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AQA A2 Geography - GEOG3 (15th June 2015)

With the Summer exams in the not to distant future, I thought this thread would be useful for discussion, revision tips and general help with the AQA geography GEOG3 exam.

The Exam: Monday 15th June 2015 (morning - 9am)
Duration: 2h 30m

Specification: http://filestore.aqa.org.uk/subjects/specifications/alevel/AQA-2030-W-SP-14.PDF

AQA Website: http://www.aqa.org.uk/subjects/geography/a-level/geography-2030

Maybe we can start off this thread with what you got last year, grades and UMS in each exam, and what you want to achieve this year.

Good Luck!!

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Reply 1
I may as well start everyone off...

Last year I achieved an A grade (190/200 UMS - 95%)
GEOG1 - 134/140 UMS - 96%
GEOG2 - 56/60 UMS - 93%

This year I am targeted for and would like to achieve an A*

(I will make a thread for the GEOG4B exam for anyone taking it when the advance information booklet is released in early april - I am not doing GEOG4A and so sadly can not offer any help with that)
Hey,
So for GCSE I worked really hard and got all As and A*s but then I think I got complacement or something and got a D for Geog AS (C in skills, E in main one) :frown:
..I know I'm capable of an A (I'll be happy with a B) so I'm redoing the whole geog AS and one psychology AS retake on top of my A level exams.

As you did so well in your Geog AS do you have any advice for me? How hard did you work to get that and what did you do/what do you do now revisionwise and for how long in the week?

I really want to achieve my target grades without procrastinating to get into uni. Grateful for any suggestions :smile:
Original post by Natalierm2707
I may as well start everyone off...

Last year I achieved an A grade (190/200 UMS - 95%)
GEOG1 - 134/140 UMS - 96%
GEOG2 - 56/60 UMS - 93%

This year I am targeted for and would like to achieve an A*

(I will make a thread for the GEOG4B exam for anyone taking it when the advance information booklet is released in early april - I am not doing GEOG4A and so sadly can not offer any help with that)


Congrats on such a good AS result!

I got a high A on GEOG1 (slightly below you) and a C (yes, that's right, a C!) in GEOG2 :s-smilie: Which still worked out at an A for AS (barely) but I'm resitting GEOG2 regardless.

Do you have any advice? When did you start revising/how frequently/what was your schedule? Did you keep past papers until the last few weeks or do them spread out over time? Etc.

Good luck in your exams,
Reply 4
Original post by Bethany247
Hey,
So for GCSE I worked really hard and got all As and A*s but then I think I got complacement or something and got a D for Geog AS (C in skills, E in main one) :frown:
..I know I'm capable of an A (I'll be happy with a B) so I'm redoing the whole geog AS and one psychology AS retake on top of my A level exams.

As you did so well in your Geog AS do you have any advice for me? How hard did you work to get that and what did you do/what do you do now revisionwise and for how long in the week?

I really want to achieve my target grades without procrastinating to get into uni. Grateful for any suggestions :smile:


Original post by Comeback
Congrats on such a good AS result!

I got a high A on GEOG1 (slightly below you) and a C (yes, that's right, a C!) in GEOG2 :s-smilie: Which still worked out at an A for AS (barely) but I'm resitting GEOG2 regardless.

Do you have any advice? When did you start revising/how frequently/what was your schedule? Did you keep past papers until the last few weeks or do them spread out over time? Etc.

Good luck in your exams,


Last year I didnt revise as much as I could have done, I do have a very busy week with working and volunteering, but I managed to fit things in. I would often do revision in 1hour to 1.5hours sessions, with a half hour break in between. I would use my frees and revise all night when at home (from 5pm to 9pm), but I only started hardcore revision in april for may exams.

I did use a revision timetable, and this really helped me stick to my revision, I would highly recommend making weekly timetables to keep yourself on track. As of the beggining of april I made one that lasted up until my last exam, leaving gaps for any overspill in case I was busy. I would also recommend having maybe one evening off a week if thats possible (sadly not for me or I would have no revision time left)

Do a week view revision timetable and plan out the whole day in hourly slots (I do mine from 9am to 9pm because I wont do work before or after), and put commitments in BEFORE planning revision. honestly this really helped.

I like to revise in different ways. firstly I write up neatly the notes I made in class along with revision guide/textbook notes, I usually write them referring to the specification to make sure everything is covered. Then I will make revision question cards. I use record cards (relatively cheap from ASDA, Staples. Ryman etc.) and write questions on one side, answers on the other in order to memorize parts of the spec. this works SO WELL for case study facts, it means you will know dates and figures off by heart in no time, and I usually do these cards over and over on the bus. After this I will make revision mind maps/ posters, and only maybe 2 weeks before the exams when all my revision is done will I look over past papers.

for GEOG3 I know I will be doing practice 40 markers as part of my revision, I also have made a case study "Book" which contains all the case studies for easy reference.

Honestly I know it sounds like a lot, but if you start at the beginning of march properly revising till the exam (this is what im going to do, then you should do great.

It is hard work, especially when Im doing bio and chem alongside, but its 100% worth it.
Reply 5
Are there any topics you guys are struggling on?

Some of the things in weather and climate are really hard to get my head around. And I'm tearing my hair out with these 40 mark essays, I can never seem to get more than 30 and I'm worried that the time pressure will get to me.


Posted from TSR Mobile
v been doing 40 markers often and, especially tectonics, iv been getting 32. World cities... not so good. but im wondering every year what has been the average 40 marker mark across the nation? My teachers say something but iv heard something completely different somewhere else. Thanks And im liking weather so far. But iv only done/revised upto the UK Climate (finished air mass, about to go on the great storm)
Reply 7
Original post by Velocity_
v been doing 40 markers often and, especially tectonics, iv been getting 32. World cities... not so good. but im wondering every year what has been the average 40 marker mark across the nation? My teachers say something but iv heard something completely different somewhere else. Thanks And im liking weather so far. But iv only done/revised upto the UK Climate (finished air mass, about to go on the great storm)


Your at the same point in weather as me, and we have done exactly the same topics!!! - although in weather I have done the great storm but have to go back to frontal depressions.

In weather I have done my first climate 40 marker on the great storm (did it at home, which is what we do with most case studies), so I don't know about that, and I have only done 2 plate tectonics ones, both 30 marks.

I have no idea what the average is but I would love to know, i cant imagine it would be very high at all, as they are so tough.
Original post by Natalierm2707
Your at the same point in weather as me, and we have done exactly the same topics!!! - although in weather I have done the great storm but have to go back to frontal depressions.

In weather I have done my first climate 40 marker on the great storm (did it at home, which is what we do with most case studies), so I don't know about that, and I have only done 2 plate tectonics ones, both 30 marks.

I have no idea what the average is but I would love to know, i cant imagine it would be very high at all, as they are so tough.

In my mock i got an A* and am almost 100% going to do the tectonics essay. Iv 95% learned that now (revised for june) and im going over it weekly thoroughly. I'm resitting GEOG1 though because i did badly in my 15 markers. I think these 40 mark essays will help me get much better at AS essays. Plus u need A's in both modules to possibly get an A* overall i think. Oh well, im confident this year. My teacher said the average essay is 17 marks. 17!!! i couldn't believe it. Another teacher (different school) said it was 26 on average last year. So quite different marks.
Reply 9
Original post by Velocity_
In my mock i got an A* and am almost 100% going to do the tectonics essay. Iv 95% learned that now (revised for june) and im going over it weekly thoroughly. I'm resitting GEOG1 though because i did badly in my 15 markers. I think these 40 mark essays will help me get much better at AS essays. Plus u need A's in both modules to possibly get an A* overall i think. Oh well, im confident this year. My teacher said the average essay is 17 marks. 17!!! i couldn't believe it. Another teacher (different school) said it was 26 on average last year. So quite different marks.


I suppose it depends on which essay it is, and whether the essay is considered difficult or not, so it would vary from year to year.

In my mock I got a C :frown:, I would have gotten and A, but because I didnt feel to good i ended up misreading a 10 marker and using an irrelevant case study, and thus scoring 0 :frown:.

But in class, and in the rest of the exam paper I was getting 80% or above, so im quite confident.

and yea you have to get an A in both modules to get an A* I believe, I would love to get an A*, but Im aiming to secure an A and then hope for the best.
Hi everyone!

Would anyone mind telling me what case studies you are using for each part of the spec.
I am doing:
- plate tectonics
- weather
- world cities
- development and globalisation

If you do any of these then I would be very grateful if you could tell me what case studies you're using for each part of the spec :smile:
Reply 11
Original post by Claire.08T
Hi everyone!

Would anyone mind telling me what case studies you are using for each part of the spec.
I am doing:
- plate tectonics
- weather
- world cities
- development and globalisation

If you do any of these then I would be very grateful if you could tell me what case studies you're using for each part of the spec :smile:


I am doing all of those bar development and globalisation (my college are doing 3 topics only)

For plate tectonics:
MEDC quake/tsunami - Japan 2010
LEDC quake/tsunami - Boxing Day 2004
MEDC volcanic eruption - eyjafjallajokull, Iceland 2010
LEDC volcanic eruption - stouffrie hills, Montserrat.

For world cities:
Rapid urbanisation - Mexico City and Dharavi slum, Mumbai
Decline - Detroit, USA
Gentrification - Harlem, New York
Redevelopment - Hulme, manchester (partnership) and london docklands (housing)
Counterurbanisation - addingham, Yorkshire
Eco city - Curitiba Brazil
Transport - manchester and London
Waste - Mumbai, Mexico City, london.
Shopping - trafford centre (out of town) Arndale centre (in town) and manchester IRA bomb for redevelopment
Suburbanisation - Detroit, Mumbai and manchester

And for weather and climate:
Frontal depression - great storm 1987
Tropical storms - hurricane katrina and cyclone nargis
Urban heat islands - manchester

Hope this helps :smile:



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(edited 9 years ago)
Reply 12
Last year I think i got like 110 in GEOG1 so a high B and 53/60 on GEOG2 - I'm deffo better at the skills stuff!!
what do you guys think the essay grade boundaries are? like what grade would a A* and A be? I know it depends on your Section A/B. ok lets say you get 15-18 marks on A and B but on the essay question what mark would be needed for what grade? :/. thanks
HI EVERYONE!

Before I start jabbering, here are my stats:

Geog1- 122/140
Geog2- 48/60
Overall - 170/200 - so mid A - was hoping higher - but what can you do now

Aims - Im happy with an A, just need to make sure I dont mess this year up

Thoughts on A2's - I just realised that geography is all about learning and understanding the information and using good exam/essay so that you can flexibly re-arrange your ideas in the exam. Rather than what I thought it was for AS's - where I just went about learn everything off by heart. So based on this revelation, from now onwards - I'm just going to read about the information and around the things that interest me, make notes, but instead of trying to memorise it, I will just try to make sure I understand it well enough (like its my only passion), so that if someone asked me a the same question verbally, I wouldn't find it difficult to talk about the answer. This way I might not remember every single statistic, and my facts my be slightly off, but I can spend more time on exam technique and my essay will be more coherent and will have more 'geographical flair'
Reply 15
Hey
Last year I got 102/140 in Geog1 and 50/60 in Geog2 so overall a B.
I'm aiming for an A overall and am re-sitting Geog1 as I think I can get more marks than I did-Dropped loads on the 15 mark questions so have worked on improving those scores.

What is everyone planning on doing next year? If I meet my offer I'm going to Leeds for Civil Engineering.
Hey
last year I got 100/140 in geog1 and 28/60 for geog2, so overall a C. I'm resisting geog2 and I'm hoping for a B overall as I'm doing geography at university (hopefully)
im doing:
plate tectonics
globalisation
world cities
ecosystem
worried about how many case studies I need to remember for world cities though as my teacher has given me 2-3 per subject, so for example for urbanisation I had São Paulo, Mumbai and Mexico City, how many do we actually need to know for the exam?
(edited 9 years ago)
Reply 17
Original post by 0011Abcdefg
Hey
last year I got 100/140 in geog1 and 28/60 for geog2, so overall a C. I'm resisting geog1 and I'm hoping for a B overall as I'm doing geography at university (hopefully)
im doing:
plate tectonics
globalisation
world cities
ecosystem
worried about how many case studies I need to remember for world cities though as my teacher has given me 2-3 per subject, so for example for urbanisation I had São Paulo, Mumbai and Mexico City, how many do we actually need to know for the exam?


I have this exact problem for world cities in that every topic we get a million case studies, my advice would be for each topic know one case study in detail, as they will only ever ask you for one (apart from inner city redevelopment where you need both a partnership and a properly led regeneration scheme).

Generally I would memorize one for each topic, and then you could add in information about the areas around you, like I live in manchester so for partnership scheme we use hulme, for gentrification we use chorlton, for shopping we use the trafford centre, the arndale centre and for CBD regeneration we use the manchester IRA bomb, and often when you live in the area you already know loads about what is going on around you.
Reply 18
Original post by AndrewR
Hey
Last year I got 102/140 in Geog1 and 50/60 in Geog2 so overall a B.
I'm aiming for an A overall and am re-sitting Geog1 as I think I can get more marks than I did-Dropped loads on the 15 mark questions so have worked on improving those scores.

What is everyone planning on doing next year? If I meet my offer I'm going to Leeds for Civil Engineering.


I am aiming for medicine, although unless i get an offer from cardiff at the end of march I will be taking a gap year and applying again next year.

good luck with the civil engineering at leeds.
im hoping to study Geology/Earth Science next year. Looks fun and im hoping to study abroad for a few months in the USA aswell.

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