Pearson Edexcel AS/A Level Geography Specification Updates - Key Dates - Topic Changes

Oct 20, 2026

Uploaded by jay

Updates for Pearson Edexcel AS/A Level Geography set key teaching and assessment dates from September 2024 and summers 2025–2026. The document explains why specification elements change across multiple topics, detailing minor updates for terminology and structure, plus more substantial DE&I and clarity revisions. Examples include adjusting theories of plate movement language, adding human factors to disaster scale learning, incorporating the Anthropocene, refining glacial controls, and broadening wording from global warming to climate change.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryExam

FormatPDF

Pages20

Reading Time50 min

AccessFree to download

Key dates

What’s changing and why?

Topic 1 Tectonic Processes and Hazards

Topic 2A Glaciated Landscapes and Change

Topic 2B Coastal Landscapes and Change

Topic 3 Globalisation

Pearson Edexcel AS/A Level Geography Specification Updates Key dates • AS/A Level Geography first teach September 2024 • AS Geography first assessment Summer 2025 • A Level Geography first assessment Summer 2026 What’s changing and why? Topic 1 Tectonic Processes and Hazards | Spec point
What is the change? What type of
change is it?(DE&I, Clarification, Update)
Why are we making this change? Level of
change | | | | | --- | --- | --- | --- | | 1.2a We’ve made two amendments to the key elements of the theory of plate movements. The changes are minor: we’ve changed ‘mantle convection’ to‘convection’, and we’ve added the term‘ridge push’. | Update | To bring the detailed content up to date with current thinking about the theory of plate movement. | Minor change. | | We slightly changed the order of the remaining elements so that they flow logically. | | | | | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | 1.4c | Replaced ‘world’ with ‘countries’, so the final part of the sentence now reads ‘...contrasting locations in developed, emerging, and developing countries.’ | Update | To improve the clarity of the wording. | No change. | | 1.6c | An update to the wording to include the consideration of human factors alongside physical factors, and to include the importance of locational context when learning about the scale of a disaster. | DE&I | We’ve made this change so that students understand that the scale of a disaster will be influenced by human and physical factors, and the locational context, which could include consideration of the historical, political, social, and economic context of the place being studied. | More substantial change. | Topic 2A Glaciated Landscapes and Change | Spec point
What is the change? What type of
change is it?(DE&I, clarification, update)
Why are we making this change? Level of
change | | | | | --- | --- | --- | --- | | 2A1.a,
b, and
c | We’ve updated the wording of the key idea to include the Anthropocene. We’ve updated the wording of bullets a and b to specify that | Update To update the key idea and detailed
content so that it better reflects current | More substantial change. | | students should know the factors leading to climate change in the Pleistocene, Holocene, and Anthropocene, and we’ve added variations in the composition of atmospheric gases to the list of causes in bullet b. We’ve removed bullet c from this key idea as shorter-term climate change is now covered in bullet b. | | | thinking and recent resources on this topic. | | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | 2A5.c Added ‘basal temperature’ as a factor that
controls the rate of glacial movement. | Clarification To clarify the content requirements,
basal slip appears as a process in 2A.5b, and basal temperature is a factor that controls basal slip. | | | No change
required. | | 2A11.c Replaced the term global warming with climate change. | | Update | Climate change is broader and allows for precipitation changes, cooling temperatures, and El Niño/La Niña, etc. Global warming is a misleading term asa warming of temperatures isn't the only impact. It is the whole range of climate change processes we want them to consider. | No change
required. | | 2A12.c Replaced the term climate warming with climate change. Removed the phrase ‘is a context risk’. | | Update/Clarification We replaced the term climate warming
so that the wording is consistent with 2A11 . c. We’ve removed‘is a context risk’to improve the clarity of the
specification wording. | | No change
required. | Topic 2B Coastal Landscapes and Change | Spec point
What is the change? What type of
change is it?(DE&I, Clarification, Update)
Why are we making this change? Level of change | | | | | --- | --- | --- | --- | | 2B1.c We’ve changed the order of the words | Clarification To improve the clarity of the bullet point, there is no change to the content requirements. | | No change
req

FAQs

What are the key dates for the updated AS/A Level Geography specification?

AS/A Level Geography is first taught from September 2024. AS Geography first assessment is in Summer 2025, and A Level Geography first assessment is in Summer 2026.

What types of changes are included in the specification updates?

Changes include updates for terminology and clarity, clarification of content requirements, and more substantial DE&I revisions to improve wording and reduce problematic generalisations.

How does the document address human factors in learning about disasters?

It updates wording to include human factors alongside physical factors, and to stress the importance of locational context, including historical, political, social, and economic context.

Why are terms like “global warming” changed to “climate change”?

The document explains that “climate change” is broader and better reflects the full range of impacts, including precipitation changes, cooling temperatures, and phenomena such as El Niño/La Niña.

Oct 20, 2026

Uploaded by jay