Year 4 Geography: What to Teach (England)

Your Teacher Information Pack for Year 4 Geography: every national curriculum statement, the tests and dates that matter, and trusted links. Tick what you're teaching and send it straight into the lesson plan maker.

The KS2 programme of study for this subject covers the whole key stage; schools decide what to teach in which year.

Current. The government response to the Curriculum and Assessment Review (Nov 2025) says a revised national curriculum will be published by spring 2027 for first teaching from September 2028.

What to teach

Below is the official programme of study for Year 4 Geography: the statutory statements first, then any non-statutory notes and guidance, which schools don't have to follow.

Key stage 2 10 statutory statements

Introduction to Key stage 2 (official text)

Pupils should extend their knowledge and understanding beyond the local area to include the United Kingdom and Europe, North and South America. This will include the location and characteristics of a range of the world’s most significant human and physical features. They should develop their use of geographical knowledge, understanding and skills to enhance their locational and place knowledge.

Pupils should be taught to:

Locational knowledge Statutory

Pupils should be taught to:

• locate the world’s countries, using maps to focus on Europe (including the location of Russia) and North and South America, concentrating on their environmental regions, key physical and human characteristics, countries, and major cities
• name and locate counties and cities of the United Kingdom, geographical regions and their identifying human and physical characteristics, key topographical features (including hills, mountains, coasts and rivers), and land-use patterns; and understand how some of these aspects have changed over time
• identify the position and significance of latitude, longitude, Equator, Northern Hemisphere, Southern Hemisphere, the Tropics of Cancer and Capricorn, Arctic and Antarctic Circle, the Prime/Greenwich Meridian and time zones (including day and night)

Read this on GOV.UK

Place knowledge Statutory

Pupils should be taught to:

• understand geographical similarities and differences through the study of human and physical geography of a region of the United Kingdom, a region in a European country, and a region in North or South America

Read this on GOV.UK

Human and physical geography Statutory

Pupils should be taught to:

• describe and understand key aspects of:
  • physical geography, including: climate zones, biomes and vegetation belts, rivers, mountains, volcanoes and earthquakes, and the water cycle
  • human geography, including: types of settlement and land use, economic activity including trade links, and the distribution of natural resources including energy, food, minerals and water

Read this on GOV.UK

Geographical skills and fieldwork Statutory

Pupils should be taught to:

• use maps, atlases, globes and digital/computer mapping to locate countries and describe features studied
• use the 8 points of a compass, 4- and 6-figure grid references, symbols and key (including the use of Ordnance Survey maps) to build their knowledge of the United Kingdom and the wider world
• use fieldwork to observe, measure record and present the human and physical features in the local area using a range of methods, including sketch maps, plans and graphs, and digital technologies

Read this on GOV.UK

Assessments and key dates

There are no national tests or checks in Year 4. Your school will use its own assessments.

Official documents

• National curriculum: geography programmes of study (GOV.UK)

Trusted free resources

• Oak National Academy – Free, full lesson sequences for KS2 (government-funded).
• BBC Bitesize – Short videos and quizzes by key stage and subject.

Links only: we don't copy their content and we aren't connected to these organisations.

More packs

Other subjects in Year 4: English, Maths, Science, Art and Design, Computing, Design and Technology, History, Languages, Music, PE.

Find another TIP · National curriculum overview

Questions teachers ask