Geology

WJEC Eduqas

WHY SHOULD I STUDY A LEVEL GEOLOGY (EARTH SCIENCE)?

Students fascinated by earthquakes, volcanoes, resources, engineering, plate tectonics, materials science, and fossils will find Geology especially appealing. This course allows students with an interest in the Earth to discover how it formed and how it works.  Geology is a subject that can usefully be studied in combination with many others: Chemistry, Environmental Science, Biology, Physics, Mathematics, Statistics, Geography, Computer Science. With the increasing importance of sustainability and the UK’s self-reliance on resources, Geology A Level has more than doubled in popularity in the past seven years.

Fieldwork is an essential part of a geologist’s experience, so the exam board requires four days of fieldwork to be completed.  There is a UK-based residential trip at the end of year one to cover these fieldwork requirements, providing important opportunities to practice skills that are examined by the Practical Skills paper.

We have strong links with many universities, including Exeter, Portsmouth, Manchester, Leeds, and Cardiff. We have lecturers/speakers who visit college along with ex-students working professionally in fields such as structural engineering, geophysics, mineral exploration and geochemical engineering to discuss career options and higher education progression.

COURSE CONTENT

The first year of the course consists of five topics:

• The Fundamentals of Geology - including the location of elements/minerals/rocks within the Earth and how they form in response to natural physical processes.
• Surface and Internal processes - how we study The Earth’s layers (exterior and interior).  How we can understand earthquakes and use seismographs to locate them, how they can teach us about plate movements and the creation of mountain ranges.
• Time and Change - how different physical processes have altered the Earth over hundreds of millions and in some cases billions of years.
• Formation of the Main Rock Groups: Igneous, Sedimentary and Metamorphic.
• Residential five-day field trip to Cornwall.

PROGRESSION ONTO YEAR 2

Progression to the second year of the A Level depends on satisfactory progress in the first year, including achieving at least an E grade in the Year One formal assessment and maintaining good attendance and commitment.

The second year of the course consists of four modules:

• Structural Geology – investigates how rocks are deformed by tectonic stresses and the resulting effects on landforms, resource formation and required engineering mitigations.
• Earth materials and natural resources – studies the formation, management and extraction of metals, water, and fossil fuels.
• Geohazards - has a large focus on the study of earthquakes, how we can predict them using theories such as the seismic gap theory and how we can safely try to plan for them by adapting our infrastructure.
• Geology of the lithosphere - includes detailed analysis of the chemistry and processes at work on top of and inside the layer that all biological life has evolved and currently lives on.

FINAL ASSESSMENT AT END OF YEAR 2

There are three written examination papers taken at the end of the second year and a separate practical endorsement that is earned throughout the two years of the course.

MINIMUM ENTRY CRITERIA 

Standard College entry requirements (see page 16 of the prospectus) and a minimum of:

Please note that GCSE Applied Science or Level 2 BTEC qualifications are not acceptable as alternative GCSE science qualifications for A Level Geology.

Core Mathematics (Mathematical Studies) is a very useful complementary course for this subject and is recommended as a further (4th) course choice for students who are not taking A Level Mathematics or A Level Statistics options.

WHAT CAN I DO AFTER STUDYING A LEVEL GEOLOGY?

Geology can lead to a variety of careers including energy industries; resource exploration, managing the sustainability of reserves and engineering/geotechnics. Other careers include palaeontology, volcanology, geophysical research, hydrology, surveying, conservation, environmental management, construction, teaching, and geological research.