Key Stage 3 · ages 11 to 14
Key Stage 3 geography: what your child learns
Key Stage 3 adds Africa, Russia, Asia, including China and India, and the Middle East to what your teenager can locate and describe. Physical topics include plate tectonics, rocks and soils, climate change since the Ice Age, glaciation, rivers and coasts, while human geography covers population, urbanisation, development and economic sectors. Place studies in Africa and Asia, digital mapping systems and fieldwork complete the picture.
Guides for parents
Key Stage 3 geography
Africa: regions, countries and cities
What KS3 geography expects pupils to know about Africa: its environmental regions, hot deserts, countries and major cities, common mistakes and ideas for home.
Key Stage 3 geography
Asia, including China and India
What KS3 geography covers on Asia, China and India: environmental regions, mountains, rivers, monsoon, major cities, common mistakes and ways to help at home.
Key Stage 3 geography
Climate change from the Ice Age
How KS3 geography explains natural climate change since the last Ice Age, the evidence scientists use, and how human activity has changed the climate recently.
Key Stage 3 geography
Coastal processes and landforms
How KS3 geography explains waves, coastal erosion, longshore drift and landforms such as stacks and spits, plus how coasts are protected, with a worked example.
Key Stage 3 geography
The four sectors of economic activity
What the four sectors of economic activity are, how jobs shift between them as countries change, a worked example of analysing employment data, and how to help at home.
Key Stage 3 geography
Fieldwork in contrasting locations
How KS3 pupils plan fieldwork in contrasting places, collect and analyse data, draw conclusions and judge reliability, with a worked example and tips for parents.
Key Stage 3 geography
Geographical Information Systems (GIS)
What Geographical Information Systems are, how KS3 pupils use map layers to view, analyse and interpret places and data, common mistakes and how to help at home.
Key Stage 3 geography
Plate tectonics and geological time
How KS3 geography teaches geological time and plate tectonics: Earth’s layers, plate boundaries, earthquakes and volcanoes, worked example, mistakes and home ideas.
Key Stage 3 geography
Glaciation and glacial landforms
What KS3 geography teaches about how glaciers form and move, how they erode and deposit, and how corries, arêtes and U-shaped valleys are made.
Key Stage 3 geography
Globes, maps and atlases
How KS3 geography builds on primary map skills: latitude and longitude, map projections, using an atlas, and knowing Africa, Russia, Asia and the Middle East.
Key Stage 3 geography
How people depend on natural systems
What KS3 geography teaches about ecosystem services, the water and carbon cycles, and why healthy natural systems matter, with a worked example and home ideas.
Key Stage 3 geography
How people change landscapes and climate
How human and physical processes interact in KS3 geography: coasts, rivers, deforestation and climate change, with a worked example and home ideas.
Key Stage 3 geography
Rivers and drainage basins
How KS3 geography teaches the water cycle, drainage basins, river erosion and landforms, hydrographs and flood management, with a worked answer on urban flooding.
Key Stage 3 geography
International development
How KS3 geography measures development, why countries differ, how to read indicators such as life expectancy and income, and how to help your teenager at home.
Key Stage 3 geography
Comparing and linking places in Africa and Asia
How KS3 geography compares a region in Africa with one in Asia: similarities, differences, trade and other links, using data and models, with mistakes to avoid.
Key Stage 3 geography
The Middle East: location and landscapes
What KS3 geography covers on the Middle East: where it is, its hot deserts, rivers, water and oil, countries and cities, common mistakes and ideas to try at home.
Key Stage 3 geography
OS maps: grid references, scale and contours
How KS3 students read Ordnance Survey maps: six-figure grid references, scale and distance, contour lines and relief, with a worked example and outdoor practice.
Key Stage 3 geography
Population
What KS3 geography teaches about world population, density, birth and death rates, migration, population pyramids and the demographic transition model.
Key Stage 3 geography
Place study: a region in Africa
How KS3 geography studies a region in Africa, such as East Africa: physical and human geography, how landscapes change, common mistakes and ideas for home.
Key Stage 3 geography
Place study: a region in Asia
How KS3 geography studies a region in Asia, such as a monsoon delta or the Himalayas: physical and human geography, change over time, common mistakes and ideas for home.
Key Stage 3 geography
Rocks, weathering and soils
What KS3 geography teaches about the three rock types, the rock cycle, how weathering breaks rock down and how soil forms, with a worked example and home ideas.
Key Stage 3 geography
Russia: the world’s largest country
What KS3 pupils learn about Russia: its size, time zones, tundra, taiga and steppe, major cities and rivers, common mistakes and simple ways to help at home.
Key Stage 3 geography
Thematic maps and satellite images
How KS3 students read thematic maps, aerial photographs and satellite images: types of map, how to describe patterns, strengths and limits, and ways to practise at home.
Key Stage 3 geography
Urbanisation and the growth of cities
What KS3 geography teaches about urbanisation: why people move to cities, how megacities grow, the opportunities and challenges, and how cities can become sustainable.
Key Stage 3 geography
The use of natural resources
KS3 geography on natural resources: renewable and non-renewable resources, energy, water and food, sustainability, and how to weigh up a decision with evidence.
Key Stage 3 geography
Weather and climate
How KS3 geography explains weather systems, rainfall types, air masses and the factors that shape climate, with a worked answer on why western Britain is wetter.
Everything in the Key Stage 3 geography curriculum
The National Curriculum topics for Key Stage 3, in the order the National Curriculum lists them.