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Gresham College, founded in 1597, exists to disseminate knowledge by providing free public lectures. You can view past lectures on their website – recent highlights include ‘Are video games bad for children?’, ‘Is human evolution over?’ and ‘When galaxies collide’.

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The Geological Society 2025 Schools challenge competition (A-level) 

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The Geological Society 2025 Schools challenge competition (A-level) 

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The Schools Geology Challenge 2025 is NOW OPEN!

The Schools Geology Challenge is a competition where students showcase their interest in geology, learn more about the way geoscience impacts our lives, and put their teamwork and presentation skills to the test!

First prize includes the coveted Schools Geology Challenge Trophy, £500 to use towards geoscience education at school, a year's Student Membership with the Geological Society plus a certificate. The two runners-up will each receive £200 to use towards geoscience education at school and a certificate.

Participants don't have to study geology to enter - the competition is open to any interested students who are currently studying geology, geography or science A-levels (England/Wales/Northern Ireland), or Advanced Highers (Scotland).

Feel free to download this helpful PowerPoint presentation which will help teachers to easily explain/promote the competition to students.

Also known as 'geoscience' or 'Earth science', geology is the study of the structure, evolution and dynamics of the Earth and its natural resources. Geology investigates the processes that have shaped the Earth through its 4500 million year history and uses the rocks, minerals and fossils to unravel that history. It is concerned with the real world beyond the laboratory and has direct relevance to the needs of society. Geology tells us about the composition, structure, processes, and history of all planets - even those in outer space!

The competition

The competition runs in two stages: the Qualifiers and the Final.

In order to enter the competition, students need to make a submission to the Qualifiers via our online entry form. Their submission should fit the competition brief, and be uploaded via the online form. Only ONE entry per team is permitted. Entries will be marked by a panel of judges.

The 10 highest-scoring entries will be invited to the Final, where they will complete a problem-solving challenge in their teams. The Final takes place in-person at Burlington House along London's iconic Piccadilly. Reimbursement for travel costs of up to £700 will be made available.

For full details on how to enter, please see the competition rules.

Qualifiers:

For the Qualifiers, we would like you to:

1. Choose a geoscience topic.

2. Present that topic for an online audience.

3. Submit your entry via the online entry form

Submissions will be judged according to: scientific content and accuracy (50%), how effectively the topic is communicated to the audience (25%), creativity (25%)

For more detailed information, please check out the competition brief.

Finals:

The final will take place on 18 March 2025 at our HQ in Burlington House, Piccadilly, London

The final will involve a problem solving activity about geology and its real world applications. The activity will be explained at the final, but students will be testing their analytic and teamwork skills, and presenting to a panel of judges.

See Finals Terms & Conditions for important information regarding attendance and participation at the Finals.

Reasons to participate, including great prizes

The competition gives pupils the chance to explore a geoscience topic for themselves, and present it in an interesting way. Those who make it to the Final will be able to meet peers with an interest in Geology, professionals who currently work in geoscience careers, and gain valuable problem-solving skills whilst learning about the ways geology weaves into our everyday lives. Of course, there are also some amazing prizes up for grabs!

Prizes

Competition winners will receive:

A certificate for each team member

£500 to use towards geoscience education in their school

A year's Student Membership to the Geological Society

Runners-up will receive:

A certificate for each team member

£200 to use towards geoscience education in their school

Our 2024 winners

The final of the 2024 competition took place at Burlington House on 21 March. This year's problem solving activity involved teams identifying a suitable site for a wind farm in the fictional town of Quinnston. Using a geological map and a cross section of the bedrock, students had to consider whether the geology of the area was suitable to support large wind turbine infrastructure. Students also had to comment on the environmental and social impacts of their recommended wind farm location, given the general proximity to the local town and a neighbouring national park, home to a protected bird species - all while keeping their project to budget!

The Tiffin Girls' School were proclaimed the winners of 2024 and were awarded the coveted Schools Geology Challenge trophy, along with £500 for their school and a year's Student Membership for each member of the team. The Sixth Form College Farnborough and Runshaw College were both runners-up.

You can see the list of all our past winners here.

Take a look at our Photo Gallery of the 2024 final at Burlington House.

Need inspiration?

Check out some of our previous competition entries below!

Visit our YouTube channel to access more video entries, or why not take a look at our Scientific Themes for further inspiration?

Teacher resources

Fancy tackling the finalists' problem-solving conundrum? Download the full 2024 Teacher Resource Pack using the links below to run the activity in your classroom!

You can also access the Teacher Resource Packs from previous Schools Geology Challenges:

Need help?

If you have any questions about the competition, please contact [email protected]

You can also keep updated on further competitions and education news from the Geological Society by signing up to our Schools Affiliates Scheme.

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Attend our house quiz for KS4. Rounds include physical geography, human geography, map skills, general knowledge & fieldwork

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Geographical Association physical Geography photo competition 

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Geographical Association physical Geography photo competition 

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Did you see some amazing Physical Geography this summer?​

Coastal erosion, mountains, beaches, a river meander, a volcano even!!​

​

What physical geography shaped the landscape you took a photo of?​

The photograph needs to be accompanied with its (precise) location, a title and a caption of up to 250 words that ‘show and tell’ the physical geography, describing the focus of your example and explaining how it shows the power of physical geography.​

To enter:​

Complete the attached entry from​

Years 7-9 also need to complete the parental consent form. Entries without this form will not be considered.​

​

Click on the link below to submit your entry. Closing date 30th September.​

Physical Geography Photo Competition 2024 Entry Form - Geographical Association​

​

Also send a copy (entry form only) to your Geography teacher to earn Character Points​

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Geographical Association - Resources and information for Geography Teachers

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Physical geography student photo competition - Geographical Association

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Photo by Zoe Cripwell from Monmouth School for Girls. First prize winner in the 11-14 category in 2019 with ‘Power and Time’ taken in Feshiebridge, Cairngorms National Park.Physical geography student competition 2024 Following the success of previous competitions, the Physical Geography Student Photo Competition returned for a ninth year with our sponsor, the British Society

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Why should we choose Geography? RGS competition

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Why should we choose Geography? RGS competition

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here has never been a better or more important time to study geography.

Geography helps you to make sense of the world around you. It's hands on, relevant, and fun. Whatever your passion for the world – fascination with landscapes or concerns about sustainability – geography will provide you with knowledge and transferable skills that will reward you personally and advance you professionally.

The Society invites you to create your own #ChooseGeography poster to promote the value of choosing geography at school, in further study and in the workplace, linking geographical skills to real people and jobs that make a difference. We are looking for eye catching, creative and informative posters that promote geography as an excellent choice, highlighting its relevance and demonstrating how studying geography can help you understand the world we live in and the ‘big issues’ that we face as a society.

Your posters should include details of why geography is a useful and relevant subject to study, why studying geography matters and how it can help you to understand a range of ideas and concepts. We also want to hear about the skills that geographers have that make them stand out from the crowd, and where geography can take you. Geographers work in a wide range of careers and employment sectors, so your poster should highlight some of the jobs that geographers do and demonstrate how geographers make a difference. We also want to hear what parts of geography you find the most interesting and useful to study and why!

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The 2024 Young Geographer of the year competition is aimed at children between the ages of 7 and 18.

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what sustainability action points would you prioritise? RGS essay competition

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what sustainability action points would you prioritise? RGS essay competition

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The 2024 School Essay Competition, organised in partnership with the Financial Times, invites students to answer the following question:

Drawing on information from your daily life, what sustainability action points would you prioritise?

Include no more than ten key ideas and justify your choices. Use accompanying information from the FT and other sources.

This resource will be useful as a starting point. Carbon counting: how much do your lifestyle choices cost the planet? (ft.com)

The judges are looking for:

A clear essay or  ArcGIS StoryMap which is well-evidenced and reaches a clear conclusion

Submissions that do not exceed 1,000 words (excluding references)  - submissions over 1,000 words will not be considered. The word count should be provided in the document.

Referenced sources of information and data

Submissions which are the entrant’s own work and relevant to the question and guidance

The Society runs this competition in partnership with the Financial Times  as part of its education programme to support geography teachers and their pupils.

The competition is open to schools in the UK and overseas. Submissions are judged without seeing the entrants’ details.

See the full terms and conditions for further details.

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Attend our house quiz for KS3 to earn character and house points

Rounds include - map skills, national flags, capital cities, national flowers and more!

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Meet our guest lecturer from University of Birmingham to explore the idea of political Geography and refugees. Open to Y11-13 Geography students

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Free to access.

Live lectures on Monday nights at 5pm

Back-dated/recorded available to watch back.

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These practical, easy to access resources represent the latest in contemporary critical thinking and argument in human and physical geography, based on the current research of our academics.

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Strategic analyst Josh Lingard-Smith talks about the success of this year's Virtual Work Experience Programme at Ordnance Survey and how to encourage teenagers keen on breaking into the geospatial industry

3 minute read

Last week, Ordnance Survey's (OS) Geospatial Virtual Work Experience programme brought together a group of young people, aged 14-19, from across Great Britain to showcase the range of careers and pathways that the geospatial sector has to offer.

We teamed up with Speakers for Schools to deliver four days of talks, demonstrations and activities, the aim being to create an engaging and informative experience that challenged the students to think like geospatial professionals and inspired them as they think about their next steps. And by running the programme virtually, we were able to reach a wider geographic distribution of young people than in-person work experience and include speakers from outside OS including Royal Geographical Society and some of our Geovation Start-ups.

The programme showcased a variety of topics and gave students an understanding of what OS is and what we do, how geospatial data goes from capture to the end user, and how geospatial data and maps are being used - including consumer mapping applications, town planning and emergency response. We explored how Data Science is being used to solve big problems, how Earth Observation data is being used for mapping and understanding our planet and its role in sustainability, and how Artificial Intelligence can be used in geospatial processes as well as potential ethical issues. We demonstrated a broad range of skillsets, including Geographic Data Visualisation and Cartographic Design, using GIS and the application of geospatial in real-world decision-making, and learning about entrepreneurship with Geovation.

With students keen to understand more about careers and what it is like to work in a geospatial role, it was great to hear our speakers talk about their own diverse journeys and what is important to them in the workplace. I was incredibly impressed by the students - both their willingness to be involved and to interact with each other and the thoughtfulness of their questions and the way they took on the tasks. Their feedback was really positive and I hope that we'll see many of those students representing the geospatial community in the years to come!

The Geospatial Virtual Work Experience is delivered under the Public Sector Geospatial Agreement Education Plan, funded by the Geospatial Commission. It continues our commitment to education and demonstrates the important role that OS plays in helping to create the next generation of geospatial experts and future users of geospatial data.

For more information about careers in geospatial, please visit Careers | Ordnance Survey.

Find out more about Ordnance Survey's Education Resources

Bring your geography classes to life

Our highly accurate geospatial data and printed maps help individuals, governments and companies to understand the world, both in Britain and overseas.

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Ordnance Survey Virtual Work Experience | OS

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Inspiring the next generation of geospatial professionals through Ordnance Survey's Geospatial Virtual Work Experience.

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Become a member and discover where geography can take you.

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MetLink - Royal Meteorological Society Met Office Work Experience 2023

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The Met Office is running virtual work experience and applications are now open

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The British Antarctic Survey welcomes students who wish to gain both hands-on and virtual experience in a scientific research environment while studying.

We run a number of schemes for students at various stages of their education:

Virtual Work Experience programme (under 18s)

EDI internships

Undergraduate research experience summer placements (REPs)

Virtual work experience programme

Our 6-day programme, open to UK-based students only, offers an opportunity to learn about the variety of roles contributing to the delivery of world-class scientific research as well as logistic and operational support in the polar regions.

The aim of the programme is to

provide students with an opportunity to relate their school studies with scientific research and potential careers

increase their understanding of the diversity, inclusion and supportive practice within STEM

provide them with opportunities to communicate with a range of polar professionals in order to expand their network.

This experience is an opportunity for students to learn more about themselves and explore what they enjoy doing.
APPLY FOR THE BAS VIRTUAL WORK EXPERIENCE PROGRAMME HERE
The programme is run in collaboration with the team at Creative Tuition, a charity providing free tuition, extracurricular workshops and personal development support to pupils from low-income backgrounds, marginalised and underrepresented communities. The aim of this experience is for students not only to learn about polar research, but to learn more about themselves and the careers they want to have throughout their lives.

Many young people struggle to access traditional in-person work experience, especially those from harder to reach areas or from lower socio-economic backgrounds. Through our Virtual Work Experience programme we remove the twin barriers of cost and geographical location for young people from schools and colleges across the UK and abroad. This enables more young people to engage with us and learn about environmental science, marine engineering, polar operations and logistics.

It also allows us to increase the number of placements they can run to accommodate a more diverse range of young people from everywhere in the world.

Although this is our main work experience scheme for under 18s, we hope that we can still offer some on-site placements outside of this virtual work experience programme. This will depend on the availability of personnel during the summer season. Those requests should be sent separately to workexperience@bas.ac.uk.

Update on 2023 programme

EDI Internship opportunities

The EDI internship programme was introduced in 2021 to further promote and enhance opportunities within the Polar science community to under-represented groups, especially people from racial and ethnic minorities, LGBTQ+ community and people with a disability.

We are currently looking for funding options for further internships for financial year 2022-23. As one of our interns, you will find yourself immersed in an opportunity that will help you develop scientific knowledge as well as valued skills and key experiences which may include: data collection and analysis, project management, report writing and Equality, Diversity & Inclusion (EDI).

All internships will be paid at pro rata rates from an annual starting salary of £20,129.

For further information and to stay updated on our latest news visit  www.bas.ac.uk , follow us on   at @BAS_News or subscribe to our YouTube channel at www.youtube.com/BritishAntarcticSurvey
I'm ready to apply, what do I do next? Keep an eye out on BAS social media channels and our recruitment pages for new internship opportunities.
Undergraduate Research Experience Placements (REPs)

The NERC Research Experience Placements (REPs) scheme aims to encourage students to consider a career in environmental sciences through funding to support paid summer placements for undergraduate students. They also enable DTPs and CDTs to address:

thematic skills gaps, for example gaps in quantitative skills

demographic and diversity-related challenges, by offering funding for summer placements.

REP awards to support placements in summer 2023 have been allocated to NERC DTPs and CDTs.

Each REP is for up to 10 weeks during the summer vacation and students must be paid at least the national living wage. For current opportunities, please visit the websites of our DTP and CDT partners - a list of which can be found here

Eligibility of hosting institution

DTPs and CDTs currently recruiting students are eligible to host REPs.

Eligibility of participating undergraduate students

Students are subject to eligibility criteria to be able to apply for NERC REPs and must be:

Please note this guidance should be read in conjunction with the UKRI Training Grant Terms and Conditions and guidance documents.

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Work experience opportunities - British Antarctic Survey

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The British Antarctic Survey welcomes students who wish to gain both hands-on and virtual experience in a scientific research environment while studying.