The planned removal of "tiering" from the Geography examinations, which mark the end of compulsory schooling at age 16 in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, means that students of all abilities will be expected to sit the same examination with the same content. However, the learning and preparation process will not necessarily be the same for each of the students concerned. This paper reports on a project which investigated teachers' views and experiences of differentiation in the Geography classroom and their perceptions of the removal of tiering. It found that teachers are influenced and challenged in their differentiation practices by setting, lesson design, classroom practice, and internal and external targets and policies. Furthermore, the announcement of the removal of tiering in the qualification was described with hostility by participants, who believed it would negatively affect students' examination performance, and not best reflect weaker students' geographical abilities.