In simple terms
A friendly intro before the formal notes — no formulas yet.
From Your Street to the World Stage
Learning Outcome 6 is about showing you understand how your local actions connect to bigger, worldwide problems. It's about thinking globally, even when you're acting locally, and reflecting on your role as a global citizen.
Think of it like zooming out on a map. You might be helping to run a recycling programme at your school (your 'street view'). To show global engagement, you 'zoom out' to see how this small action is part of the world's effort to combat plastic pollution and climate change (the 'satellite view'). Your reflection explains the connection between these two views.
- 1
Identify the Global Issue: Clearly name the broad, global issue your CAS experience relates to (e.g., food insecurity, climate change, gender inequality). Using the UN SDGs is a great way to do this.
- 2
Describe Your Local Action: Detail what you actually did. Be specific about your tasks, responsibilities, and the immediate, local impact.
- 3
Explain the Connection: This is the most important step. Explicitly explain how your local action is a small-scale version or a response to the larger global issue. How does your bake sale for a food bank tackle a local manifestation of global poverty?
- 4
Reflect on Your Growth: Discuss what you learned about the issue's complexity, different perspectives, and your own responsibilities. How has your understanding deepened? What new questions do you have?
Explore the concept
Use the live diagram and synced steps — play it or tap a step card to walk through.
Full topic notes
Formal explanation with the rigour you need for the exam.
Deconstructing 'Issues of Global Significance'
An 'issue of global significance' is any challenge that transcends national borders and affects a wide range of people, cultures, and environments. While major issues like climate action and poverty are clear examples, the term is intentionally broad. It could encompass digital literacy, mental health awareness, fast fashion's environmental impact, or the preservation of indigenous languages. The key is its 'significance' – it has broad, serious implications for human well-being or the health of the planet.
Framework for Identification: The 17 UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are your best resource. They provide a comprehensive list of globally recognised issues, from 'No Poverty' (SDG 1) and 'Gender Equality' (SDG 5) to 'Sustainable Cities and Communities' (SDG 11).
Find Your Passion: Choose an issue that genuinely interests you. Authentic engagement is far more powerful than choosing an issue you think 'looks good'.
Research is Key: Before you act, you must understand. Initial research into the causes, effects, and different perspectives surrounding an issue is a crucial part of 'engagement'.
Connecting Global Issues to Local Action
The most impactful demonstrations of LO6 often happen at the local level. You do not need to travel abroad to engage with global issues. Instead, look for the 'local manifestation' of a global problem. By addressing the issue in your own community, you gain a tangible, first-hand understanding that is impossible to achieve through abstract research alone. Your CAS portfolio should tell the story of how you identified a global issue and found a way to engage with it in a local, meaningful context.
From Awareness to Action and Advocacy
Meaningful engagement requires more than just being aware of a problem. CAS asks you to take action. For LO6, this action can take many forms. The goal is to show a progression in your portfolio, from initial awareness and research to tangible action that has an impact, however small. A sophisticated portfolio shows how your understanding and actions evolved over time.
Direct Service: Volunteering time to work directly with those affected by an issue (e.g., serving meals at a homeless shelter).
Indirect Service: Organising events or creating products where the primary purpose is to raise funds or collect goods for a cause (e.g., a charity concert, a clothing drive).
Advocacy: Raising awareness and educating others to inspire change. This is a powerful form of action (e.g., running a school campaign on the impact of fast fashion, presenting research on local water quality to a community group).
Research: Conducting and presenting research can itself be a form of action, especially when it informs a community or proposes a solution to a local problem.
Evidencing and Reflecting on Global Engagement
Your CAS portfolio is the sole means by which you demonstrate your achievement of the learning outcomes. For LO6, your evidence and reflections must work together to build a convincing narrative of your engagement. Avoid simple, descriptive journal entries. Instead, aim for analytical reflections that unpack your experiences, question your assumptions, and articulate your growth.
Worked examples
See the formulas applied — reveal one step at a time, like the exam.
A student starts a club to teach coding basics to younger students at their school, many of whom do not have computers at home. How can they reflect on this to demonstrate engagement with an issue of global significance (LO6)?
- 1
This reflection demonstrates excellence by explicitly linking a local project to multiple global issues, considering ethical dimensions, and showing a deepened understanding.
A student creates a series of posters for their school's 'Diversity Week' celebrating different cultural festivals. Write a portfolio reflection that effectively demonstrates LO6.
- 1
This model reflection excels by moving beyond a description of the activity to analyse its connection to complex global issues and reflect on the student's own perspective shift.
How it all connects
The big idea sits in the middle — tap a linked idea to explore the link.
Tap a linked idea to see how it connects back to the main topic — that connection is what examiners reward.
Glossary
Try to recall each definition before you reveal it.
Quick check
Answer in your head first — then tap to check. No pressure.
Revision flashcards
Flip the card. Test yourself before the exam.
Global Engagement (LO6)
Demonstrating in your CAS portfolio that you have engaged with issues of global significance, through your experiences and reflections.
Key takeaways
Review these before you close the topic — retrieval beats re-reading.
- ✓
Framework for Identification: The 17 UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are your best resource. They provide a comprehensive list of globally recognised issues, from 'No Poverty' (SDG 1) and 'Gender Equality' (SDG 5) to 'Sustainable Cities and Communities' (SDG 11).
- ✓
Find Your Passion: Choose an issue that genuinely interests you. Authentic engagement is far more powerful than choosing an issue you think 'looks good'.
- ✓
Research is Key: Before you act, you must understand. Initial research into the causes, effects, and different perspectives surrounding an issue is a crucial part of 'engagement'.
Practice — then mark it
The whole point: a real Cambridge question, marked mark-by-mark.
Test Your Understanding of Global Engagement
Test Your Understanding of Global Engagement
Extra simulations & links
PhET, GeoGebra and other curated tools — open in a new tab.
Frequently asked
Checkpoint
One marked question is worth ten re-reads — close the loop before you move on.
Reading it isn’t knowing it — prove it.
Before you move on: do Test Your Understanding of Global Engagement on paper, snap a photo, and get examiner-style feedback on exactly where you win and lose marks.