In all three years you will normally have three one-hour supervisions a fortnight. These usually involve reading and essay writing. Cambridge Geography actively encourages research into original literature, and is not based on text books. In both the first and second years you will also have laboratory or practical classes, and field classes in which information is gathered for practical exercises. During the summer vacation between your second and third years you will need to work on your dissertation.
Fieldwork is an important part of the course.
In every year there are one-day excursions associated with particular courses. These include urban, coastal and important Quaternary sites in East Anglia. In addition, there are one-week residential field courses held during the Easter and summer vacations, outside mainland Britain. A compulsory general field course for all Part IB students gives rise to a piece of assessed practical work. Recent locations for this course include Crete, S E Spain, Malta, the Aeolian Islands, Portugal and Mallorca.