Mrs Mactivity

Year 3 Geography - Uk Countries and Cities

Year 3 Geography – UK Counties and Cities: What’s the Score?

This Year 3 geography unit introduces pupils to UK counties and cities through map work, route planning and geographical enquiry. Pupils develop their understanding of how the UK is organised while building confidence with maps, atlases and locational vocabulary.

Across six lessons, pupils locate countries, counties and major cities within the UK, investigate human and physical features and explore how places are connected through travel and movement. Using the engaging context of sport, pupils apply geographical skills to real locations and begin to examine features within their own local area.

Recognised as Highly Commended by the Geographical Association, this unit includes ready-to-teach lesson plans, teaching slides, differentiated geography activities and assessment opportunities to support progression across Lower KS2 geography.

Explore the full Year 3 geography curriculum

See how this UK geography block fits within our wider Year 3 geography progression.

View Year 3 geography

View lesson overview and unit outcomes

Lessons in this unit

  • How does a cricketer travel to the UK?
  • Where are the cricket grounds in the UK?
  • What is it like in those cities?
  • What is a county?
  • How can people travel around the UK?
  • Where can we play sports?

Unit outcomes

  • Plan a route from Sydney to London
  • Name and locate UK countries and major cities
  • Identify key human and physical features of the UK
  • Understand the difference between countries and counties
  • Plan routes using maps and atlases
  • Use fieldwork to identify local features

What this Year 3 geography block covers

This Year 3 geography block develops pupils’ understanding of UK counties, cities and locational geography through practical map work and geographical enquiry. Pupils explore how places across the UK are connected while developing confidence with atlases, route planning and geographical vocabulary.

Using the context of sport and travel, pupils investigate major UK cities, identify important human and physical features and begin to understand the difference between countries and counties. The unit also encourages pupils to apply geographical skills to their own local area through simple fieldwork activities.

Key skills developed

  • Locating UK countries, counties and major cities
  • Using maps and atlases to plan routes and journeys
  • Identifying human and physical features across the UK
  • Understanding how places are connected through transport and movement
  • Using fieldwork to investigate local geographical features

Where this block fits in the Year 3 geography curriculum

This block forms part of our Year 3 geography curriculum within the KS2 geography scheme. It strengthens pupils’ understanding of UK geography and supports progression into later KS2 topics involving regional comparison, settlement, transport and wider geographical interpretation.

Flexible geography teaching

The lessons are designed to work flexibly within different curriculum structures and typically fit within a 45-60 minute geography lesson. Many schools teach geography through blocked units across half terms, while others use shorter weekly geography sessions across the term.

Recognised as Highly Commended by the Geographical Association, our Glorious Geography scheme supports progression from EYFS geography through to KS2 geography, including mixed-age geography planning.