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GCSE Edexcel Geography B Unit 1, 2 and 3 QUESTION and ANSWER thread Official 2012

I thought it would be a good idea to set up a question and answer thread for the Edexcel Geography B course. Whether it be about the logistics of the exams or about the content, I am more than happy to try and answer any questions.
Reply 1
Does this include the decision making paper? Not sure what unit that is :smile: Hardest (and final) part for me though, do you have any tips for a good grade? I'm aiming for an A/A*.
Reply 2
Original post by Student96
Does this include the decision making paper? Not sure what unit that is :smile: Hardest (and final) part for me though, do you have any tips for a good grade? I'm aiming for an A/A*.


The decision making paper is really a split between information retrieval and justification as to why you think something is better than something else (the 9 and 6 mark questions). For the information retrieval part you really just have to know the insert inside out (pardon the pun :smile: ). In all honest most of it is pretty obvious; for example a typical 3 or 4 mark question could be, Describe both the national and international transport links that London has? So you would talk about the underground, the national rail links and the airports. If you describe these points that should be enough for full marks on these questions. On the 6 and 9 mark questions it gets a tad more tricky. The 6 options at the back of the insert are all proposals for ways the games can have a positive legacy. The 6 and 9 mark questions can be answered well by just writing to justify one option over another; remember there is no explicit answer to either 6 or 9 mark questions - it is your opinion so you are never wrong. Nevertheless, you must give thorugh evidence to support your choice. So, say the question was to Explain which Economic option would benefit Londoners more? You might argue that the world-class sports facility would provide great opportunities for many children in London who often don't have an opportunity to try a variety of different sports and so would provide lasting benefits both economically and socially. But you might argue that the technology park would be a better choice for a long term economic investment as it would provide jobs to a variety of different people and would promote London in the vastly competitive technology world, which is currently dominated by the likes of China and the USA. Similarly, on the social options you write to justify your choice.

I must say that we have a far more enjoyable topic than previous years - last year the topic was fishing in Scotland - so hopefully it will be a nice exam (especially if you like Geography, as I do :biggrin:).

Also, if you haven't done so already and you live fairly close to London take a trip to the Olympic site; it will help you envisage what the games will be like.

Out of interest which economic and which social options do you think are the overall best?

I do hope this helps.
Reply 3
Original post by recurring500
The decision making paper is really a split between information retrieval and justification as to why you think something is better than something else (the 9 and 6 mark questions). For the information retrieval part you really just have to know the insert inside out (pardon the pun :smile: ). In all honest most of it is pretty obvious; for example a typical 3 or 4 mark question could be, Describe both the national and international transport links that London has? So you would talk about the underground, the national rail links and the airports. If you describe these points that should be enough for full marks on these questions. On the 6 and 9 mark questions it gets a tad more tricky. The 6 options at the back of the insert are all proposals for ways the games can have a positive legacy. The 6 and 9 mark questions can be answered well by just writing to justify one option over another; remember there is no explicit answer to either 6 or 9 mark questions - it is your opinion so you are never wrong. Nevertheless, you must give thorugh evidence to support your choice. So, say the question was to Explain which Economic option would benefit Londoners more? You might argue that the world-class sports facility would provide great opportunities for many children in London who often don't have an opportunity to try a variety of different sports and so would provide lasting benefits both economically and socially. But you might argue that the technology park would be a better choice for a long term economic investment as it would provide jobs to a variety of different people and would promote London in the vastly competitive technology world, which is currently dominated by the likes of China and the USA. Similarly, on the social options you write to justify your choice.

I must say that we have a far more enjoyable topic than previous years - last year the topic was fishing in Scotland - so hopefully it will be a nice exam (especially if you like Geography, as I do :biggrin:).

Also, if you haven't done so already and you live fairly close to London take a trip to the Olympic site; it will help you envisage what the games will be like.

Out of interest which economic and which social options do you think are the overall best?

I do hope this helps.


Thank you, that does help!! So on 9 mark questions, when you say something i.e. option 5 is also good because it creates housing which meets the needs of the people in the area, and is affordable to them, would you back this up with one of the statistics from a figure about low income/high proportion of rented housing or something?

I think overall definitely option 5 is the best social option, the others do have their merits but I feel that option 5 is the one which meets the needs of the people the best, whilst also creating a good housing legacy and meeting some of the aims for sustainability. I like options 1 and 3, but would probably choose 3 as the best overall.
[INDENT] EDEXCEL GCSE GEOGRAPHY B UNIT 1 ONLY!

I will have the predicted grade boundaries from what i believe they could be for this very exam and others listed below on this
thread http://www.thestudentroom.co.uk/showthread.php?p=38895952&highli ght= So please visit and check it out and if you would like to discuss anything about the exam alongside any others from: GCSE AQA BUSINESS STUDIES UNIT 1 (22/05/2012), GCSE EDEXCEL ICT UNIT 1 (01/06/2012) , EDEXCEL GEOGRAPHY B UNIT 1 (14/06/2012), AQA GCSE CHEMISTRY UNIT 1 NEW SPEC (15/06/2012) , AQA GCSE BIOLOGY UNIT 1 NEW SPEC (12/06/2012) AND GCSE PHYSICS UNIT 1 NEW SPEC (20/06/2012) with me please feel free to do so[/INDENT]
(edited 11 years ago)
Reply 5
Original post by recurring500
I thought it would be a good idea to set up a question and answer thread for the Edexcel Geography B course. Whether it be about the logistics of the exams or about the content, I am more than happy to try and answer any questions.

Explain why migration policies are often controversial.(3)
Reply 6
Using examples, explain the benefits of using modern holistic (wide ranging)approaches to coastal management. 6marks

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