstream; a volcanic eruption in Iceland disrupts flights across Europe. Understand that actions in one place can have consequences elsewhere. Begin to recognise that human activity and physical processes interact — that the world does not divide neatly into ‘people’ and ‘nature.’
At this stage, connections are identified through guided instruction. Students are not yet expected to trace chains of interdependence independently. The key preconception to surface is that places and processes exist in isolation — that what happens ‘over there’ has nothing to do with ‘here.’
For example: Tracing where the components of an iPhone come from, a student might map connections between mines in the DRC, factories in China and shops in the UK — seeing that their phone links distant places together.
Coming from KS2
At primary school, students may have encountered basic ideas about trade or environmental impact, but the concept of interdependence — that places and processes are systematically connected — is largely new. Most primary geography treats places as self-contained units rather than nodes in a connected system.
Preparing for Year 8
In Year 8, students will trace connections across longer and more complex chains, understanding that connections are often two-directional and can be unequal — one place may benefit while another bears the cost.
5
Change
Understand that landscapes, populations and settlements change over time. Describe what has changed and begin to explain why, using specific examples. Recognise that change can be fast (a flood, an earthquake) or slow (erosion, demographic transition). Notice that some things change while others remain the same within the same period or place: a city’s population may grow while its physical setting stays constant; a river’s course shifts while the underlying geology persists.
Students often assume change is binary and total — things either changed or they didn’t. Instruction should surface this preconception and introduce the idea that change has pace, direction and unevenness. A river doesn’t just ‘change’; it erodes here and deposits there, over timescales ranging from seconds to millennia.
For example: Comparing old and new OS maps of their local area, a student might notice that fields became housing estates and ask how fast that happened — recognising that change has pace and direction, not just before and after.
Coming from KS2
At primary school, students may have encountered the idea that places change over time, but typically in simple before-and-after terms. The concepts of pace, direction and unevenness of change are new, as is the idea that change and continuity can coexist within the same place.
Preparing for Year 8
In Year 8, students will begin to distinguish types of change — physical, demographic, economic, and change driven by human–physical interaction — and recognise that change operates over radically different timescales.
6
Physical–Human Interaction
Understand that the physical environment affects how and where people live, and that human activity affects the physical environment. Begin to describe these interactions in simple, concrete terms: fertile soil enables farming; building on a floodplain increases flood risk; deforestation reduces biodiversity. Recognise that people make decisions in response to physical constraints and opportunities — and that these decisions have consequences for the environment.
The most important preconception to challenge in Year 7 is that ‘nature’ and ‘people’ are separate domains studied in separate subjects. Geography’s distinctive contribution is precisely the integration of the two. Even the simplest Year 7 question — ‘why is this town here?’ — requires both physical and human knowledge to answer.
For example: Studying why a town is located on a river confluence, a student might explain how flat land and water supply attracted settlement — linking the physical landscape to human decision-making.
Coming from KS2
At primary school, students may have studied ‘physical features’ and ‘human features’ as separate categories. The idea that these interact — that physical processes constrain and enable human decisions, and that human activity reshapes physical systems — is a fundamental new concept.
Preparing for Year 8
In Year 8, students will understand that the interaction between physical processes and human activity is two-directional, and will begin to encounter the idea of management — that humans actively attempt to control or mitigate physical processes, with consequences.
7
Geographical Enquiry and Evidence
Understand the basic elements of geographical enquiry: question, data collection, presentation, analysis, conclusion. Use simple methods to collect and record geographical information — observation, measurement, tally charts, basic surveys. Present data in straightforward ways: bar charts, pictograms, tables, simple annotated maps. Distinguish between primary data (collected yourself) and secondary data (from other sources). Begin to use evidence from maps, photographs and data to support geographical claims rather than simply stating opinions.
Ofsted, 2023: ‘Very few schools approach fieldwork as a body of knowledge that needs to be taught.’ From Year 7, the enquiry process itself is taught explicitly as a way of knowing — not just as an activity to complete. Students learn that geographers don’t just know things; they find things out through systematic investigation.
For example: Conducting a river fieldwork study, a student might measure width and depth at three sites and present findings in a bar chart — following a structured enquiry process from question to conclusion.
Coming from KS2
At primary school, students may have completed simple fieldwork activities (weather recording, local area surveys) but typically without understanding the enquiry process as a disciplinary practice. The idea that geographical knowledge is produced through systematic investigation is generally new.
Preparing for Year 8
In Year 8, students will use the enquiry process with increasing independence, collecting data using a wider range of methods and beginning to evaluate the strengths and limitations of different data collection approaches.
8
Geographical Argument and Perspectives
Make a geographical claim and support it with a reason and a piece of evidence. Begin using simple analytical structures — point, evidence, explanation — to organise geographical writing. Distinguish between describing what something is like and explaining why it is like that. This distinction is explicitly modelled: ‘The river is wide here’ is description; ‘The river is wide here because lateral erosion is dominant in the lower course’ is explanation. Recognise that different people may have different views about a geographical issue — a new road benefits commuters but damages habitats — and that geography requires us to consider more than one perspective.
At this stage, heavily modelled and scaffolded writing is essential. The distinction between description and explanation — seemingly simple — is a fundamental disciplinary threshold. Many students will default to narrative (‘and then… and then…’) or opinion (‘I think this is bad’) rather than evidence-based explanation. Every piece of geographical writing should practise the move from ‘what?’ to ‘why?’
For example: Writing about whether a new road should be built, a student might give a reason, support it with evidence, and explain why it matters — practising the move from opinion to evidence-based geographical argument.
Coming from KS2
At primary school, students typically write about geographical topics descriptively or through personal opinion. The structured move from description to explanation — supporting claims with evidence — and the idea that geographical issues involve multiple stakeholder perspectives are new disciplinary practices.
Preparing for Year 8
In Year 8, students will develop explanations that handle more than one factor and begin to structure evaluative responses, understanding that geographical issues involve stakeholders with different interests.

Year 8 students have spent a year learning what geographical thinking looks like. They have encountered place, space, scale, connections, change, interaction, enquiry and argument — probably across four or five topics. Schemas are forming: ‘scale’ is no longer a completely novel concept; ‘explain why’ is becoming a recognisable instruction; map reading is less cognitively demanding than it was in September of Year 7.

This frees capacity. Year 8 is where students begin to use the disciplinary concepts as analytical tools rather than merely recognising them. A topic on rivers might now ask not just ‘what happens at a meander?’ but ‘why does erosion happen faster on the outside bend?’ — the same content, but students are expected to explain the process. The content is typically more demanding — longer chains of causation, broader spatial scope, more abstract processes. But the key shift is not that the content is harder; it is that students are expected to do more of the thinking themselves. Scaffolding remains available but is less routinely provided. Modelling continues but is increasingly replaced by guided practice and then independent application. The question shifts from ‘what does a geographer notice?’ to ‘what can I explain using geographical thinking?’

1
Place
Move from describing what makes a place distinctive to comparing places with greater analytical precision. Identify similarities and differences between places at contrasting levels of development, recognising that development is multi-dimensional (economic, social, cultural, political) and that no place is adequately described by a single indicator. Begin to understand that places are complex and diverse internally — that ‘Africa,’ ‘Russia’ or ‘the UK’ each contain enormous variation. Encounter places through multiple lenses within a single topic: a continent’s physical geography, resource endowment, cultural diversity and development challenges studied together, not as separate facts.
The Year 8 move is from ‘I can describe two places’ to ‘I can compare them analytically, using geographical categories, and resist reducing either to a single story.’ Ofsted, 2023, specifically warned against presenting African places only through a lens of economic development.
For example: Comparing Nigeria and the UK, a student might use multiple indicators — GDP, life expectancy, internet access, cultural output — to resist the single story that ‘Nigeria is poor’ and recognise that places are internally diverse.
Building from Year 7
In Year 7, students began to describe what makes a place distinctive, recognised different representations, and compared two places at a basic level. Now they compare places with greater analytical precision and resist reducing places to single stories.
Preparing for Year 9
In Year 9, students will move beyond describing a place’s characteristics to explaining why a place has those characteristics — linking physical features, human activity, history and economic forces.
2
Space and Pattern
Move from noticing patterns to describing them with precision and beginning to explain them. Link distributions to underlying processes: earthquake zones follow plate boundaries; population density reflects terrain, climate and economic opportunity; biome distribution reflects latitude and atmospheric circulation. Begin to use a wider range of maps and graphical representations — distribution maps, density maps, climate graphs, choropleth maps — and to read them analytically rather than just descriptively. Understand that how data is mapped affects what patterns appear: the classification, the scale, the colour scheme all shape perception.
The key shift is from ‘I can see where things are’ to ‘I can describe the pattern precisely and begin to link it to a process.’ This is the first step towards relational thinking — Jackson’s (2006) core concept.
For example: Studying a population density map of the UK, a student might describe the pattern — dense in the south-east, sparse in the Scottish Highlands — and begin to link it to terrain, employment opportunities and historical settlement.
Building from Year 7
In Year 7, students noticed that geographical phenomena are distributed in patterns and began using simple locational language and basic map skills. Now they describe patterns with precision and begin linking distributions to underlying processes.
Preparing for Year 9
In Year 9, students will move beyond describing spatial patterns to explaining them, linking observable distributions to underlying processes and beginning to test whether a suspected pattern is real.
3
Scale
Begin to recognise that the same issue looks different at different scales — not just that different scales exist. An earthquake is a local disaster, a national emergency and a manifestation of global plate tectonics simultaneously. Population growth is a personal family decision, a national policy challenge and a global resource question. Begin to notice that explanations change when you shift scale: a flood’s local cause might be heavy rainfall, but its regional cause might be land-use change, and its global cause might be shifting climate patterns.
Year 8 is where scale moves from a label (‘this is local, this is global’) to an analytical concept (‘the scale I choose shapes the explanation I give’). Students are not yet expected to shift fluently between scales within a single argument — that comes at Year 9 and KS4 — but they should recognise that scale is doing analytical work.
For example: Studying an earthquake, a student might recognise that it is simultaneously a local disaster destroying homes, a national emergency requiring government response, and a manifestation of global plate tectonics — the same event, three scales.
Building from Year 7
In Year 7, students understood that geographical features can be studied at different scales and studied local examples alongside broader ones. Now they begin to recognise that the same issue looks different depending on the scale at which it is examined.
Preparing for Year 9
In Year 9, students will recognise that scale changes the explanation and begin to move between scales within a single analysis — understanding that a local flood is shaped by catchment-level processes, regional decisions and global climate patterns simultaneously.
4
Connections and Interdependence
Trace connections across longer and more complex chains than in Year 7. Understand that connections between places are often two-directional: trade flows in both directions; migration affects both the origin and the destination. Begin to recognise that connections can be unequal: one country exports raw materials at low value while another manufactures high-value goods; one community bears the environmental cost while another reaps the economic benefit. Understand that human systems (economies, trade networks, energy supply chains) connect distant places in ways that create both opportunity and vulnerability.
The Year 8 move is from ‘things are connected’ to ‘connections have direction, magnitude and equity.’ Students begin to see that interdependence is not a neutral relationship but one shaped by power and geography.
For example: Studying migration between Poland and the UK, a student might trace how the flow benefits both countries in different ways — but also recognise that the relationship is unequal, with brain drain affecting one while the other gains skilled labour.
Building from Year 7
In Year 7, students identified simple connections between places with explicit teacher modelling. Now they trace longer chains of connection and begin to recognise that connections can be two-directional and unequal.
Preparing for Year 9
In Year 9, students will trace more complex chains of connection, understanding that connections can create unequal relationships and beginning to recognise feedback — how a consequence of an action can loop back to intensify or moderate the original process.
5
Change
Begin to distinguish types of change: physical change (erosion, tectonic uplift, glaciation), demographic change (population growth, migration, ageing), economic change (industrialisation, deindustrialisation, globalisation), and change driven by the interaction of human and physical processes (deforestation leading to soil erosion leading to flooding). Recognise that change operates over radically different timescales: geological time (millions of years), historical time (centuries), and human time (years, decades). Begin to explain why change happens at different rates in different places — and recognise that this unevenness is itself a geographical phenomenon requiring explanation.
Year 8 is where change moves from ‘things are different now’ to ‘I can categorise what kind of change this is, how fast it happened, and begin to explain why.’ This parallels history’s move from describing change to analysing its character.
For example: Studying a meander, a student might explain that erosion on the outside bend and deposition on the inside happen simultaneously but at different rates — recognising that physical change is not a single event but a continuous process with pace and direction.
Building from Year 7
In Year 7, students understood that landscapes and populations change over time, described what changed and began to explain why. Now they distinguish types of change, recognise different timescales, and begin to explain why change happens at different rates in different places.
Preparing for Year 9
In Year 9, students will categorise types of geographical change, distinguish the pace of change, identify turning points, and begin to evaluate whether change is reversible or irreversible.
6
Physical–Human Interaction
Understand that the interaction between physical processes and human activity is two-directional: physical processes create hazards that affect people, and human activity modifies the physical environment in ways that can amplify or reduce those hazards. Begin to encounter the idea of management — that humans actively attempt to control or mitigate physical processes — and to recognise that management involves choices with consequences. Understand that the same physical event (an earthquake, a flood) has radically different impacts in different human contexts, and begin to explain why: development level, governance, infrastructure and preparedness all mediate the relationship between a physical process and its human consequences.
The Year 8 move is from ‘humans affect the environment and vice versa’ to ‘the relationship is shaped by context, and that context is geographical.’ The preconception to challenge is that physical hazards are simply ‘natural disasters’ — the disaster is always partly human.
For example: Comparing the impact of earthquakes in Japan and Haiti, a student might explain why the same magnitude event kills far more people in one country than the other — recognising that development, infrastructure and governance mediate the relationship between hazard and disaster.
Building from Year 7
In Year 7, students understood that the physical environment affects people and that human activity affects the environment. Now they recognise this interaction is two-directional, encounter the concept of management, and understand that context mediates the impact of physical events.
Preparing for Year 9
In Year 9, students will understand that human activity is embedded within the physical environment, begin thinking in terms of trade-offs and management, and recognise that the same physical process can be a hazard, a resource, or both.
7
Geographical Enquiry and Evidence
Use the enquiry process with increasing independence. Collect data using a wider range of methods: structured surveys, fieldwork measurements (e.g. beach profiles, river measurements, environmental quality surveys), and systematic sampling. Present data using a wider range of techniques: line graphs, bar charts, histograms, pie charts, annotated maps. Begin to evaluate the strengths and limitations of different data collection methods — understanding that the method chosen shapes the data gathered. Cross-reference different sources of evidence to corroborate or challenge a geographical claim.
The Year 8 shift is from ‘I can follow a guided enquiry’ to ‘I am beginning to make choices within an enquiry and understand why those choices matter.’ Fieldwork, where it takes place, should involve genuine investigation — not just recording pre-determined observations.
For example: Measuring river velocity at different points along a channel, a student might choose between the float method and a flow meter, recognise each has limitations, and begin to explain how the method chosen shapes the data gathered.
Building from Year 7
In Year 7, students understood the basic elements of geographical enquiry and used simple methods to collect and present data. Now they use the enquiry process with increasing independence and begin to evaluate the strengths and limitations of different methods.
Preparing for Year 9
In Year 9, students will design elements of a geographical enquiry themselves, formulating questions, selecting methods, and beginning to evaluate the reliability of evidence.
8
Geographical Argument and Perspectives
Develop explanations that handle more than one factor: ‘This place floods frequently because of both the physical characteristics of the river and the human decisions about land use in the catchment.’ Begin to structure evaluative responses: ‘Hard engineering is effective because… but it also causes… therefore…’ Understand that geographical issues involve stakeholders with different interests and that identifying these interests is part of geographical analysis, not an afterthought. Begin to use comparative language with precision: ‘whereas,’ ‘in contrast,’ ‘similarly,’ ‘to a greater extent than.’
Year 8 writing should show the move from single-factor explanation to multi-factor analysis, and from description-with-opinion to evidence-based judgement. Scaffolding is still available but is increasingly replaced by guided practice: the teacher models, then students practise with support, then independently.
For example: Explaining why a place floods frequently, a student might write that it is caused by both the steep, impermeable slopes of the catchment and the urban development that replaced fields with tarmac — handling two factors in a single explanation.
Building from Year 7
In Year 7, students made geographical claims supported by a reason and evidence, and began distinguishing description from explanation. Now they develop multi-factor explanations and begin structuring evaluative responses with stakeholder awareness.
Preparing for Year 9
In Year 9, students will construct developed paragraphs advancing a clear geographical point, move beyond single-factor explanations, and begin to consider counter-arguments and alternative perspectives.

Students are developing schemas for the disciplinary concepts through repeated encounters across multiple topics. They can handle more complex geographical thinking because basic concepts are becoming more secure. A unit on development, for example, might connect economic change to urbanisation to environmental impact — chains that cross multiple strands and require students to select which connections matter most. Scaffolding should begin to fade as expertise grows — but not disappear entirely. The emphasis shifts from recognition and description to categorisation, explanation and analysis. Crucially, this is where connections across topics should become explicit: the concept of ‘scale’ encountered in one topic should be recognised and applied in the next.

1
Place
Move beyond describing a place’s characteristics to explaining why a place has those characteristics — linking physical features, human activity, history and economic forces. Recognise that places change over time, and begin to explain the processes driving that change. Understand that the same place can be understood through different geographical lenses — as a physical environment, an economic hub, a cultural landscape, a political territory. Return to places studied earlier and see them differently with new knowledge.
This is the shift from ‘what is this place like?’ to ‘why is this place the way it is?’ — a qualitative leap. Ofsted, 2023, found that few schools returned to places in different contexts; this strand explicitly requires it.
For example: Studying Mumbai, a student might explain why Dharavi exists where it does — linking its location to the city’s economic growth, rural-to-urban migration, land prices and historical development — rather than simply describing it as a slum.
Building from Year 8
In Year 8, students compared places with analytical precision, recognised internal diversity, and encountered places through multiple lenses. Now they explain why a place has its characteristics and return to places studied earlier with new knowledge.
Preparing for Year 10–11
In Year 10–11, students will understand place as a multi-dimensional concept — a location, a community, a landscape, and an idea — and evaluate how places are represented and whose perspective those representations serve.
2
Space and Pattern
Move beyond describing spatial patterns to explaining them. Link observable distributions to underlying processes: settlement patterns reflect physical geography and economic history; disease distribution reflects climate, poverty and connectivity; earthquake zones reflect plate boundaries. Use maps, data and statistical evidence to test whether a suspected pattern is real. Begin to recognise that the same data can reveal different patterns depending on how it is mapped or classified.
The key intellectual move at Year 9 is from ‘I can see a pattern’ to ‘I can explain why this pattern exists by linking it to a process operating at a different scale.’ This is relational thinking — Jackson’s (2006) central concept.
For example: Looking at a map of global malaria distribution, a student might link the pattern to climate (temperature and rainfall), poverty (access to healthcare and mosquito nets) and connectivity (urbanisation reducing habitat) — explaining the distribution rather than just describing it.
Building from Year 8
In Year 8, students described patterns with precision and began linking distributions to underlying processes using a wider range of maps. Now they explain spatial patterns and begin testing whether suspected patterns are real using data and evidence.
Preparing for Year 10–11
In Year 10–11, students will use spatial analysis to support geographical arguments, explain distributions with precision, and apply spatial reasoning to unfamiliar data — using maps as evidence, not just illustration.
3
Scale
Recognise that scale changes the explanation. An issue that appears one way at a local scale may look very different at a national or global scale. Begin to move between scales within a single analysis — for example, understanding that a local flood is shaped by catchment-level processes, regional land-use decisions, and global climate patterns simultaneously. Understand that different stakeholders operate at different scales, and that this shapes their perspectives.
This is a significant conceptual step. Students move from ‘I can study things at different scales’ to ‘scale changes what I see and how I explain it.’ Many GCSE mark schemes reward this thinking; it needs to be developed at KS3.
For example: Studying deforestation in the Amazon, a student might recognise that it is a local land-use decision for a farmer, a national economic strategy for Brazil, and a global climate concern — and that each scale produces a different explanation and a different stakeholder response.
Building from Year 8
In Year 8, students began to recognise that the same issue looks different at different scales and that explanations change when you shift scale. Now they begin to move between scales within a single analysis and understand that stakeholders operate at different scales.
Preparing for Year 10–11
In Year 10–11, students will move fluently between scales within a single analysis, evaluating the relative significance of factors operating at different scales and recognising that management strategies may solve a problem at one scale while creating one at another.
4
Connections and Interdependence
Trace more complex chains of connection: how a decision in one country affects environments, economies and communities in another. Understand that connections often create unequal relationships — one place may benefit while another bears the cost. Begin to recognise feedback: how a consequence of an action can loop back to intensify or moderate the original process.
Year 9 is where ‘things are connected’ evolves into ‘connections create inequalities and dilemmas.’ This is the analytical heart of much GCSE and A-Level geography.
For example: Studying globalisation, a student might trace how a TNC locating a factory in Bangladesh creates jobs and economic growth locally but depends on low wages and weak regulation — a connection that benefits consumers in the UK while creating vulnerability for workers abroad.
Building from Year 8
In Year 8, students traced connections across longer chains and recognised that connections can be two-directional and unequal. Now they trace more complex chains, understand connections create inequality, and begin to recognise feedback loops.
Preparing for Year 10–11
In Year 10–11, students will analyse how connections operate through trade, migration, atmospheric systems and governance, evaluate the consequences of interdependence, and use systems thinking (inputs, outputs, stores, flows, feedback) to structure analysis.
5
Change
Categorise types of geographical change: physical (erosion, climate shifts), human (urbanisation, migration, economic restructuring), and those driven by the interaction of both. Distinguish the pace of change — rapid events (volcanic eruptions, floods) versus gradual processes (glaciation, demographic transition). Identify turning points — moments or decisions that accelerated or redirected change. Recognise that change in one dimension (e.g. the economy of a city) may coexist with continuity in another (e.g. its physical landscape). Begin to evaluate whether change is reversible or irreversible.
The parallel with history’s ‘change and continuity’ is deliberate. Geography adds a spatial dimension: change happens at different rates in different places, and the reasons for that unevenness are themselves geographical.
For example: Studying urbanisation in China, a student might identify the shift from rural to urban as the turning point, categorise it as economic and demographic change, and compare the pace of China’s urbanisation with the UK’s much slower industrial-era transformation.
Building from Year 8
In Year 8, students distinguished types of change, recognised different timescales, and began explaining why change happens at different rates. Now they categorise change, identify turning points, and begin evaluating whether change is reversible or irreversible.
Preparing for Year 10–11
In Year 10–11, students will assess the extent and significance of change, evaluate whether change was driven by physical processes, human decisions, or both, and sustain arguments about whether a particular development represents progress, decline, or something more complex.
6
Physical–Human Interaction
Understand that human activity does not simply affect the physical environment but is embedded within it: physical processes constrain and enable human choices, and human choices reshape physical systems. Begin to think in terms of trade-offs and management: protecting one interest often means compromising another. Recognise that the same physical process (e.g. river flooding) can be a hazard, a resource, or both — depending on the human context.
The preconception to challenge at this stage is that physical and human geography are separate subjects. They are not; they are dimensions of the same reality, and the discipline’s distinctive contribution is precisely this integration.
For example: Studying the Somerset Levels floods, a student might recognise that the same river system is a flood hazard for residents, a water resource for farmers and a wildlife habitat for conservationists — and that managing it for one group creates trade-offs for the others.
Building from Year 8
In Year 8, students understood that the interaction is two-directional and that context mediates impact. Now they understand that human activity is embedded within the physical environment and begin thinking in terms of trade-offs and management.
Preparing for Year 10–11
In Year 10–11, students will evaluate the relationship between physical processes and human activity as a system with feedbacks, thresholds and tipping points, and assess the effectiveness of management strategies using criteria.
7
Geographical Enquiry and Evidence
Design elements of a geographical enquiry: formulate a question, select appropriate methods, identify limitations of data. Collect data using methods beyond simple observation — structured surveys, measurements, sampling. Present data using a wider range of techniques (choropleth maps, climate graphs, scatter plots). Cross-reference different data sources to corroborate or challenge a geographical claim. Begin to evaluate the reliability of evidence and to recognise that data can be presented in ways that emphasise or obscure particular patterns.
The shift here is from following a guided enquiry to making methodological choices — understanding that how you investigate shapes what you find.
For example: Investigating whether their town centre is in decline, a student might design a survey combining footfall counts, shop vacancy rates and questionnaire data — choosing methods, recognising their limitations, and cross-referencing sources to build a stronger conclusion.
Building from Year 8
In Year 8, students used the enquiry process with increasing independence and began evaluating the strengths and limitations of methods. Now they design elements of an enquiry themselves, evaluate the reliability of evidence, and recognise that data presentation shapes perception.
Preparing for Year 10–11
In Year 10–11, students will apply the full enquiry process independently: formulating questions, designing methodology, collecting and presenting data, analysing findings, drawing conclusions, and evaluating the investigation.
8
Geographical Argument and Perspectives
Construct developed paragraphs that advance a clear geographical point, deploy well-selected evidence, and explain its significance. Move beyond single-factor explanations: ‘Flooding here is severe because of both the physical characteristics of the drainage basin and human land-use decisions.’ Begin to consider counter-arguments and alternative perspectives — ‘However, for local residents, the dam represents…’ Use the language of geographical argument: ‘to a great extent,’ ‘the most significant factor,’ ‘while it is true that.’
Scaffolding should be fading — consistent with the expertise reversal effect — but structured writing frames may still be appropriate for new or complex tasks.
For example: Writing about whether a dam should be built on the Yangtze, a student might advance a clear point about flood prevention, deploy evidence about the Three Gorges Dam’s capacity, then introduce a counter-argument about displacement of communities — building a developed paragraph rather than listing facts.
Building from Year 8
In Year 8, students developed multi-factor explanations, began structuring evaluative responses, and used comparative language with precision. Now they construct developed paragraphs with well-selected evidence and begin considering counter-arguments.
Preparing for Year 10–11
In Year 10–11, students will construct sustained, multi-paragraph arguments that weigh competing factors and reach a supported judgement, deploying evidence precisely and understanding competing perspectives shaped by values, experience and power.

Students should now have sufficiently developed schemas to handle the increased demands of GCSE assessment. The emphasis shifts decisively from description and categorisation to evaluation and sustained judgement. A GCSE question on coastal management, for instance, asks students to evaluate strategies by weighing cost, sustainability and equity — not just describe what the strategy is, but judge whether it works and for whom. Knowledge is more extensive and more secure, freeing working memory for the genuinely demanding work of weighing, qualifying and arguing. Ofsted (2023) found that KS4 curriculum design was often weaker than KS3, with exam specifications becoming a de facto curriculum. This framework insists that the same disciplinary concepts thread through KS4 with increasing rigour — not that they are replaced by content coverage.

1
Place
Understand place as a multi-dimensional concept: a location, a community, a landscape, and an idea. Study places as complex case studies that integrate physical and human geography — not as illustrations of a single theme. Evaluate how places are represented in different sources and whose perspective those representations serve. Recognise that the same place may be understood very differently by residents, visitors, governments and media. Begin to understand that perceptions of place shape real decisions — about investment, migration, policy.
At KS4, ‘place’ shifts from something to describe to something to analyse. The question is no longer ‘what is this place like?’ but ‘how is this place understood, and by whom, and with what consequences?’
For example: Studying urban regeneration in east London, a student might evaluate how the 2012 Olympics was represented as renewal by the government, resisted as gentrification by long-term residents, and marketed as opportunity by developers — the same place, three conflicting narratives.
Building from Year 9
In Year 9, students explained why a place has its characteristics, understood places through different geographical lenses, and returned to places studied earlier with new knowledge. Now they understand place as a multi-dimensional concept and evaluate how representations serve different perspectives.
Preparing for Year 12–13
In Year 12–13, students will understand ‘place’ as an explicitly theoretical concept, engaging with how place identity is constructed through experience, representation, media, policy and power — and understanding that these contestations have real material consequences.
2
Space and Pattern
Use spatial analysis to support geographical arguments. Identify, describe and explain distributions with precision, using accurate geographical terminology. Understand that the absence of a phenomenon in a location also requires explanation. Use maps, data and statistical evidence to evaluate whether a generalisation holds — and to identify where it breaks down. Apply spatial reasoning to unfamiliar data: given a new map or dataset, identify the pattern and hypothesise the process behind it.
At GCSE, spatial thinking moves from a tool for description to a tool for argument. Students should be able to use a map as evidence — not just illustration.
For example: Given a choropleth map of deprivation across a city, a student might identify that the most deprived areas cluster in inner-city wards, hypothesise that this reflects deindustrialisation and housing patterns, and use the map as evidence to support an argument rather than just describing what they see.
Building from Year 9
In Year 9, students explained spatial patterns by linking distributions to underlying processes and tested whether suspected patterns are real. Now they use spatial analysis to support arguments and apply spatial reasoning to unfamiliar data.
Preparing for Year 12–13
In Year 12–13, students will use spatial analysis as a tool for constructing and testing arguments, applying quantitative methods and GIS, and understanding that the way data is classified and mapped involves analytical choices that are not neutral.
3
Scale
Move fluently between scales within a single analysis. Understand that most geographical phenomena are multi-scalar: a flood is simultaneously a local hydrological event, a regional land-use consequence, and a manifestation of global climate change. Evaluate the relative significance of factors operating at different scales. Recognise that management strategies operate at particular scales and may solve a problem at one scale while creating one at another.
Multi-scalar thinking is one of the highest-value disciplinary moves in GCSE geography. Mark schemes at the top end consistently reward the ability to shift scales within an argument.
For example: Answering a question on flood management, a student might explain that a local flood wall protects individual properties, but upstream land-use decisions at a catchment scale determine how much water reaches the town — and that climate change at a global scale is increasing the frequency of extreme rainfall events.
Building from Year 9
In Year 9, students recognised that scale changes the explanation and began moving between scales within a single analysis. Now they move fluently between scales, evaluate the relative significance of factors at different scales, and recognise that management can solve problems at one scale while creating them at another.
Preparing for Year 12–13
In Year 12–13, students will understand scale not simply as a hierarchy but as an analytical framework, evaluating how processes at different scales interact and recognising that the choice of scale shapes both the explanation and the policy response.
4
Connections and Interdependence
Analyse how connections operate — through trade, migration, atmospheric systems, hydrological cycles, global governance — not just that they exist. Evaluate the consequences of interdependence: which connections create mutual benefit, and which create dependence, vulnerability or exploitation? Understand that disrupting one connection in a system can have cascading, unintended consequences elsewhere. Use the concept of systems (inputs, outputs, stores, flows, feedback) to structure analysis of interconnected processes.
At KS4, the demand is no longer to identify connections but to evaluate their significance, their equity, and their systemic implications.
For example: Studying resource management, a student might analyse how the UK’s food supply chain connects farms in Spain, processing plants in the Netherlands and supermarkets in Britain — and evaluate how disrupting one link (a drought, a trade dispute) cascades through the system.
Building from Year 9
In Year 9, students traced complex chains of connection, understood that connections create unequal relationships, and began recognising feedback loops. Now they analyse how connections operate through specific mechanisms and use systems thinking to structure their analysis.
Preparing for Year 12–13
In Year 12–13, students will think in systems — understanding stores, flows, feedback loops, equilibrium and disruption as analytical frameworks applicable to both physical and human systems, and evaluating cascading consequences and tipping points.
5
Change
Assess the extent and significance of change: was it superficial or fundamental? Reversible or permanent? Experienced equally or unevenly? Evaluate whether change was driven primarily by physical processes, human decisions, or the interaction of both. Compare rates and patterns of change in different places and explain the geographical reasons for the difference. Sustain an argument about whether a particular development represents progress, decline, or something more complex.
The intellectual demand at GCSE mirrors history’s treatment of change and continuity: it is not enough to describe that change happened; students must weigh its significance and reach a supported judgement.
For example: Assessing economic change in a UK city like Sheffield, a student might evaluate whether deindustrialisation represented decline or transformation — weighing job losses against the growth of the service and creative sectors, and judging whose experience of change matters most.
Building from Year 9
In Year 9, students categorised types of change, distinguished pace, identified turning points, and began evaluating reversibility. Now they assess the extent and significance of change, compare rates across places, and sustain arguments about whether change represents progress or decline.
Preparing for Year 12–13
In Year 12–13, students will compare rates, patterns and processes of change across periods, places and scales, evaluate whether change is cyclical, linear or accelerating, and engage with debates about thresholds and tipping points.
6
Physical–Human Interaction
Evaluate the relationship between physical processes and human activity as a system with feedbacks, thresholds and tipping points. Understand that ‘management’ is not a solution but a set of trade-offs shaped by values, economics and political power. Assess the effectiveness of management strategies using criteria — cost, sustainability, equity, scale — and reach supported judgements. Recognise that the same physical process poses different levels of risk in different human contexts, and explain why using geographical reasoning about development, governance and infrastructure.
At KS4, the naïve framing of ‘humans cause problems, management fixes them’ should give way to a more sophisticated understanding that human–environment relationships are dynamic, contested and context-dependent.
For example: Evaluating coastal management at Holderness, a student might assess sea walls, groynes and managed retreat against criteria of cost, sustainability and equity — judging not just what works, but for whom and at what cost to neighbouring communities left unprotected.
Building from Year 9
In Year 9, students understood that human activity is embedded within the physical environment and thought in terms of trade-offs and management. Now they evaluate this relationship as a system with feedbacks and tipping points, and assess management strategies using explicit criteria.
Preparing for Year 12–13
In Year 12–13, students will evaluate human–environment relationships as dynamic systems operating across multiple scales and timeframes, engaging with debates about sustainability, intervention, and the extent to which human activity has pushed Earth systems towards critical thresholds.
7
Geographical Enquiry and Evidence
Apply the full enquiry process independently: formulate a question, design methodology, collect and present data, analyse findings, draw conclusions, evaluate the investigation. Understand that methodological choices affect results — the way you sample, the scale you choose, the data you collect shapes the conclusions you can reach. Evaluate the reliability and representativeness of evidence. Analyse unfamiliar (unseen) enquiry data under examination conditions.
Ofsted, 2023: ‘Schools simplify fieldwork as much as they can so that pupils can give prepared answers in the exam.’ The aspiration should be that students genuinely understand methodology and can apply it to unfamiliar contexts — not that they reproduce rehearsed accounts of fieldwork they barely understood.
For example: Given unfamiliar data about a coastal environment they have never visited, a student might analyse the evidence, identify limitations in sampling, and draw conclusions about longshore drift — applying the enquiry process to new material rather than rehearsing memorised answers.
Building from Year 9
In Year 9, students designed elements of an enquiry, evaluated the reliability of evidence, and recognised that data presentation shapes perception. Now they apply the full enquiry process independently and analyse unfamiliar data under examination conditions.
Preparing for Year 12–13
In Year 12–13, students will design, conduct and evaluate geographical research with genuine independence, applying quantitative and qualitative methods with fluency and critically evaluating the methodology and conclusions of others’ research.
8
Geographical Argument and Perspectives
Construct sustained, multi-paragraph arguments that address a geographical question directly, weigh competing factors, and reach a supported judgement. Deploy evidence precisely and purposefully rather than descriptively. Understand that geographical issues involve competing perspectives shaped by values, experience, economic interest and political power — and that evaluating these is not about ‘balance’ but about understanding why people disagree and what is at stake. Use criteria to justify evaluative judgements (e.g. explaining why one management strategy is more effective than another, not just asserting it).
The shift from KS3 to KS4 writing should be analogous to the shift identified in GCSE History: from ‘fragile’ answers that rely on formulae to ‘non-fragile’ answers where depth of geographical knowledge gives arguments genuine texture and flexibility.
For example: Answering ‘To what extent is climate change the greatest threat to tropical rainforests?’, a student might construct a sustained argument weighing climate change against logging, agriculture and governance failures — deploying specific evidence and reaching a justified judgement rather than listing factors.
Building from Year 9
In Year 9, students constructed developed paragraphs advancing clear geographical points with well-selected evidence, and began considering counter-arguments. Now they construct sustained multi-paragraph arguments, deploy evidence precisely, and use criteria to justify evaluative judgements.
Preparing for Year 12–13
In Year 12–13, students will construct sophisticated, thesis-driven arguments that synthesise evidence from multiple sources, sustain an independent line of argument across extended essays, and engage with debates about environmental justice, development and sustainability as genuinely contested questions.

Students operate with a high degree of independence. Their schemas for both substantive knowledge and the disciplinary concepts should be sufficiently robust and automated that working memory is available for the most demanding geographical work: engaging with systems at a planetary scale, understanding how geographical knowledge is produced and contested, constructing original arguments across extended essays, and reasoning geographically about unfamiliar material. An A-Level essay on sovereignty, for example, might require students to construct an argument about whether globalisation has genuinely eroded state power, synthesising evidence from trade, migration and geopolitics across multiple scales. Instruction supports this by providing rich content and intellectual challenge — not by reverting to heavy scaffolding, which at this stage would trigger the expertise reversal effect.

1
Place
Understand ‘place’ as an explicitly theoretical concept. Engage with the distinction between space and place; understand how place identity is constructed through experience, representation, media, policy and power. Evaluate how places are produced and reproduced — through economic change, regeneration, branding, migration and cultural practice. Understand that place perceptions are contested and that these contestations have real material consequences for investment, policy and people’s lives. Return to places studied across the entire curriculum with the deepest understanding yet — recognising how physical systems, human activity, development, governance and representation interact within a single location.
At A-Level, place becomes an epistemological concept: not just ‘where’ but ‘how do we know about places, and whose knowledge counts?’
For example: Studying regeneration in a post-industrial city, a student might evaluate how the same neighbourhood is produced as ‘deprived’ through government statistics, ‘vibrant’ through media representation, and ‘home’ through residents’ lived experience — understanding that these competing narratives shape real decisions about investment and policy.
Building from Year 10–11
In Year 10–11, students understood place as a multi-dimensional concept and evaluated how representations serve different perspectives. Now they engage with place as an explicitly theoretical concept, understanding how place identity is constructed and contested.
Preparing for university
At university, students will engage with place theory at a sophisticated level — phenomenological, relational, and critical approaches to place — and contribute original research to understanding how places are produced and experienced.
2
Space and Pattern
Use spatial analysis as a tool for constructing and testing arguments. Apply quantitative methods — statistical tests, data modelling, GIS — to geographical data. Evaluate the strengths and limitations of different methods of spatial representation. Understand that the way data is classified, bounded and mapped shapes the patterns that appear — and that this involves choices that are analytical, not neutral. Move between descriptive, explanatory and evaluative uses of spatial data within a single piece of analysis.
At A-Level, spatial thinking becomes explicitly methodological: students understand that ‘seeing a pattern’ is itself an interpretive act.
For example: Using GIS to map flood risk against socio-economic deprivation, a student might apply a Spearman’s rank test, evaluate whether the correlation is statistically significant, and critically reflect on how the choice of ward boundaries and deprivation index shapes the patterns that appear.
Building from Year 10–11
In Year 10–11, students used spatial analysis to support arguments and applied spatial reasoning to unfamiliar data. Now they apply quantitative methods and GIS, evaluate methods of spatial representation, and understand that mapping involves analytical choices.
Preparing for university
At university, students will use advanced spatial analysis, GIS and statistical methods to conduct original geographical research, understanding spatial representation as a methodological and epistemological practice.
3
Scale
Understand that scale is not simply a hierarchy (local → global) but an analytical framework. Evaluate how processes operating at different scales interact — how global atmospheric circulation creates regional climate patterns, which shape local ecosystems, which are disrupted by human activity operating at yet another scale. Engage with geographical debates about scale: at what scale should a problem be understood? At what scale should it be managed? Recognise that the choice of scale shapes the explanation and the policy response.
This is the highest level of scalar reasoning: understanding scale not as a fixed backdrop but as an analytical choice that determines what you see and what you can say about it.
For example: Writing about water security, a student might evaluate how global atmospheric circulation creates regional aridity, which shapes national water policy, which determines local access — and argue that the scale at which the problem is framed determines whether the solution looks like engineering, governance or justice.
Building from Year 10–11
In Year 10–11, students moved fluently between scales and evaluated the relative significance of factors at different scales. Now they understand scale as an analytical framework, engage with debates about scale, and recognise that the choice of scale shapes both explanation and policy.
Preparing for university
At university, students will engage with scale as a theoretical construct in geographical research, understanding how scalar politics shapes environmental governance and development policy.
4
Connections and Interdependence
Think in systems. Understand stores, flows, inputs, outputs, feedback loops, equilibrium and disruption as analytical frameworks that can be applied to physical systems (the carbon cycle, the water cycle, coastal sediment budgets) and human systems (global migration, trade networks, governance structures) alike. Evaluate what happens when systems are disrupted — cascading consequences, tipping points, irreversibility. Understand that tracing connections involves selection and interpretation: geographers choose which flows to follow and which relationships to foreground, and those choices shape their conclusions.
At A-Level, ‘everything is connected’ becomes analytically rigorous: students understand systems as theoretical models with explanatory power and limitations, not as vague assertions of interdependence.
For example: Studying the carbon cycle, a student might model it as a system of stores and flows, evaluate how deforestation and fossil fuel combustion shift carbon from long-term geological stores to the atmosphere, and analyse the cascading consequences — ocean acidification, permafrost thaw, positive feedback loops — that push the system towards tipping points.
Building from Year 10–11
In Year 10–11, students analysed how connections operate through specific mechanisms and used systems thinking to structure analysis. Now they think in systems with full rigour, evaluating disruption, tipping points and irreversibility.
Preparing for university
At university, students will engage with systems theory at a sophisticated level, applying complex systems thinking to original research questions and understanding the epistemological implications of systems as analytical models.
5
Change
Compare rates, patterns and processes of change across periods, places and scales. Evaluate whether change is cyclical, linear, accelerating or reversible. Engage with debates about thresholds and tipping points — the idea that gradual change can produce sudden, qualitative shifts (in climate, in ecosystems, in political systems). Understand that ‘change’ in geography is always both temporal and spatial: it happens somewhere, and the spatial pattern of change is itself something to explain. Synthesise across broad scales to identify trajectories and anomalies.
The highest level of geographical thinking about change parallels history’s treatment: understanding that how we characterise and periodise change is itself an analytical choice, not a neutral description.
For example: Studying the Anthropocene debate, a student might evaluate whether human impact on Earth systems represents a gradual acceleration or a threshold-crossing tipping point, comparing the pace of species loss, ice sheet retreat and atmospheric CO₂ concentration to identify whether current change is linear, exponential or irreversible.
Building from Year 10–11
In Year 10–11, students assessed the extent and significance of change, compared rates across places, and sustained arguments about progress or decline. Now they evaluate change as cyclical, linear or accelerating, and engage with debates about thresholds and tipping points.
Preparing for university
At university, students will engage with change as a theoretical concept in geography, contributing original analysis of how temporal and spatial patterns of change interact across scales.
6
Physical–Human Interaction
Evaluate human–environment relationships as dynamic systems operating across multiple scales and timeframes. Understand that human civilisation depends on the effective functioning of natural systems (the carbon cycle, the water cycle, biodiversity) that human activity is simultaneously undermining — and that this tension is the central geographical challenge of the 21st century. Engage with debates about management, sustainability and intervention: the trade-offs, the power dynamics, the uncertainties. Evaluate the extent to which human activity has pushed Earth systems towards critical thresholds, and the viability of strategies for restoration.
At A-Level, the interaction between physical and human geography is not a topic but a way of thinking. It is what makes geography geography.
For example: Writing about the Aral Sea, a student might evaluate how Soviet irrigation policy disrupted the water cycle, collapsed fisheries, created a toxic dust bowl, and devastated communities — understanding this not as a single ‘environmental disaster’ but as a dynamic system where human decisions pushed natural processes past a threshold of irreversibility.
Building from Year 10–11
In Year 10–11, students evaluated the relationship as a system with feedbacks and tipping points, and assessed management strategies using criteria. Now they evaluate human–environment relationships as dynamic systems across multiple scales and engage with debates about sustainability and critical thresholds.
Preparing for university
At university, students will engage with the human–environment relationship at a theoretical and research level, contributing original analysis to debates about the Anthropocene, planetary boundaries and environmental governance.
7
Geographical Enquiry and Evidence
Design, conduct and evaluate geographical research with genuine independence. Understand that geographical investigation involves making choices — about what to study, how to measure, what to include and exclude — and that these choices affect the conclusions reached. Apply quantitative and qualitative methods with fluency. Evaluate the representativeness and reliability of different types of evidence. Construct original arguments from primary and secondary data, rather than simply illustrating pre-formed conclusions. Critically evaluate the methodology and conclusions of others’ research.
Ofsted, 2021: ‘AS- and A-level students must design their own investigation… In addition to learning different data collection methods and approaches, pupils need to appreciate which method is most appropriate to use.’ The goal is not just competence but methodological awareness — understanding that method shapes knowledge.
For example: Designing an independent investigation into coastal retreat, a student might choose between questionnaires and Environment Agency data, justify their sampling strategy, apply statistical tests to their results, and critically evaluate how different methods would have produced different conclusions.
Building from Year 10–11
In Year 10–11, students applied the full enquiry process independently and analysed unfamiliar data under examination conditions. Now they design and conduct geographical research with genuine independence, applying quantitative and qualitative methods with fluency.
Preparing for university
At university, students will design and execute independent research projects, engaging with methodological debates and understanding that the choice of method is itself a theoretical commitment.
8
Geographical Argument and Perspectives
Construct sophisticated, thesis-driven arguments that synthesise evidence from multiple sources and engage with competing explanations. Sustain an independent line of argument across extended essays. Qualify and nuance judgements — showing awareness that most geographical questions resist simple answers. Understand that geographical knowledge is produced within particular traditions, perspectives and power structures — and that this shapes what is known, what is studied, and what is valued. Engage with debates about environmental justice, development, sustainability and governance as genuinely contested questions to which geography contributes evidence and frameworks but not simple answers.
At A-Level, the student is not reproducing what they have been taught; they are constructing their own geographical argument about how the world works. That is the disciplinary destination.
For example: Writing an essay on whether globalisation has genuinely eroded state sovereignty, a student might construct a thesis-driven argument synthesising evidence from trade agreements, migration policy and geopolitical alliances — sustaining an independent line of reasoning across 1500 words and engaging with competing theoretical perspectives.
Building from Year 10–11
In Year 10–11, students constructed sustained multi-paragraph arguments with precise evidence and evaluative judgements using criteria. Now they construct thesis-driven arguments, sustain independent lines of argument across extended essays, and engage with geographical knowledge as produced within particular traditions and power structures.
Preparing for university
At university, students will produce independent research essays and dissertations with full engagement with primary data, theoretical frameworks and scholarly debate, contributing original geographical arguments to the discipline.

Think Like a Geographer

These ten statements capture the culmination of the progression — the disciplinary habits of mind that mark genuine geographical thinking.

  1. 1
    Place matters.
    Where something happens shapes what happens. The same process produces different outcomes in different places, and understanding why requires geographical thinking.
  2. 2
    Patterns reveal processes.
    Distributions are not random. When geographers see a pattern — in settlement, climate, disease, wealth — they ask why here? and look for the process that created it.
  3. 3
    Scale changes the story.
    A phenomenon looks different at local, national and global scales. The most powerful geographical thinking moves fluently between them — and understands that the choice of scale shapes the explanation.
  4. 4
    Everything is connected — but not equally.
    Human and physical processes interact across space. Connections create interdependence, but they also create inequality: one place’s opportunity is often another’s cost.
  5. 5
    Change is constant — but uneven.
    Landscapes, populations, climates and economies evolve at different rates in different places. Geographers think in time as well as space, and ask not just what changed but why here, why now, and who was affected?
  6. 6
    The physical and the human are inseparable.
    There is no ‘natural’ environment untouched by human activity, and no human society that exists outside physical constraints. Geography’s distinctive contribution is precisely this integration.
  7. 7
    Evidence comes from the field.
    Geographical knowledge is built through observation, measurement and investigation. Fieldwork is not an add-on; it is how geographers test ideas against the complexity of the real world.
  8. 8
    Maps are arguments.
    Every map involves choices about what to show, how to classify, and what to leave out. Geographers read maps critically and construct them purposefully — understanding that representation is never neutral.
  9. 9
    There are always multiple perspectives.
    The same geographical issue — a dam, a border, a development project — is experienced differently by different people. Geographers consider whose story is being told, and whose is missing.
  10. 10
    Geography helps us make decisions about the future.
    About where to build, how to manage risk, what to sustain, who is affected. The discipline does not just describe the world — it provides the frameworks to act within it.

Key References

Key References

  • Jackson, P. (2006) ‘Thinking Geographically,’ Geography, 91(3), pp. 199–204. [The most cited conceptualisation: space and place, scale and connection, proximity and distance, relational thinking.]
  • Lambert, D. (2017) ‘Thinking Geographically,’ in Jones, M. (ed.) The Handbook of Secondary Geography. Sheffield: GA. [Vocabulary vs grammar; the lens through which geographers see the world.]
  • Rawling, E. (2022) A Framework for the School Geography Curriculum. Sheffield: GA. [Key concepts: Place, Space, Earth Systems, Environment.]
  • Taylor, L. (2008) ‘Key Concepts and Medium Term Planning,’ Teaching Geography, Summer; (2009) ‘Think Piece — Concepts in Geography,’ GA online. [Concepts as ‘ways of dividing up our experience of a messy world.’]
  • Maude, A. (2024) Thinking Geographically: A Guide to the Core Concepts for Teachers. London: Routledge.
  • Hopkin, J., Gardner, D., Kinder, A. and Totterdell, R. (2020) A Progression Framework for Geography. Sheffield: GA.
  • Roberts, M. (2023) Geography Through Enquiry, 2nd edn. Sheffield: GA. [Enquiry-based approaches.]
  • Ofsted (2021) Research Review Series: Geography. [Four forms of knowledge; disciplinary knowledge; organising concepts; fieldwork progression.]
  • Ofsted (2023) Getting Our Bearings: Geography Subject Report. [Practice findings: single stories, procedural knowledge gaps, fieldwork weaknesses, disciplinary knowledge as weakest area.]
  • Sweller, J. (1988) ‘Cognitive Load During Problem Solving,’ Cognitive Science, 12(2), pp. 257–285.
  • Kalyuga, S., Ayres, P., Chandler, P. and Sweller, J. (2003) ‘The Expertise Reversal Effect,’ Educational Psychologist, 38(1), pp. 23–31.