Developing your skills in Geography

The English National Curriculum for Geography at Key Stage 3 Links to an external site. states that students should be able to:

  • collect, analyse and communicate with a range of data gathered through experiences of fieldwork that deepen their understanding of geographical processes
  • interpret a range of sources of geographical information, including maps, diagrams, globes, aerial photographs and Geographical Information Systems (GIS)
  • communicate geographical information in a variety of ways, including through maps, numerical and quantitative skills and writing at length.

All of these skills are covered in increasing depth as you work through each year of our Lower Secondary course. In Year 7, there is a module on map skills. In Year 8, there is a module on GIS and a piece of fieldwork to complete. In Year 9, there is a more complex piece of independent fieldwork to complete.

Here are some general links to start you off and help if there is a particular skill you need assistance with:

Introduction Icon.png Fieldwork skills

Fieldwork covers the wide range of skills needed to plan a piece of fieldwork, collect your data (e.g. questionnaires, measurements, land-use surveys), analyse your results (through graphs, maps, etc), reach a conclusion and communicate your findings.

  • Clear instructions on planning interviews and questionnaires:

READ - Investigating Opinions (Royal Geographic Society) Links to an external site.

  • This page is aimed at GCSE but gives a clear explanation of each stage of planning a piece of fieldwork. If you explore the site there is also more detailed information on particular types of fieldwork, such as coasts, rivers and urban environments:

READ - Geography Fieldwork - Before Starting (Field Studies Council) Links to an external site.

Stretch Icon.png Map and information skills

Map skills include the ability to read a map to find your way, and to extract more complex information such as compass direction, scale, distance, grid references and contour lines. Information can also be gathered from photos, diagrams and Geographical Information Systems.

  • A great website for kids explaining all the main maps skills, with tests, games and challenges:

EXPLORE - Mapzone (Ordnance Survey) Links to an external site.

  • A clear explanation of every skills needed at Lower Secondary and GCSE (don’t worry, you don’t need to know the statistical techniques yet!):

DOWNLOAD - Geographical skills overview Download DOWNLOAD - Geographical skills overview

  • An excellent detailed site explaining what GIS is and how it is used:

READ - Geography Fieldwork - What is GIS? (Field Studies Council) Links to an external site.

  • Here you can download some digital OS maps of Britain for free and use them to practise your map skills:

EXPLORE - OSOpenData (Ordnance Survey) Links to an external site.

Support Icon.png Communication skills

It is important for Geography (and all subjects!) to be able to communicate your understanding clearly. This involves skills such as drawing graphs and writing both short concise answers and longer more in-depth text.

  • A clear summary of which type of graph to use for which kind of data:

DOWNLOAD - Choosing graphs Download DOWNLOAD - Choosing graphs

  • A list of all the useful words you can use to help structure your writing when introducing, connecting, explaining, summarising, etc:

DOWNLOAD - Improving your geographical writing Download DOWNLOAD - Improving your geographical writing

  • A really helpful resource explaining how to structure longer answers and essays in Geography.

DOWNLOAD - Extended answers in Geography Download DOWNLOAD - Extended answers in Geography