Ofsted has today published a subject report looking at how
geography is being taught in England’s schools.
The report draws on evidence from subject visits to a sample of
primary and secondary schools.
Inspectors have found that there have been significant
improvements in geography education since the subject report
published 12 years ago. This is particularly true at primary
level and key stage 3. In almost all the schools visited, leaders
had made changes to the curriculum to ensure that knowledge was
better sequenced, so children could build on what they had
learnt.
However, this review found that children’s opportunities to learn
and develop their fieldwork skills are still lacking at both
primary and secondary level. This extends beyond the challenges
that were presented by the COVID-19 pandemic. In primary schools,
fieldwork is often conflated with field trips. Pupils may go out
of school on a visit, but they are rarely learning how to
collect, present and analyse geographical fieldwork when they do
so. In secondary schools, pupils rarely do fieldwork beyond the
requirements of the exam boards. Most schools simplify this
fieldwork so that pupils can give prepared answers in the exam,
leaving pupils ill equipped for the non-examined assessment at
A-Level and higher education.
The report also identifies the need for better support for
non-specialist teachers and more subject-specific CPD for both
specialist and non-specialist teachers.
His Majesty’s Chief Inspector, Amanda Spielman, said:
“Geography is vital to children’s understanding of our physical
world. It’s great that both primary and secondary schools have
made such strides in their geography teaching. Pupils are now
being taught a much more ambitious and challenging curriculum.
“I hope that schools can now focus on ensuring that children get
more opportunities to develop their data collection and analysis
skills so they can master the fundamentals of geography
fieldwork.”
The report makes a number of recommendations for how schools can
ensure that all pupils receive a high-quality geography
education, including:
- Making sure that the curriculum supports effective transition
between key stages so that content builds cumulatively and is not
repeated.
- Giving the same level of thought to the curriculum at key
stages 4 and 5 as is given at other key stages, including
considering how to sequence the content of exam specifications in
a way that allows pupils to develop a fuller understanding of the
subject over time.
- Teaching pupils about fieldwork. Pupils should know how to
collect, present and analyse data, and how to reach and evaluate
conclusions based on this data.
- Considering the prior knowledge that pupils need in order to
access more complex ideas and concepts so they can develop their
expertise in the subject.
- Considering how pupils will build on knowledge, not only
within a topic but over a series of topics, so that they can
apply what they have learned in different scenarios.
- Planning how to identify and address likely misconceptions in
each topic.
