Introduction to the Geography Advanced Extension Award (AEA)

Welcome to the new AdvancedExtension@GeoBytes blog - this blog aims to support you in your preparation for the Advanced Extension Exam. The examination board we follow is the Welsh Joint Education Committee(WJEC). A copy of the guidance given to teachers and candidates on the WJEC Geography Advanced Extension Award can be viewed here.

Preparation for the Advanced Extension Paper will take the form of lunchtime tutorial sessions, a timetable for which will be published in the New Year (a copy will be published here). A variety of teaching staff are involved in running the tutorials which will take the general form of discussion and debate as well as tackling past papers and questions.

Structure of the Paper (WJEC AEA Examination)
Assement of the Advanced Extension award consists of a 2 and half hour written exam with an intial 30 minutes reading time (3 hours in total). The paper is divided into two sections:

SECTION A (1 hour 30 minutes) - worth 60 out of the 100 marks
* this is a resource-based section (including newspaper articles, extracts from academic papers, maps, photographs, satellite photographs and statistical data) - this part is designed to assess understanding of physical and human processes and interactions between people and environments. It requires some extended writing and may involve decision-making or issues evlaluation.

SECTION B (1 hour) - worth 40 out of the 100 marks
* this is an essay section with candidates selecting one essay questions from a choice of 3

It is made clear in the guidance given by WJEC that the examination may use particular geographical topics as contexts for questions. Candidates will not be expected to have studied these topics; the topics merely provided the contexts in which candidates will have to apply their knowledge and understanding of different aspects of geography studied during their A'level course.

Assessed Standards:
The exam will lead to awards on a two-point scale - either Distinction or merit (distinction being the higher). If the minimum standard for merit is not reached students will be recorded as ungraded.

What is AEA Geography? (a summary (taken from the WJEC Guidance notes)

The AEA in geography requires candidates...
to demonstrate:
* that geographical studies may involves explanations which are partial, tentative and incomplete;
* that changes in geographical ideas and methods may give rise to different interpretations;
* of geography's contribution to broader curriculum areas; and
* of recent ideas, methods and approaches in geography;

an understanding of:
* the nature of, and interactions between, different physical and human processes;
* the distinctiveness and interdependence of places;
* the significance of both spatial and temporal scales;
* how physical and human processes bring about changes in spatial systems, distributions, places and environment;
* the role of values, attitudes and decision making processes in geographical issues and in decision-making about the use and management of resources and environments;
* the potential and limiations of evidence, approaches, concepts, principles and theories used; and
* the connections between different aspects of geography represented in the specification;

and the ability to:
* identify geographical questions and issues;
* describe, analyse, evaluate and interpret such evidence and draw conclusions
* evaluate methods and approaches to enquiry, the limitations of the evidence and the conclusions drawn; and
* synthesise geographical information in various forms and from various sources

Specimum Papers:
You can view/download a WJEC Geography AE specimum paper here and the accompanying markscheme can be found here .