[Exam Cram] Ask AQA all of your Geography A-level and GCSE questions

It's Exam Cram 2019!

This half term we have an amazing offer for you all currently working through your exam season. Ask your exam board the questions you need to make that final push through your revision. That's right, this half term we are offering you the chance to talk to your exam board and get the help you need this half term on TSR. This thread is for the 30th of May 2019 or in other words.......

Geography Day!!!!!!!

Post below your questions and AQA will reply! Ask about specific issues you are having with your revision, topics that you are struggling with or anything about the exams and the exam format themselves! Unfortunately there are some rules so we can make this thread work for everyone

1.) No asking what is in the up and coming exam, the exam board won't answer no matter how desperate you are!

2.) No asking for low boundaries! This isn't up to how the examiners are feeling on that day. Questions around grade boundaries are fine though

3.) Keep it civil !

You can start getting your questions in now and AQA will be come through and answer them Good luck for the rest of your exams guys!

Reply 1

pipthesqueak

(for gcses) i’m quite struggling with paper 3- I always get the lowest marks out of all three papers on that one! Do you have any tips on how to revise? And how to also structure the 9 mark questions for the fieldwork section! thank you~

Reply 2

AQA Exam Board

Official Rep

Hi there,

The main thing to remember when it comes to fieldwork is the 'why' - why did you visit that location? why were the methods you did the best ones to help you come to a conclusion? Why did you come to the conclusion you did? Don't just tell the examiner what you did, you need to show that you understand why you did it.

For the 9 mark fieldwork question, it will of course depend on which part of the enquiry the question is asking you to discuss, it will require you to evaluate something (your methods, data, how you conducted your enquiry etc) but think about using sentences like:
this clearly allowed me to …
it was extremely easy to see that …
the information was hard to compare effectively because …
it is much easier to plot all of the data …
This method allowed me to make a more clear judgement …
Have a go at answering last summer's question, and try to use some of these sentences, see if that helps!

When it comes to Section A, the issue evaluation the best students revise for this by becoming really familiar with the booklet, so you're not spending lots of time in the exam looking for the right pages for each question. Spend time reading it and make sure you know the structure of the booklet.

I hope this helps,
AQA Geography Curriculum Team

Reply 3

SchmuckOff

Do we have to name case studies to achieve the 7-9 mark band ?
Also do we have to know numerous social challenges and opportunities for about 1-2 ?
Thank you :smile:

Reply 4

AQA Exam Board

Official Rep

Original post by SchmuckOff

Do we have to name case studies to achieve the 7-9 mark band ?
Also do we have to know numerous social challenges and opportunities for about 1-2 ?
Thank you :smile:

Hi there,

It's important to remember that case studies can be used at any point in the exam paper - not just 9 mark questions. If the question asks you to use a case study, you must make sure you do, as it's unlikely that you'd make it into level 3 (7-9 marks) without that case study knowledge. Just like if the question asked you to 'use figure 1' you must use the figure in your answer so make sure you pay attention to the question. Answers do not need to be perfect to be awarded full marks.

You don't need to know numerous social challenges/opportunities at all, what is important is that you use relevant ones in your answer. Two or three well developed points is better than listing everything you know about a case study. Consider revising a few and knowing them really well.

Hope this helps,
AQA Geography Curriculum Team

Reply 5

Rolls_Reus_0wner

Hi, any tips for the 6 markers in A-level Geography Paper 2?

For example, how can I structure them and find patterns? Thanks

Reply 6

AQA Exam Board

Official Rep

Original post by Rolls_Reus_0wner

Hi, any tips for the 6 markers in A-level Geography Paper 2?

For example, how can I structure them and find patterns? Thanks

Hi There,

Remember there are two different types of 6 mark questions - the first one in each unit is always the 'skills' question which will ask you something like 'analyse the data shown in figure 1' so here you're just looking to describe the data. Look for trends, anomalies etc. quote data accurately from the figure presented to you. When you make a statement using the data, always think 'so what' ... what does this show me about the data? Remember - you don't need to explain why the patterns are the way they are, you just need to show the examiner that you can manipulate data and come to conclusions about it, you are not being tested on your knowledge of the concepts in the resource. You could consider structuring your answer based on scale - your initial statements are the 'bigger picture' and you continue then narrowing the focus.

The second 6 marker will ask you something like 'use figure 1 and your own knowledge...' and this addition of your 'own knowledge' means you need to do more than just explain the data, you need to think about what it shows and explain why.

If there are multiple resources (ie 2 or 3 maps) marks will be awarded in the markscheme for being able to link the data sets together - so you can describe each one and then try to see if you can link them together.

I hope this helps,
AQA Geography Curriculum Team

Reply 7

KetF

Hi,
Re paper 2 Section C, am I correct in assuming the first part of the paper could be about food, water or energy and the last part allows you use an option of the 3, so in essence you still need to know all 3.

Re Paper 3, are you specifically looking for diagrams (bar charts etc) with quantifiable statistics when it comes to the human and physical geography fieldwork?

I'm referring to the GCSE papers

Thanks

(edited 4 years ago)

Reply 8

AQA Exam Board

Official Rep

Original post by KetF

Hi there,

You are right, the first part of section C is a compulsory question about food, water and energy IN THE UK which is a compulsory element of this unit. You will then answer EITHER food, water or energy in the remaining sections. You'll notice hopefully from what you've been taught that the option is more focused on a worldwide context beyond the UK.

I'm not sure what you mean by the second question on paper 3, I think you mean do you need to remember/quote exact data from your presentation of fieldwork. You should use data in your responses if you think it enhances your answer or adds context, but there are no specific marks awarded to simply quoting data. It also will depend on your fieldwork as to what data you collected and therefore how you presented it - some methods are not quantitative and that's fine if it's appropriate to the study. If that's not what you meant please reply and let me know.

Hope this helps,
AQA Geography Curriculum Team

Reply 9

samwright11_x

(A Level) What is the best structure for a 20 marker? How many points should be sufficient with Case Study knowledge incorporated?

Reply 10

username3028808

Are you going to be doing anything to increase the number of lines available on questions, especially the 20 mark questions? Having sat paper 1, almost everyone in the exam hall needed additional paper.

Reply 11

AQA Exam Board

Official Rep

Original post by naem071

Hi there,

We have already made steps this summer to address this issue and all 4, 6, 9 and 20 mark questions have been given 50% more lines compared to 2018. I'm sorry to hear that you still needed the additional pages in this summer's Paper 1 exam. We will review the number of additional pages used once marking is completed this year and if it still proves to be an issue then we will look at alternative question paper structures.

AQA Geography Curriculum Team

Reply 12

AQA Exam Board

Official Rep

Original post by samwright11_x

(A Level) What is the best structure for a 20 marker? How many points should be sufficient with Case Study knowledge incorporated?

Hi there,

It's really difficult to say that a certain number of points will be sufficient for every 20 mark question, each question will demand/require different things and have different commands so you need to be familiar with different command words/phrases. Sometimes this helps with understanding the best way to structure your response.

20 markers will generally provide you with two different themes to discuss in your response ie 'weathering AND erosion', 'meaning AND representation' etc. Have a look through the past questions and see if you can identify these two themes. You could structure your answer by addressing each theme in turn.

To help with structure you could follow an approach such as:
10% on introduction
80–90% on the main body
10% summing up, concluding, drawing elements together.

Some general tips:
Breadth
Make a broad range of relevant points in a coherently argued fashion.

Depth
Each point should offer appropriate detail, knowledge of content concept and process where appropriate. Offer analysis, evaluation and interpretation as appropriate.

Support
Use case studies to embed the knowledge concepts and processes in real world situations.

Synopticity
Make the links which are required by the question.

Hope this helps,
AQA Geography Curriculum Team