Analysing a Geographic Topic at a Global Scale
What this standard assesses
This internal standard asks you to analyse aspects of a geographic topic at a global scale. The topic must be worldwide in scope, not a single country case study.
Core rules and concepts
- Choose a global topic: international migration, climate change, food security, globalisation, or tourism.
- Show global patterns: distribution, flows, and change over time.
- Explain processes at global scale: push–pull factors, trade, policy, environmental change.
- Analyse impacts and perspectives across regions, including unequal effects.
- Apply concepts: scale, interaction, change, perspectives, sustainability.
Worked example: global migration
Pattern: migration flows increasingly connect the Global South to the Global North, with large movements within Asia and from Latin America to North America. Process: wage gaps, conflict, climate stress, and family networks drive movement; destination countries' labour needs and border policies shape routes. Impacts: remittances support families and national economies; destination countries gain labour but face integration debates; origin countries may lose skilled workers. Perspectives: migrants prioritise safety and opportunity; destination governments balance labour needs with border control; origin states value remittances but worry about brain drain. The topic is global because flows and policies interact across borders.
Traps
- Using a single country and calling it global.
- Describing without explaining processes.
- Ignoring unequal impacts.
- No global data or patterns.
Always state the global pattern before the local example.