Year 7 (two lessons per week and one 20 minute prep)

Pupils study three broad themes: weather and climate, ecosystems and coasts. Each topic allows pupils to develop an understanding of natural processes in operation and consider mans impact upon them. Midway through the year, pupils have the opportunity to develop their ordnance survey map skills. In the summer term Year 7 pupils enjoy a days  field work on the Isle of Purbeck, studying the settlement geography of Corfe Castle and the impressive coastal features of Lulworth Cove.

Year 8 (two lessons per week and one 25 minute prep)

Development in Ghana is the initial focus in Year 8, enabling students to study the country with which the school is developing a sister school link. A unit on geology and landscape switches the emphasis away from human geography, before students challenge their knowledge of local actions and global effects through a very contemporary unit which covers issues such as water pollution, managing tourism and the future of Antarctica. Late in the summer term pupils have the opportunity of observing some of these topics in the field in the Mendips and Cheddar Gorge, namely limestone landscapes, quarrying and honeypot tourism.

Year 9 (two lessons per week and one 30 minute prep)

Tropical storms, tsunamis and global climate change and are just some of the hazards that await pupils in Year 9 during the Michaelmas Term. Trade, Aid and Development is a fascinating unit that follows through to Easter, in which pupils consider the relationships and disparities between developed and developing countries, and the role of the global economy and multinational companies in influencing many wide-ranging social and economic issues we face today.

Year 10 & 11 (five lessons per week and two preps)

The two-year AQA GCSE course incorporates a balanced range of physical and human geographical themes: tectonics, rivers, coasts, settlement, population, industry and managing resources. One geographical investigation is produced by each pupil, the title of which is chosen by the individual student, often  based in their home area. Prior to starting their coursework, Year 10 pupils are introduced to all aspects of data collection in the field during three enjoyable days in May: Southampton provides an excellent location for introducing urban studies; the River Wylie for river processes; and Swanage Bay and Old Harry the perfect site for coastal processes and management.

Geography in the Sixth Form

The A Level Edexcel course provides an excellent challenge for senior geographers: rural, urban, fluvial and coastal environments are studied at depth during the AS year, whilst atmospheric systems, world biomes, hazardous environments, the global economy and population and migration are the focus in Year 13. Students are required to write essays under examination conditions drawing from a broad spectrum of case study locations on such contemporary themes as: sea level rise in the Maldives; coral reef management in St Lucia; migration patterns in Kenya; the effects of El Nino in Peru; managing landslides in Dorset; and desertification in the Sahel. The IB programme focuses on the core theme of Population, Resources and Development over both years, whilst standard and higher level candidates then choose two or four options, respectively, from the following specialist areas: settlement geography; topographic mapping; drainage basin processes and management; the lithosphere; and coastal processes and management. All Year 12 geographer�s take part in the 6-day field course on the Exmoor coast, enabling geographical investigation skills to be developed and data to be collected for their individual studies. Students at GCSE and A Level also have the exciting opportunity to visit Iceland on an 8-day geography study tour in late August