Physical Geography
Year 12 course outline · 6 topicsExam board: Pearson Edexcel (confirmed)
Why the course is taught in this order Outline
The Physical geography subject is taught in an order that is most accessible to students. We begin with coasts as they have studied this at GCSE and students will understand a lot of the terminology / processes – meaning the leap from GCSE to A level is more accessible, in addition this links to fieldwork undertaken in October. Many choose an NEA that is linked to coasts, meaning they have the knowledge and skills to produce a realistic title. We then move onto Hazards as this is also taught at GCSE but does not have a compulsory field trip linked to it so this can be taught in winter but is still an engaging topic. We aim for students to be inspired by their geography, to engage critically with issues / places, and to apply this to the world around them.
Autumn term
Spring term
Summer term
General notes for Physical Geography Your notes
Sections that cover the whole subject or couldn’t be matched to a single topic.
Physical Geography – Year 12 Revision NotesPhysical Geography - Year 12 Notes.md · updated 1 Nov 2026, 17:32
Physical Geography – Year 12 Revision Notes
Student: Maxi Course: A-level Geography, Year 12 (Physical units) Likely exam board: Pearson Edexcel A-level Geography. The outline's topics (Coasts as the landscape option, Water, then Tectonics and Carbon in Year 13), the 70-mark NEA and the 3/6/8/12/20-mark question types all match the Edexcel specification. Coasts, Water (and the Year 13 Tectonics and Carbon units) are examined in Paper 1 (2 h 15 min, 105 marks, 30% of the A-level).
How to use these notes. They follow your course outline exactly: Autumn term (Coasts, in two halves), Spring term (Water, in two halves), Summer term (NEA / fieldwork skills, plus the data-handling skills used across Years 12–13). Every topic has the same layout: Key ideas → Glossary → Key facts and processes → Case studies → Exam technique → Self-test (with answers). Section 0 explains each question type once; the topic sections then show you how to use it.
0. Exam technique – the Edexcel Paper 1 question typesPhysical Geography - Year 12 Notes.md · updated 1 Nov 2026, 17:32
0. Exam technique – the Edexcel Paper 1 question types
| Marks | Command word (typical) | What is assessed | How to answer |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1–4 | Calculate / State / Identify / Suggest | AO3 skills (e.g. calculating a mean or range from a figure) or short AO1 recall | Show your working, give units, and quote numbers from the figure. |
| 3 | Explain one reason… (resource-linked) | AO1 2 + AO2 1 | Make one point that is clearly linked to the resource, then develop it twice (point → because → so). |
| 6 | Explain (resource-linked, e.g. "Explain the role of destructive waves in forming this landscape") | AO1 3 + AO2 3 | Give 2–3 developed points that refer directly to the photo, map or graph (name what you can see), with an accurate process explanation for each. |
| 8 | Explain (no resource) | AO1 8 (knowledge and understanding only) | Give 3–4 well-developed, accurate and detailed points. Use precise terms and named examples. You do not need a conclusion, but every point must be explained, not just described. |
| 12 | Assess | AO1 3 + AO2 9 | Weigh the importance of factors. Write about 3 developed paragraphs, each with a mini-judgement ("this is the most significant because…"), then a short conclusion that answers "how far". |
| 20 | Evaluate | AO1 5 + AO2 15 | Write an essay: a short introduction that defines terms and states your line of argument; 3–4 themed paragraphs with evidence from named case studies, each weighing strengths and weaknesses; and a conclusion with a supported judgement. You must reach a judgement: AO1 alone earns at most 5 marks. |
The PEEL+J chain for 12- and 20-markers. Point (answer the question) → Evidence (named place, date or figure) → Explain (process / why) → Link back to the question → Judge (how significant is this? does it depend on scale, time or player?).
Synoptic themes that Edexcel credits (they are flagged in the spec as P, A and F):
- Players (P) – who acts? Governments, the Environment Agency, local councils, NGOs, residents.
- Attitudes and actions (A) – how do views differ? For example, homeowners compared with environmental groups.
- Futures and uncertainties (F) – what happens next? Climate change, sea-level rise projections and uncertainty.
Bringing these in lifts 12- and 20-mark answers.
QUICK-REFERENCE: CASE STUDY BANKPhysical Geography - Year 12 Notes.md · updated 1 Nov 2026, 17:32
QUICK-REFERENCE: CASE STUDY BANK
| Case study | Topic | Three facts to remember |
|---|---|---|
| Holderness (East Yorkshire) | Recession, lithology, management | Boulder clay; average about 1.8 m/yr; locally over 4 m/yr south of Withernsea |
| Mappleton | Hard engineering | 1991; about £2 million; 2 rock groynes and a revetment; downdrift erosion about 1.7 → 3.3 m/yr |
| Flamborough Head | Erosion landforms | Chalk headland; caves, arches and stacks |
| Happisburgh (Norfolk) | Consequences, SMP conflict | Soft cliffs; SMP moved away from HTL; £3 million Pathfinder (2009); 9 homes bought and demolished (rollback) |
| Medmerry (W. Sussex) | Managed realignment | 2013; about £28 million; about 183 ha of intertidal habitat |
| Nile Delta | Human-accelerated recession | Aswan High Dam (1970) traps sediment; Rosetta promontory retreated over 100 m/yr; 1991 seawall |
| Bangladesh | Flood risk | 1970 Bhola cyclone (300,000–500,000 dead); Sidr 2007 (about 3,400 dead); shelters and warnings |
| Maldives | Sea-level rise | About 1–2 m above sea level; Hulhumalé raised island |
| 1953 and 2013 North Sea surges | Storm surge | 1953: 307 dead in England, 1,836 in the Netherlands; 2013: no UK flood deaths |
| Sand Motor (Netherlands) | ICZM / building with nature | 2011; about 21.5 million m³ of sand |
| Chattogram (Bangladesh) | Conflict, developing-country context | Port city; embankment failures; mangroves and embankments |
| Amazonia | Drainage-basin disruption | Flying rivers; deforestation and a possible tipping point |
| Yukon / Amazon / Indus | River regimes | Snowmelt / rainfall / glacier melt plus monsoon |
| Millennium Drought / Murray–Darling | Drought | About 1997–2009; irrigation allocations as low as 2% (South Australia); over A$10 billion on desalination |
| UK floods 2007 | Flooding | 13 deaths; about 55,000 properties; £3.2 billion; Mythe works (350,000 without water) |
| Somerset Levels 2013–14 | Flooding | About 65 km² flooded; dredging debate; 20-year Action Plan |
| Nile / GERD | Trans-boundary conflict | Egypt depends on the Nile for about 90% of its water; GERD about 74 bn m³ |
| South–North Water Transfer (China) | Techno-fix | 44.8 bn m³/yr planned; about 345,000 displaced |
| Singapore | Sustainable supply | Four National Taps; NEWater up to about 40% |
| Colorado River | Treaties and over-allocation | 1922 Compact; 16.5 MAF allocated against a flow of about 14–15 MAF |
Data handling built in throughout Year 12 and 13 Outline
- Qualitative data
- a) use and understand a mixture of methods, including using interviews
- b) interpret and evaluate a range of source material including text and pictures, such as oral accounts,
- newspapers, creative media, social media, aerial, oblique, ground photographs, sketches and drawings
- c) understand the opportunities and limitations of qualitative techniques such as sampling, and how they
- create particular geographical representations
- d) understand the ethical and socio-political implications of collecting, studying and representing geographical
- data about human communities.
- 2. Quantitative data
- a) understand what makes data geographical and the geospatial technologies (e.g., GIS) that are used to
- collect, analyse and present geographical data
- b) demonstrate an ability to collect and to use digital, geo-located data, and to understand a range of
- approaches to the use and analysis of such data
- c) use, interpret and analyse geographical information including dot maps, kite diagrams, linear and
- logarithmic scales, dispersion diagrams, satellite images, GIS
- understand the purposes and difference between the following and be able to use them in appropriate
- contexts:
- i. descriptive statistics of central tendency and dispersion, including Gini Co-efficient and Lorenz curve.
- ii. descriptive measures of difference and association from the following statistical tests: t-tests, Spearman’s
- rank, chi-squared; including measures of correlation and lines of best fit on a scatter plot.
- iii. measurement, measurement errors, and sampling.