GeographyQ&A by dot point

The geographical skills embedded across the qualification (cartographic, graphical, statistical and qualitative); the four days of fieldwork; and the geographical fieldwork investigation (NEA), including the enquiry process, sampling and evaluation.

Antarctica as a global common; the threats from climate change, fishing, tourism, mineral exploitation and scientific research; the Antarctic Treaty System and its protocols; and the role of governance and NGOs in protecting Antarctica.

The concepts of place, space and meaning; insider and outsider perspectives; endogenous and exogenous factors; how relationships and connections shape places; and the representation and rebranding of places.

Urbanisation and its processes; urban forms and social and economic issues; the urban climate and ecological footprint; urban drainage and waste; and strategies for managing sustainable urban environments.

The components of energy security; global patterns of energy supply, demand and trade; the geopolitics of energy; and strategies to manage and improve energy security including renewables and efficiency.

The environmental and human controls on food production; agricultural systems; the concept and components of food security; the causes and consequences of food insecurity and famine; and strategies to increase food security.

The concept and forms of global governance; international institutions, laws, norms and agreements; the global commons; the tragedy of the commons; and the challenges of governing shared global spaces.

Globalisation and global systems; international trade, capital flows and migration; the role of transnational corporations; unequal power relations; and the global governance of the oceans and Antarctica as global commons.

The dimensions of globalisation; the factors driving it including technology, transport, finance and transnational corporations; the global shift; and the lengthening and deepening of global connections.

Global patterns of health, morbidity and mortality; DALYs and the epidemiological transition; the global distribution of infectious and non-communicable disease; and the environmental and social factors influencing health and disease.

Patterns and trends in international trade and investment; trading blocs, trade agreements and access to markets; differential access and its consequences; and the role of trade in development and inequality.

How places are perceived and given meaning; insider and outsider perspectives; the representation of place through media, art, statistics and lived experience; and how representations shape attachment and identity.

Mineral ore security; the global distribution, supply and demand of mineral ores; phosphorus security and its importance for food production; the consequences of insecurity; and strategies to manage these finite resources.

The requirement for a local place study and a contrasting/distant place study; using qualitative and quantitative sources; investigating the development of a place's character, meaning and change; and comparing lived experience across places.

Environment and population relationships; food, health and disease; the demographic transition and population change; the natural-resource and carrying-capacity debate; and the principles of population ecology applied to people.

Natural population change; the demographic transition model and its stages; population structure and population pyramids; and migration and its causes and consequences for source and destination areas.

The concepts of overpopulation, underpopulation and optimum population; carrying capacity and ecological footprint; and the Malthusian, neo-Malthusian and Boserupian perspectives on population and resources.

Resource development and the concept of resource security; the global supply, demand and management of water, energy and a mineral resource; resource futures; and the role of players and sustainability.

The concept of sustainable urban development and liveability; the characteristics of a sustainable city; strategies for sustainable transport, waste, energy, water and green space; and the ecological and carbon footprint of cities.

The urban heat island effect; the impact of urban areas on precipitation, fog and wind; urban air quality and pollution; and policies to reduce urban air pollution.

The impact of urbanisation on catchment hydrology and flood risk; sustainable urban drainage systems and river restoration; the generation of urban waste; and the options and issues of urban waste disposal.

Urban form and land-use models; new urban landscapes and the postmodern western city; social and economic inequality in urban areas; and cultural diversity and the issues of multicultural urban societies.

The process and causes of urbanisation; megacities and world cities; suburbanisation, counter-urbanisation and re-urbanisation; and urban policy and regeneration in Britain since 1979.

The components of water security; global patterns of water supply and demand; physical and economic water scarcity; the causes and consequences of water insecurity and conflict; and strategies to manage water security.

The global distribution of biomes; net primary productivity and its controls; the structure and functioning of major biomes; biodiversity; and the threats to the biosphere from human activity and climate change.

Sources of coastal energy and sediment; marine, sub-aerial and biological processes; erosional and depositional landforms; and the landforms produced by changing sea levels.

Hard and soft engineering approaches to coastal management; sediment-cell management and shoreline management plans; managed realignment and do-nothing; and the costs, benefits and sustainability of coastal protection.

The coast as a system; sources of energy and sediment; marine, sub-aerial and biological processes; landforms of erosion and deposition; sea-level change; and approaches to coastal management.

Sources of energy and sediment in hot deserts; weathering, mass movement, aeolian and fluvial processes; the landforms of erosion and deposition; and the origin of desert landscapes.

The causes of desertification on the margins of hot deserts; the role of climate change and human activity; the impacts on ecosystems, landscapes and populations; and strategies to manage and reverse it.

Ecosystem concepts and biodiversity; nutrient cycling and succession; biomes and their functioning; ecological responses to environmental change; and the management of fragile ecosystems under threat.

The glacial system and mass balance; warm- and cold-based glaciers and ice movement; glacial and fluvioglacial processes; and the erosional and depositional landforms of glaciated landscapes.

The glacial system and mass balance; glacial, fluvioglacial and periglacial processes; erosional and depositional landforms; the periglacial environment; and the human use and management of cold environments.

The concept of hazard and risk; hazard perception and the Park model; plate tectonics and volcanic, seismic, tropical storm and wildfire hazards; their impacts; and the responses to and management of these hazards.

The global distribution and causes of aridity; sources of energy and sediment; aeolian and water processes; desert landforms; and the causes, impacts and management of desertification.

Local-scale ecosystems and their value; the impact of human activity on local and fragile ecosystems; ecosystem management and conservation; and the principles of sustainable management.

Ecosystems as systems; energy flow, trophic levels and food webs; the Gersmehl nutrient cycle; primary and secondary succession; and the climatic climax and plagioclimax.

Periglacial environments and permafrost; the processes of freeze-thaw, frost heave, solifluction and nivation; periglacial landforms; and the fragility and management of cold environments.

Earth structure and internal energy; plate tectonic theory, continental drift, sea-floor spreading and palaeomagnetism; mantle convection, slab pull and ridge push; plate margins; hot spots; and the global distribution of earthquakes and volcanoes.

The nature of seismicity and its relation to plate tectonics; forms of seismic hazard including earthquakes, tsunamis, liquefaction and landslides; primary and secondary impacts; and prediction, prevention, protection and adaptation.

The nature of tropical storms and their relation to global atmospheric circulation; conditions for formation; characteristics and distribution; the primary and secondary impacts; and prediction, protection and adaptation responses.

The carbon cycle as a system; stores in the atmosphere, oceans, biosphere, soils and lithosphere; fluxes including photosynthesis, respiration, decomposition, combustion and sequestration; the fast and slow carbon cycles; and the carbon budget.

The global water cycle as a closed system; the drainage basin as an open subsystem; inputs, outputs, stores and flows; the water balance; runoff variation and the storm hydrograph.

The nature of vulcanicity and its relation to plate tectonics; forms of volcanic hazard; the primary and secondary impacts; and prediction, prevention, protection and adaptation responses.

Systems concepts; the global water and carbon cycles, their stores, fluxes and feedbacks; the drainage basin and carbon budgets; and human impact on both cycles.

The coupling of the water and carbon cycles; the role of feedback and dynamic equilibrium; the carbon and water budgets at a range of scales; human impacts including fossil-fuel use, deforestation and land-use change; and management responses.

The nature of wildfires and their natural and human causes; the physical and human factors affecting occurrence and spread; the primary and secondary impacts; and prevention, preparedness, mitigation, response and recovery.