New geography fieldwork resources: Cambridge OCR partners with the Field Studies Council
09 June 2026
Jo Harris, Field Studies Council Education Manager, and Kerry Sage, Geography Subject Advisor
If you are an ECT, non-specialist or an experienced teacher looking to revamp your fieldwork provision, we have just the resources for you!
The Field Studies Council (FSC) and Cambridge OCR have produced a series of resources to support the planning and delivery of fieldwork from start to finish. These resources can be used for Entry Level, GCSE A, GCSE B and A Level Geography.
What is fieldwork and how does the enquiry process work?
Geography fieldwork is all about asking questions and providing students with an opportunity to apply classroom learning to a real location and context. Through the enquiry process, fieldwork allows geographers to understand the world around us.
Geographers follow the enquiry process shown below:
You can find out more about the enquiry process by reading our Fieldwork Skills factsheet, which provides guidance for teachers to support the delivery of fieldwork skills through the content of the GCSE A and B specifications.
How can you plan a successful geography field trip?
Jo and Kerry’s previous blog, How to plan a successful geography field trip, contains top tips to ensure a successful and enjoyable fieldwork experience for you and your students.
Whether you’re an experienced teacher, a non-specialist or an ECT, the blog shares practical tips for you to consider from scoping the initial location to what you will need on the day of the field trip.
What resources have we created and how can you use them with your students?
The FSC and Cambridge OCR have created fieldwork menus for both human and physical geography to help you pick and mix a range of enquiry questions, methods and skills to help you plan a successful geographical fieldwork enquiry for your students.
Both the FSC and Cambridge OCR are committed to supporting teachers deliver high quality fieldwork opportunities to students throughout the key stages. The key to successful, creative and confident geography students, especially for those choosing A Level and higher education is the ongoing, sustained opportunities to practice and develop skills throughout their geography careers from primary onwards.
Fieldwork experiences bring opportunities to hone so many skills, such as creative thinking and independence, and offer students valuable, reflective time outdoors which so many are lacking. We hope that these resources will help to support you and your school to increase and enhance your fieldwork offer.
How can you use the fieldwork menus?
Each fieldwork menu looks at a different area of geography fieldwork which is linked to specification content. The physical geography menus investigate rivers and coasts which could be used with Entry Level, GCSE A and GCSE B and to help support A Level Geography, and ecosystems which could be used to support fieldwork at KS3.
The human geography menus investigate economic change, population, urban areas/cities and energy and food, with links again to Entry Level, GCSE A, GCSE B and to help support A Level.
If you are using the resources with GCSE Geography A or B, the specification indicates, with an F, where fieldwork opportunities could be taken.
Each fieldwork menu contains:
- tips for choosing a location and considerations such as accessibility
- a range of enquiry questions you could use with your students
- data collection methods
- appropriate sampling techniques for the data collection methods chosen
- equipment
- analytical tools and data presentation skills
- numerical and statistical skills.
All fieldwork menus are linked to supporting resources from the Field Studies Council so you have everything you need to plan and deliver an effective fieldwork enquiry for your students.
Are there any other resources to support the planning and delivery of fieldwork?
On Teach Cambridge you will also find other resources, including:
Stay connected
We would love to hear more about what you are doing with your students in school so please share your ideas. You can contact us at geography@ocr.org.uk or call us on 01223 553998. You can also sign up for email updates for information about resources and support.
For more information about Field Studies Council fieldwork, please visit www.field-studies-council.org.
About the authors
Jo Harris is the Education Manager at Field Studies Council, an environmental charity delivering environmental education to all. Jo has a background in marine biology with a degree from the University of Wales, Swansea and has spent 20 years teaching ecology and geography to students of all ages. Jo coordinates the education across the centres for Field Studies Council, which are all LOtC badged and hold the Geographical Association’s senior geography quality mark.
Kerry Sage joined the Subject Advisor team in April 2023 after 18 years of teaching Geography along with other subjects such as Environmental Science. As well as being Head of Geography she had other roles such as associate SLT and Deputy Designated Safeguarding Lead. She loves to travel and trained as an Icelandic Teacher Tour Guide. She has experience planning field trips in the UK as well as Iceland, Italy and Morocco.