Starting your Non-Examination Assessment (NEA)
Getting the beginning right
Your NEA is an opportunity to explore a topic that interests you, connect your geographical knowledge to a place you know well, and gather and evaluate your own data. The skills you develop through the NEA are valued by employers and universities, including developing critical thinking, research, problem solving, data collection and analysis.
A well-written NEA will include critical and focused use of literary sources linking your study to theory, application of quantitative and statistical techniques (where relevant), well-targeted methods and conclusions that are evidence-based and linked to the initial research questions.
It is your chance to demonstrate self-reliance, initiative and independent decision-making to produce interesting geographical information. At the start of the process, selecting a topic and a title can be a challenge.
Selecting the title
Developing an effective title is crucial to the success of a field investigation. Your title should include a locational context and establish a clear connection to a central concept, theory or process. It can be structured as a question, statement or hypothesis and must relate to a specific area of the A Level Geography course.
While it is not a requirement, many students choose to organise their investigations around two or three sub-questions or hypotheses that support the central theme expressed in the title. If a hypothesis testing approach is used, it is essential to ensure the hypotheses can be properly tested against the evidence collected.
The following example of an investigation title poses an evaluative question and has a clear locational context. It focuses on change over time, which implies that earlier (baseline) data will be required.
Question
To what extent has the development of (named regeneration scheme) in City X been both an environmental and economic success?
Research sub-questions
1: How has the environment in city centre X been affected by the development?
2: How has the development brought socio-economic benefits to the people of City X?
3: How have these changes impacted the immediate area both positively and negatively?
The choice of title depends on several factors, such as the accessibility and safety of potential locations, the availability of necessary equipment and resources, opportunities to gather appropriate primary and secondary data, and manageability in terms of scale.
A pilot study?
Conducting a pilot study can help assess the practicality of the fieldwork by determining whether the investigation is viable in the chosen location or whether adjustments to the title or data collection methods are needed. Moreover, a pilot study can evaluate the effectiveness of planned techniques, such as testing a questionnaire format to ensure its suitability.
Planning a successful NEA
The key is to pick something you are genuinely curious about that aligns with the specification requirements. Consider which themes in geography you’ve enjoyed most, from physical geography (for example, coastal management, hydrology) or human geography (for example, urban development, demographic trends, social inequalities). A topic you are interested in will make the research process more engaging.
There may be potential for an independent study from the fieldwork that you’ve done as part as a group, for example a water and carbon day or a day looking at place representation. There may even be a topic that you won’t study but offers scope for investigation, for example local ecosystems.
Example titles may include:
· How does the amount of carbon sequestration differ between managed coniferous and natural deciduous forests on a local scale?
· To what extent does media representation of… (your place) …accurately represent local lived experience of place?
· To what extent has studentification affected the lived experience and economy of residents in …(your place)?
Local issues
You could investigate the geographical features or pressing issues in your area, such as coastal erosion, tourism trends, or water resource management. Local points of interest might include examining flood risks, assessing the social and economic effects of a new housing development, analysing the impact of a recently opened shopping complex, studying the construction of a bypass, evaluating the establishment of a solar/wind farm, or monitoring pollution levels in a nearby river.
Consider recent changes in your area and explore public opinions surrounding them. Think about topics link to economic change, such as de-industrialisation, social changes like identity and place perception, or environmental changes – whether beneficial or detrimental. Be cautious with proposals for the future: it is hard to study things that haven’t happened yet. However, an evaluation of attitudes in one small community towards issues such as a new solar/wind farm or incinerator might be feasible.
There may be issues mentioned in the news that could form the basis of a local field study, such as people’s experiences of migration, attitudes to second homeowners or patterns and trends in local crime. A possible title might be: ‘How have the demographic and cultural characteristics of (your place) been shaped by shifting flows of people?’
Feasibility
When choosing a research question, ensure it is specific and feasible. For instance, ‘Quality of life in City X’s centre’ is overly broad and lacks focus. A slightly better alternative might be ‘Investigating variations in the quality of life between city centre X and its outer suburbs.’ but the geographical scale still remains unrealistic, and the objectives are vague.
A more focused approach, such as ‘How does quality of life vary between Districts A, B, C, D, E and F?’ provides specific locations but tackling six areas would be impractical and might result in superficial coverage. Narrowing further to ‘To what extent does quality of life vary between Districts A and B?’ is more precise and poses an evaluative question, though ‘quality of life’ encompasses a wide range of topics. Instead, a question like ‘To what extent does quality of life as measured by wealth, employment, health, education and the environment vary between Districts A and B’ targets particular elements of quality of life. However, the scope may still be too wide. ‘To what extent is there economic inequality between the contrasting urban areas of District A and District B and how has this impacted on quality of life?’ is a long title but it offers clearer objectives and an achievable scope. This ensures the research question is focused and manageable. It should be relatively straightforward to structure the study logically and sequentially around key indicators such as health, education and environment.
[Note: obvious statement, but …. make sure Districts A and B are likely to show differences.]
Scale
It is important to set an appropriate scale for your investigation, most likely to be local scale. Small-scale studies such as the comparison between two neighbourhoods or wards, or the investigation of two contrasting beaches, are more suitable. Decide whether to focus on your local area or explore further afield, but ensure your chosen location is easily accessible for potential follow-up data collection. Is that feasible for a ‘holiday location’?
For a human geography investigation, you can build a custom area profile at the local level, based on the 2021 census. Data can be obtained by different area types, for example a neighbourhood, ward or parish. You can search for an area by name or postcode, upload an area boundary, and choose different datasets for your area profile. The Index of Multiple Deprivation (IMD) GIS database could guide your area selection, and you can complement IMD (2019) data with resources like Datashine and the Consumer Data Research Centre (which now provides IMD data for England for 2025). (See below)
Ideally in a local human geography enquiry, the study area should cover no more than three to four neighbouring LSOAs (Lower Layer Super Output Areas) with a combined population of 4,000 to 6,000 people.
Census data 2021: Custom area profile
Indices of Multiple Deprivation: https://dclgapps.communities.gov.uk/imd/iod_index.html
Conclusion
You are free to choose any topic for your NEA, provided it aligns with the specification. There are, however, several important factors to consider in determining whether your title is appropriate and will support the successful completion of your investigation. It should address a genuine geographical issue, allowing the investigation to provide meaningful answers. Ensure that the collection of primary data is at the heart of the independent investigation. The title should be grounded in a theory or model that allows you to test your findings against your geographical understanding. Crucially, your study should be feasible in terms of scale and data collection while ensuring there is enough data to enable a comprehensive analysis.
Get the first stage right, then the rest should be more straightforward.
Marvelous Dave. An inspiring post.