Top 5 things to know about our new Edexcel AS/A level Geography courses - Key highlights

Oct 20, 2026

Top 5 highlights explain Pearson Edexcel’s newly accredited AS/A level Geography courses and how they help students become skilled, successful geographers. The approach is issues-based and links core processes and environments to real-world themes, including water and carbon cycles with issues such as water insecurity and energy security. The courses provide a structured, meaningful fieldwork framework, consistent command-word exam assessment, and specifications designed for flexible teaching. Support materials and events are offered to help teachers deliver lessons and guide students toward exam success and further study.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryExam

FormatPDF

Pages2

Reading Time5 min

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Top 5 things to know

Contemporary, issues-based approach and relevance

Manageable and meaningful fieldwork

Exams designed for student success

Straightforward specifications for flexible teaching

Skills-focused learning and synopticity

Top 5 things to know about our new Edexcel AS/A level Geography courses Our newly accredited qualifications have been shaped to help all students become skilled and successful geographers. You can be confident in teaching our courses because: 1. We’ve built upon the contemporary, issues-based approach teachers and students love. Geography matters. That’s why our qualifications continue to focus on fundamental processes and environments, but also reflect the world around us. We’re the only Awarding Body to integrate compulsory content and popular, familiar themes together – such as linking the water and carbon cycles to water insecurity and energy security – to ensure our courses are relevant and engaging. This way, students can build on what they’ve learned at GCSE and what they see in the world today, and gain the knowledge, skills and understanding vital to success at AS/A level and beyond. 2. We’ve developed a manageable and meaningful approach to fieldwork. To ensure you and your students can focus on exploring geography in practice, we’ve taken the guesswork out of fieldwork. As part of supporting success in fieldwork, we’re working with the Field Studies Council to create a whole host of free support and guidance on best practice. We’re also the Awarding Body to go that step further and give practical examples of how to integrate teaching the required geographical and fieldwork skills into your lessons. At AS, we’ve prescribed fieldwork environments in the specification, so students can confidently apply what they know to exam questions on unfamiliar fieldwork contexts. When it comes to the A level Independent Investigation, students can further explore a part of the course that fascinates them. 3. We’ve created exams that give every student the chance to succeed. Alongside a straightforward assessment structure, our defined set of command words in exams are used consistently to assess particular skills and link to the same mark tariffs to make it clear what students are being asked todo. With exam questions that ramp in demand throughout each section, our papers are accessible and encourage students to engage with every element of assessment. 4. We’ve designed straightforward specifications you can shape to suit you and your students. Our specifications are designed for you to make your own. To support shared teaching and co-teaching, there’s identical content across AS and the first year of A level, areas of physical and human geography mirror each other across the first two exam papers. Our synoptic themes also help students connect common concepts between topics. Whichever teaching format you follow, detailed specification content is thereto give you confidence in how much depth to cover, and specific examples of place contexts demonstrate the case studies you can use to bring the subject to life. There’s also the freedom to choose subtopics, so you can focus on the content you know will best engage and suit your students. 5. We’ve focused on the skills at the heart of being a good geographer. To help you create coherent courses and support your students in becoming confident geographers, we’ve taken the unique approach of signposting precisely how and where quantitative and qualitative skills can be integrated into lessons. That way, you can be confident your students will develop and apply key skills to what they’re learning, in readiness for exams, fieldwork and further study. What’s more, our courses are designed to enable synopticity and encourage your students to see ‘the bigger picture’ and confidently link geographical processes, themes, ideas and concepts together across topics. And one more thing… In the run-up to first teaching and beyond, we’re here to support you every step of the way with free support materials and events. Jon Wolton, your Subject Advisor is also on hand to answer any questions you have about the courses, as well as let you know the latest news. S

FAQs

What flexibility do teachers have with the specifications?

Teachers can shape the specifications, benefit from identical content across AS and the first year of A level, use mirrored physical and human geography areas across exam papers, and choose subtopics to match student engagement.

Oct 20, 2026

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