New QAA Benchmark Statement

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My book 'Why Study Geography' was published in November 2020. Over time, some of the reports and documents mentioned in it are updated. 

This blog will mention those updates and changes as they occur.

The latest update happened to the QAA Benchmark Statements for Geography. These define the standards expected of Geography graduates in the UK.

These can be downloaded from the QAA website. 

This statement appears on p.4 of the document.


Contemporary geography draws from knowledge traditions formed through colonial enlightenment science. Geographical concepts and techniques contributed to the overseas expansion of British and European empires, which was justified using narratives of white, able and heteronormative superiority. Colonial and imperial geographies, and their contemporary legacies of systemic disadvantage, for example, racism, classism, ablism, homophobia and patriarchy, must therefore be acknowledged and countered by fostering an inclusive learning community encompassing a range of participants, such as students, academics, technicians, professional staff, visitors and external partners.

The core values underpinning geography's inclusive learning community aligns with, and encourages, curricula design principles that stimulate critical thinking informed by a variety of progressive theoretical perspectives. These include, but are not limited to, theoretical perspectives from critical theory, critical race theory, decoloniality, disability studies, feminist, queer, and science and technology studies. The application of critical theory is relevant to, and should be applied across, the geographical discipline. The core values also promote anticipatory design and practices, which are considerate of the particularities associated with sites of learning, for example, online, face-to-face, in the field or in the laboratory, paying close attention to those that may have historically been less inclusive, such as fieldwork sites and laboratories.

And a mention of the everyday

Geographers are increasingly aware of the impact of the diverse ways that societies and environments can be abstracted and represented, including during spatial data creation, and the mappings they support. They know how representational choices shape understandings and measurements of societies and environments. Such awareness is also important in an increasingly connected world, where many everyday transactions result in a digital record with some form of location attached which are subsequently rendered into maps and/or used to underpin spatial analysis. This is critical, as maps in particular play an important role in representing the world, and geographers are conversant with both the technical dimensions and the cultural politics of their production.

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