The ideal choice for students who want to study and excel in Geography at A-level and beyond.
This OxfordAQA International AS and A-level Geography specification blends the best of the AQA specification, which is the most popular specification in England, with ideas, concepts and approaches to learning which make it more appropriate for international schools.
The course is relevant to people from all cultural and ethnic backgrounds, with physical, human and environmental topics that are suitable for study in areas beyond Europe, including environmental sustainability.
- Emphasises defining topics of our era, including environmental sustainability, traffic management, urban pollution, waste management and global governance of carbon and water cycles.
- ‘Changing places’ unit allows students to investigate aspects of local geography and compare them with a contrasting place, to understand how lives are affected by continuity and change.
- This comparative approach helps students to consider a wide range of issues with open minds and to take account of different views when seeking solutions.
- Consistency in approach and format from International GCSE to A-level with Physical, Human and Fieldwork papers, offering a smooth progression to university.
International AS and A-level Geography (9635)
View the switching guide to see the difference between your old International AS/A-level Geography specification and the OxfordAQA specification (version updated November 2022).
OxfordAQA International AS/A-level Geography covers the following topics:
Physical Geography 1 (AS and A-level)
- Living with hazards
- Hot desert systems and landscapes or Coastal systems and landscapes
Human Geography 1 (AS and A-level)
- Global systems and governance
- Resource security
Physical Geography 2 (A-level only)
- Water, carbon and life on Earth
- Ecosystems under stress
Human Geography 2 (A-level only)
- Changing places
- People and contemporary urban environments
Fieldwork and Geographical Skills
OxfordAQA provides all the resources and advice you need to teach the International AS and A-level Geography specification effectively.
- Download the specification
- Read our switching guide
- View our training courses to help you deliver OxfordAQA International AS and A-level Geography
- Approved textbooks and resources published by Oxford University Press
We have too many International AS and A-level Geography resources to list here, so please visit our resources for teachers area to see them all, including:
- Schemes of work to allow you to plan how to deliver the specification in a way that will best suit you and your students
- Teaching guidance to outline clearly the scope of teaching and learning
- Topic tests and mock exam analysers to allow you to track your students’ progress throughout the teaching year
- AS Unit 1: Physical Geography 1. 1 hour 30 minutes. 80 marks.
- AS Unit 2: Human Geography 1. 1 hour 30 minutes. 80 marks.
- A2 Unit 3: Physical Geography 2. 1 hour 30 minutes. 80 marks.
- A2 Unit 4: Human Geography 2. 1 hour 30 minutes. 80 marks.
- A2 Unit 5: Fieldwork. 1 hour 30 minutes. 60 marks.
Re-sits
Students can re-sit units. The best result for each unit will count towards the qualification grade.
Modular qualification
These qualifications are modular. The full International A-level is intended to be taken over two years. The specification content for the International AS is half that of an International A-level.
- AS students take AS units only.
- A-level students take AS and A2 units.
- AS grades A – E. A-level grades A* – E.
- Students can sit units in January or May/June.
Specification update:
In response to feedback from teachers we have made an improvement to this specification (version 2.2). This change took effect from the November 2021 exam series.
Teachers told us they would like more guidance on how the Geographical and Fieldwork skills are assessed. We have responded by enhancing the skills lists in the specification to support your teaching and help you better prepare students for their exams. You’ll find this enhanced list of skills in the specification.
The list will be useful preparation for questions that test Assessment Objective 3 in all units, and particularly useful when preparing students for Unit 5: Fieldwork and Geographical Skills.
To help you deliver the required fieldwork you’ll now find an overview of the enquiry process and ways that students can consider collecting and using primary data.
This update ensures teachers are able to deliver the specification so that students have the best opportunity to achieve the marks available across all components, whilst enabling students to focus their exam preparation on developing the right skills.
To support this enhancement we have made some minor updates to the specimen assessment materials and mock exams. We have also corrected some information in the specification by taking out references to a student handbook and data set, which are not currently part of our resource offer.
Take a look at:
- The OxfordAQA International AS and A-level Geography switching guide
- Example specimen paper and mark scheme
You must be an approved OxfordAQA centre to enter students for our exams. Make sure you become an OxfordAQA centre before you start teaching a course.
