Year 12 Geography field trip 

Report by Maisy Y12

Last week we spent four (very sunny) days in Porthcawl, South Wales, collecting data for our A-Level geography coursework. We had the choice of investigating either a physical or human topic.

Physical students focused on the coast and spent their time on Porthcawl’s many beaches. Some students measured beach profiles, sediment size, and drew field sketches. Others assessed coastal management strategies by measuring sand height accumulation, the height of sea walls and completing Hudson’s equations along the coast. 

Meanwhile, human students investigated the regeneration of Porthcawl’s town by asking local residents and tourists to fill out questionnaires about the area. Many students also collected other data including pedestrian, traffic, and litter counts, completing land use surveys, calculating housing density and index of decay, and filling out environmental quality assessments on different roads. 

Each afternoon, back at Margam Discovery Centre, we had the opportunity to consolidate our data and begin completing statistical tests for our coursework, with the help of our expert trip leader Will. 

In our downtime we played a huge game of rounders (teachers included!) and explored the site’s fantastic castle and grounds. 

We all had an amazing time and made a great start to our coursework.