Stage 2 | Subject outline | Version control

Geography Stage 2
Subject outline

Version 4.0 - For teaching in 2024.
Accredited in May 2016 for teaching at Stage 2 from 2018.

Stage 2 | Subject outline | Assessment design criteria

Assessment design criteria

The assessment design criteria are based on the learning requirements and are used by:

  • teachers to clarify for the student what he or she needs to learn
  • teachers and assessors to design opportunities for the student to provide evidence of his or her learning at the highest possible level of achievement.

The assessment design criteria consist of specific features that:

  • students should demonstrate in their learning
  • teachers and assessors look for as evidence that students have met the learning requirements.

For this subject, the assessment design criteria are:

  • knowledge and understanding
  • analysis and evaluation
  • application.

The specific features of these criteria are described below.

The set of assessments, as a whole, must give students opportunities to demonstrate each of the specific features by the completion of study of the subject. 

Knowledge and Understanding 

The specific features are as follows:

KU1 Knowledge and understanding of geographical concepts.
KU2 Knowledge and understanding of environmental, social, and economic change.

Analysis and Evaluation 

The specific features are as follows:

AE1 Analysis of the complex interactions between, and interdependence of, people and environmental, social, and/or economic factors.
AE2 Analysis and evaluation of information to determine possible outcomes and make justifiable and ethical recommendations, form conclusions, and/or solve problems. 

Application 

The specific features are as follows:

Ap1 Application and/or evaluation of geographical and fieldwork skills, including the use of spatial technologies, to identify and examine geographical issues. 
Ap2 Communication of geographical information and findings, using subject-specific terminology and visual representations.