What topics make up AQA A-Level Geography Human geography?

Human geography (3.2) has a compulsory core plus options. Everyone studies Global systems and global governance (3.2.1) and Changing places (3.2.2). Students then choose options from Contemporary urban environments, Population and the environment, and Resource security. Running through all of them are the ideas of interconnection, players, power and sustainability.

How is the human geography content examined?

Human geography is assessed in Paper 2, a 2 hour 30 minute exam worth 120 marks and 40 percent of the A-Level. Questions range from short data-response items to extended 9 and 20 mark essays that reward evaluation, synopticity and located case studies. Paper 3 (geographical investigation and fieldwork) and the independent investigation draw on these skills too.

Why do players and attitudes matter so much in human geography?

Human geography is about decisions and power. Many topics ask you to weigh the roles of different players - governments, transnational corporations, NGOs, communities and individuals - whose interests and attitudes conflict. Strong answers identify the players, explain their different perspectives, and reach a judgement, rather than describing a process in the abstract.

How important are case studies in human geography?

Case studies are central, especially for the place study in Changing places and for the higher-mark essays. You need located, factual examples with specific detail - a rebranded place, a megacity managing sustainability, a country in the demographic transition, a region of water or energy stress - and you must integrate them with the relevant concept.

How should I revise AQA Human geography?

Learn the core concepts and key terms precisely (globalisation, sense of place, urbanisation, carrying capacity, resource security), then attach located case studies to each. Practise identifying players and their conflicting attitudes, drill data-response technique for Paper 2, and rehearse 20 mark essay structure with explicit evaluation and a supported conclusion under timed conditions.

EnglandGeography

AQA A-Level Geography 3.2 Human geography: a complete overview of global systems, places, urban environments, population and resources

A deep-dive AQA A-Level Geography guide to module 3.2 Human geography. Covers global systems and governance, changing places, contemporary urban environments, population and the environment and resource security, with the concepts, players, case studies and exam patterns AQA repeats.

Generated by Claude Opus 4.822 min read3.2Updated 2026-06-02

Reviewed by: AI editorial process; not yet individually human-reviewed

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What module 3.2 actually demands
Global systems and global governance
Changing places
Contemporary urban environments
Population, environment and resources
How module 3.2 is examined
Check your knowledge

What module 3.2 actually demands

Human geography is the people, power and decisions half of AQA A-Level Geography. Module 3.2 runs from the global flows that connect the world, through the meaning of the places people live, to the challenges of cities, population and resource use. The examiners test two linked skills: precise understanding of concepts and processes, and the confident application of located case studies and player analysis to data and essay questions.

This guide walks through the topics of the module, then sets out the exam patterns AQA repeats. Each topic has a matching dot-point page with practice questions; this overview ties them together.

Global systems and global governance

The compulsory topic Global systems and global governance (3.2.1) examines globalisation: the flows of trade, capital, labour, products, services and information that bind the world together, the role of transnational corporations and the global shift, and the unequal power relations that result. It then turns to global governance - the institutions and laws (UN, IMF, World Bank, WTO) that regulate the system - and the global commons of the oceans (UNCLOS) and Antarctica (the Antarctic Treaty System).

Changing places

The second compulsory topic, Changing places (3.2.2), explores the difference between space and place, the meaning and sense of place that people attach to locations, and insider and outsider perspectives. It distinguishes endogenous (internal) and exogenous (external) factors, examines how connections and relationships change places over time, and analyses how places are represented and deliberately rebranded. It is supported by two contrasting place studies.

Contemporary urban environments

Contemporary urban environments covers urbanisation and its processes (suburbanisation, counter-urbanisation, urban resurgence, regeneration and gentrification), the social and economic issues of cities, the distinctive urban climate (the urban heat island, altered rainfall and air pollution) and ecological footprint, urban drainage and waste, and strategies for building sustainable urban environments.

Population, environment and resources

Population and the environment links climate, soils and water to population distribution and density, examines food security, health and the epidemiological transition, applies the demographic transition model, and weighs the Malthusian against the Boserupian view in the debate over carrying capacity and the ecological footprint.

Resource security covers the concept of resource security and the expanding resource frontier, then the global supply, demand and management of water, energy and a mineral (ore) resource, the geopolitics of energy, and resource futures ranging from business-as-usual to sustainable scenarios shaped by many players.

How module 3.2 is examined

A typical AQA profile for Human geography in Paper 2:

Data-response and short answer. Interpreting graphs, maps, photographs and indices, defining key terms, and describing patterns and trends.
Concept and process explanation. Explaining globalisation, endogenous and exogenous factors, the urban heat island, the demographic transition, or causes of water insecurity.
Player and case-study application. Weighing the roles and attitudes of governments, TNCs, NGOs and communities, with located case studies for place, urban sustainability, population and resources.
Extended essays. The 9 and 20 mark questions reward evaluation, synopticity and a supported conclusion, for example assessing the role of TNCs in globalisation or the Malthusian view of population and resources.

Check your knowledge

A mix of recall and application questions covering module 3.2. Attempt them, then check against the solutions.

Define globalisation. (2 marks)
Name the agreement that governs Antarctica as a global common. (1 mark)
Distinguish between space and place. (2 marks)
Explain one cause of the urban heat island effect. (2 marks)
State the difference between suburbanisation and counter-urbanisation. (2 marks)
Outline the Malthusian view of population and resources. (3 marks)
Define resource security. (2 marks)
State one factor affecting a country's energy security. (1 mark)

Solutions

Q1: The growing interconnection and interdependence of countries through flows of capital, labour, goods, services and information.
Q2: The Antarctic Treaty System.
Q3: Space is an abstract, measurable area; place is a portion of space given meaning by human experience and attachment.
Q4: Dark urban surfaces (concrete, tarmac) have a low albedo and high thermal capacity, so they absorb heat by day and release it slowly at night. (Anthropogenic heat, urban canyon geometry, or lack of vegetation are also acceptable.)
Q5: Suburbanisation is the outward growth of people and activity to the edge of a city; counter-urbanisation is the movement of people out of cities to smaller towns and rural areas.
Q6: Malthus argued that population grows geometrically while food supply grows only arithmetically, so population would eventually outstrip resources and be checked by famine, disease and war (positive checks).
Q7: Reliable, affordable and sustainable access to the resources (water, energy, minerals) a population needs.
Q8: The energy mix and reliance on imports (acceptable: domestic reserves, vulnerability of supply routes, geopolitics).

Sources & how we know this

AQA A-level Geography (7037) specification — AQA (2016)