GCSE Geography topics

How climate change affects people and the environment

An overview of what a changing climate does to people and to the natural world.

Written against: AQA 8035 3.1.1.4

Builds on: Weather vs climate — “You cannot say what a changing climate does until you know how climate differs from weather.” · Evidence for climate change

Statistics for geography

Averages and spread (mean, median, mode and modal class, range, quartiles and inter-quartile range), cumulative frequency, percentage change and percentiles, lines of best fit with predictions inside and beyond the data, and spotting statistics that have been selected to mislead.

Written against: AQA 8035 3.4.4

Builds on: Fieldwork enquiry · Presenting and analysing field data — “Summarising data with a statistic comes after describing it honestly.” · Scatter graphs & correlation (MATH) — “A line of best fit is drawn on the scatter graph you learned to plot and read in maths.”

Natural hazards and hazard risk

What turns a natural event into a hazard, the main kinds of hazard, and why the same event is far more dangerous in some places than in others.

Written against: AQA 8035 3.1.1.1

Builds on: Where people live and why — “Risk depends on how many people are in the way, so you need the map of where people live.” · Plate boundaries and hazards

Plate tectonics theory and where hazards happen

How and why the plates move, and how the world pattern of earthquakes and volcanoes follows the plate margins.

Written against: AQA 8035 3.1.1.2

Builds on: Earth's structure and plates — “The theory explains the drifting plates you met in Year 7.” · Plate boundaries and hazards — “You already know hazards cluster along plate edges; now you describe the world pattern.”

Constructive, destructive and conservative plate margins

What happens to the crust at each of the three kinds of plate margin, and why each produces its own mix of earthquakes and volcanoes.

Written against: AQA 8035 3.1.1.2

Builds on: Plate boundaries and hazards — “The three boundary types from Year 8, now with the process at each one explained.” · Plate tectonics theory and where hazards happen — “You need to know why plates move before saying what happens where they meet.”

Effects of and responses to earthquakes and eruptions

Primary and secondary effects, immediate and long-term responses, and why both differ between a richer place and a poorer one. AQA asks for named examples from two areas of contrasting wealth; the school chooses them.

Written against: AQA 8035 3.1.1.2

Builds on: Measuring development · Constructive, destructive and conservative plate margins — “The effects make sense only once you know what the plates did.” · Natural hazards and hazard risk

Living with tectonic risk

Why people go on living near volcanoes and faults, and how monitoring, prediction, protection and planning reduce the danger.

Written against: AQA 8035 3.1.1.2

Builds on: Effects of and responses to earthquakes and eruptions — “You manage a risk by working back from the effects you want to avoid.” · Natural hazards and hazard risk — “Monitoring and planning are ways of lowering hazard risk.”

Global atmospheric circulation: pressure belts and winds

The model of circulating air cells, the belts of high and low pressure they create, and the surface winds that blow between them.

Written against: AQA 8035 3.1.1.3

Builds on: Global atmospheric circulation — “The Year 8 loops of rising and sinking air, now with the pressure belts and winds named.” · World climate zones

Where and how tropical storms form

Where in the world tropical storms happen, the conditions and the sequence that build one, how that fits the global circulation, and how climate change may alter where, how often and how strongly they strike.

Written against: AQA 8035 3.1.1.3

Builds on: Tropical storms — “The Year 9 topic, now with the exact conditions and the order in which a storm develops.” · Evidence for climate change · Global atmospheric circulation: pressure belts and winds — “Storms form and travel where the global circulation puts warm, rising air and steady winds.”

Structure and features of a tropical storm

What a tropical storm is like in cross-section, from the calm centre to the outer bands of cloud, and the weather each part brings.

Written against: AQA 8035 3.1.1.3

Builds on: Where and how tropical storms form — “The structure is the end result of the way the storm formed.”

Effects of and responses to tropical storms

Primary and secondary effects on people and the environment, and immediate and long-term responses, shown through one real storm. The school chooses the storm.

Written against: AQA 8035 3.1.1.3

Builds on: Where and how tropical storms form — “The effects follow from what the storm is: wind, rain and a surge of sea water.” · Natural hazards and hazard risk

Reducing the effects of tropical storms

How monitoring, prediction, protection and planning cut the damage a tropical storm does.

Written against: AQA 8035 3.1.1.3

Builds on: Effects of and responses to tropical storms — “You plan against the effects you have just studied.” · Living with tectonic risk

Extreme weather in the UK

The kinds of weather hazard the UK gets; one recent extreme event, with its causes, its social, economic and environmental impacts and how management reduced the risk; and the evidence that UK weather is becoming more extreme. The school chooses the event.

Written against: AQA 8035 3.1.1.3

Builds on: Air masses over Britain — “UK weather hazards arrive with the air masses you studied in Year 7.” · Three kinds of rain · Natural hazards and hazard risk

Natural and human causes of climate change

Natural causes (changes in the Earth's orbit, volcanic eruptions, the Sun's output) and human causes (burning fossil fuels, farming, deforestation).

Written against: AQA 8035 3.1.1.4

Builds on: Evidence for climate change — “Year 9 separated natural change from human-driven warming; now you name the causes of each.” · Climate since the Ice Age — “Past swings in climate are the evidence for the natural causes.” · Greenhouse effect & climate (CHEM) · Deforestation: causes and costs

Managing climate change: mitigation and adaptation

Cutting the causes (alternative energy, carbon capture, planting trees, international agreements) and living with the effects (changing how we farm, managing water supply, reducing the risk from rising seas).

Written against: AQA 8035 3.1.1.4

Builds on: Responding to climate change — “The two levers from Year 9, now with the named strategies under each.” · Natural and human causes of climate change — “Mitigation only makes sense once you know which causes it is cutting.”

A small UK ecosystem

How the living and non-living parts of a small ecosystem depend on each other: producers, consumers, decomposers, food chains and webs, nutrient cycling, and what happens to the whole when one part changes. AQA asks for one named example here (a small-scale UK ecosystem); the school chooses it.

Written against: AQA 8035 3.1.2.1

Builds on: Ecosystems: living connections — “The Year 7 food web, now with non-living parts and nutrient cycling added.” · Decomposers & recycling (BIOL) · Food chains (BIOL)

Global ecosystems

Where the world's large natural ecosystems are found and what each is like.

Written against: AQA 8035 3.1.2.1

Builds on: World climate zones — “Each large ecosystem sits in one of the climate zones you can already place.” · Global atmospheric circulation · A small UK ecosystem

Rainforest climate, soils and interdependence

What a tropical rainforest is like physically, and how its climate, water, soils, plants, animals and people depend on each other.

Written against: AQA 8035 3.1.2.2

Builds on: The tropical rainforest — “The Year 8 rainforest, now explained as a system where each part depends on the others.” · A small UK ecosystem — “Interdependence in the rainforest is the small ecosystem's web on a vast scale.” · Global ecosystems

Rainforest adaptations and biodiversity

How rainforest plants and animals are fitted to heat, heavy rain and the struggle for light, and why the forest's great variety of life matters and is under threat.

Written against: AQA 8035 3.1.2.2

Builds on: The tropical rainforest — “Year 8 gave one adaptation for each layer; GCSE asks you to explain how each one works.” · Habitats & adaptation (BIOL) · Rainforest climate, soils and interdependence — “An adaptation is an answer to the physical conditions, so you need those first.”

Deforestation: rates, causes and impacts

How fast rainforest is being cleared and how that rate is changing; the causes, from farming and logging to roads, mining, energy projects and growing settlements; and the impacts on the economy, the soil and the climate. AQA requires a case study of one tropical rainforest here; the school chooses which.

Written against: AQA 8035 3.1.2.2

Builds on: Deforestation: causes and costs — “The Year 8 causes and costs, now with more causes, changing rates and one forest studied in depth.” · Rainforest climate, soils and interdependence

Managing rainforests sustainably

Why rainforests are valuable to people and to the planet, and how they can be used without being destroyed: conservation and education, selective logging with replanting, ecotourism, debt reduction, and international agreements on tropical hardwoods.

Written against: AQA 8035 3.1.2.2

Builds on: Deforestation: causes and costs — “Every strategy is an answer to one of the causes of deforestation.” · Deforestation: rates, causes and impacts — “You judge a management strategy against the impacts it is meant to stop.”

Hot desert climate, soils and interdependence

What a hot desert is like physically, and how its climate, water, soils, plants, animals and people depend on each other.

Written against: AQA 8035 3.1.2.3

Option: Living world option: Hot deserts. A school teaches 1 of the 2 AQA offers; all 2 are mapped here.

Builds on: World climate zones — “Hot deserts are one of the climate zones you can already place on the map.” · Global atmospheric circulation · A small UK ecosystem — “The same web of living and non-living parts, with water as the thing in short supply.” · Global ecosystems

Hot desert adaptations and biodiversity

How desert plants and animals cope with heat and drought, and the issues around the variety of life in deserts.

Written against: AQA 8035 3.1.2.3

Option: Living world option: Hot deserts. A school teaches 1 of the 2 AQA offers; all 2 are mapped here.

Builds on: Habitats & adaptation (BIOL) · Hot desert climate, soils and interdependence — “An adaptation is an answer to the physical conditions, so you need those first.”

Developing hot deserts: opportunities and challenges

What hot deserts offer (minerals, energy, farming, tourism) and what makes them hard to develop (extreme heat, water supply, remoteness). AQA requires a case study of one hot desert here; the school chooses which.

Written against: AQA 8035 3.1.2.3

Option: Living world option: Hot deserts. A school teaches 1 of the 2 AQA offers; all 2 are mapped here.

Builds on: What counts as a resource · Hot desert climate, soils and interdependence — “The challenges come straight from the climate and the lack of water.”

Desertification: causes and solutions

Why land on the edge of a hot desert can turn to desert (climate change, population growth, cutting fuel wood, overgrazing, over-cultivation, soil erosion) and how managing water and soil, planting trees and using appropriate technology reduce the risk.

Written against: AQA 8035 3.1.2.3

Option: Living world option: Hot deserts. A school teaches 1 of the 2 AQA offers; all 2 are mapped here.

Builds on: Rocks, weathering and soils · Hot desert climate, soils and interdependence — “The desert fringe is fragile for the reasons the desert itself is harsh.”

Cold environments: climate, permafrost and interdependence

What polar and tundra environments are like physically, and how climate, permafrost, soils, plants, animals and people depend on each other.

Written against: AQA 8035 3.1.2.4

Option: Living world option: Cold environments. A school teaches 1 of the 2 AQA offers; all 2 are mapped here.

Builds on: World climate zones — “Polar and tundra regions are climate zones you can already place on the map.” · A small UK ecosystem — “The same web of living and non-living parts, with cold and frozen ground setting the limits.” · Global ecosystems

Cold environment adaptations and biodiversity

How plants and animals cope with cold, wind and a short growing season, and the issues around the variety of life in cold environments.

Written against: AQA 8035 3.1.2.4

Option: Living world option: Cold environments. A school teaches 1 of the 2 AQA offers; all 2 are mapped here.

Builds on: Habitats & adaptation (BIOL) · Cold environments: climate, permafrost and interdependence — “An adaptation is an answer to the physical conditions, so you need those first.”

Developing cold environments: opportunities and challenges

What cold environments offer (minerals, energy, fishing, tourism) and what makes them hard to develop (extreme temperature, remoteness, the difficulty of building and keeping roads, pipes and houses working). AQA requires a case study of one cold environment here; the school chooses which.

Written against: AQA 8035 3.1.2.4

Option: Living world option: Cold environments. A school teaches 1 of the 2 AQA offers; all 2 are mapped here.

Builds on: What counts as a resource · Cold environments: climate, permafrost and interdependence — “The challenges come straight from the cold and the frozen ground.”

Protecting cold environments

Why cold environments are valued as wilderness and are easily damaged, and how technology, governments, international agreements and conservation groups try to balance development with conservation.

Written against: AQA 8035 3.1.2.4

Option: Living world option: Cold environments. A school teaches 1 of the 2 AQA offers; all 2 are mapped here.

Builds on: Developing cold environments: opportunities and challenges — “You weigh protection against the development you have just studied.” · Cold environments: climate, permafrost and interdependence

Waves and coastal erosion, transport and deposition

The two types of wave and what each does; how the sea erodes (hydraulic power, abrasion, attrition), moves sediment along the shore (longshore drift) and drops it.

Written against: AQA 8035 3.1.3.2

Option: Physical landscapes option: Coastal landscapes. A school teaches 2 of the 3 AQA offers; all 3 are mapped here.

Builds on: Coasts & erosion — “The Year 8 ways waves erode, now joined by wave types and longshore drift.” · Erosion, transport, deposition — “Erosion, transport and deposition are the three jobs a river does; the sea does them too.”

Weathering and mass movement on cliffs

How cliffs are weakened by mechanical and chemical weathering and then fail by sliding, slumping or rock fall.

Written against: AQA 8035 3.1.3.2

Option: Physical landscapes option: Coastal landscapes. A school teaches 2 of the 3 AQA offers; all 3 are mapped here.

Builds on: Rocks, weathering and soils — “The weathering types from Year 7 are what loosen a cliff before it falls.” · Waves and coastal erosion, transport and deposition

Coastal landforms of erosion

How rock type and structure shape a coast, and how headlands and bays form, how a cliff retreats to leave a wave-cut platform, and how a cave becomes an arch and then a stack. AQA asks for one named example here (a stretch of UK coast and its landforms); the school chooses it.

Written against: AQA 8035 3.1.3.2

Option: Physical landscapes option: Coastal landscapes. A school teaches 2 of the 3 AQA offers; all 3 are mapped here.

Builds on: Coastal landforms: caves to stacks — “The cave-arch-stack sequence from Year 8, now with headlands, bays and wave-cut platforms.” · Waves and coastal erosion, transport and deposition — “Each landform is explained by naming the erosion processes that made it.” · Weathering and mass movement on cliffs

Coastal landforms of deposition

How beaches, sand dunes, spits and bars form where the sea drops its load. AQA asks for one named example here (a stretch of UK coast and its landforms); the school chooses it.

Written against: AQA 8035 3.1.3.2

Option: Physical landscapes option: Coastal landscapes. A school teaches 2 of the 3 AQA offers; all 3 are mapped here.

Builds on: Erosion, transport, deposition · Waves and coastal erosion, transport and deposition — “Spits and bars are built by longshore drift and deposition.”

Managing the coast

The costs and benefits of hard engineering (sea walls, groynes, rock armour, gabions), soft engineering (beach nourishment, reprofiling, dune regeneration) and managed retreat, with one UK scheme: why it was needed, what was done, and the effects and conflicts. The school chooses the scheme.

Written against: AQA 8035 3.1.3.2

Option: Physical landscapes option: Coastal landscapes. A school teaches 2 of the 3 AQA offers; all 3 are mapped here.

Builds on: Defending the coastline — “The Year 9 argument about defending a coast, now with the full list of methods and their costs.” · Waves and coastal erosion, transport and deposition — “Every defence works by interrupting erosion or drift, so you need those processes.” · Coastal landforms of deposition

The long profile and cross profile of a river

How a river's slope and the shape of its channel and valley change from source to mouth.

Written against: AQA 8035 3.1.3.3

Option: Physical landscapes option: River landscapes. A school teaches 2 of the 3 AQA offers; all 3 are mapped here.

Builds on: The drainage basin — “The profile is drawn along the river you can already label from source to mouth.” · Contour lines and relief

River erosion, transport and deposition

The named processes: four kinds of erosion and the difference between cutting downwards and cutting sideways, four ways a river carries its load, and why it drops it.

Written against: AQA 8035 3.1.3.3

Option: Physical landscapes option: River landscapes. A school teaches 2 of the 3 AQA offers; all 3 are mapped here.

Builds on: Erosion, transport, deposition — “The three jobs of a river from Year 7, now with each process named.” · The long profile and cross profile of a river

River landforms of deposition: levees, flood plains and estuaries

How levees, flood plains and estuaries are built where a river slows and drops its load. AQA asks for one named example here (a UK river valley and its landforms); the school chooses it.

Written against: AQA 8035 3.1.3.3

Option: Physical landscapes option: River landscapes. A school teaches 2 of the 3 AQA offers; all 3 are mapped here.

Builds on: Meanders and oxbow lakes — “A flood plain is built by the meanders you studied in Year 8 shifting across the valley.” · River erosion, transport and deposition — “Each landform is explained by naming where and why the river deposits.”

Flood risk and hydrographs

How rainfall, rock type, relief and land use raise or lower the risk of a flood, and how a hydrograph shows a river's response to a storm.

Written against: AQA 8035 3.1.3.3

Option: Physical landscapes option: River landscapes. A school teaches 2 of the 3 AQA offers; all 3 are mapped here.

Builds on: Why rivers flood — “The Year 8 causes of flooding, now measured on a graph of rainfall and river flow.” · Line graphs over time (MATH)

Managing river floods

The costs and benefits of hard engineering (embankments, straightening, flood relief channels, dams with reservoirs) and soft engineering (flood warnings and preparation, zoning the flood plain, tree planting, river restoration), with one UK scheme and the issues it raised. The school chooses the scheme.

Written against: AQA 8035 3.1.3.3

Option: Physical landscapes option: River landscapes. A school teaches 2 of the 3 AQA offers; all 3 are mapped here.

Builds on: Managing flood risk — “The Year 9 sort into hard and soft engineering, now with the full list and one scheme in depth.” · Flood risk and hydrographs — “Each method works by changing one of the things that cause a flood.”

The last ice age and how glaciers work

How far ice spread over the UK, and how a glacier breaks, scrapes, carries and dumps rock: freeze-thaw weathering, abrasion and plucking, rotational slip and bulldozing, and the deposits called till and outwash.

Written against: AQA 8035 3.1.3.4

Option: Physical landscapes option: Glacial landscapes. A school teaches 2 of the 3 AQA offers; all 3 are mapped here.

Builds on: Glaciers shaped Britain — “Year 9 said that ice carved Britain's uplands; now you learn exactly how.” · Rocks, weathering and soils · Climate since the Ice Age

Glacial landforms of erosion

How ice carves corries, aretes and pyramidal peaks high up, and glacial troughs with truncated spurs, hanging valleys and ribbon lakes below. AQA asks for one named example here (a glaciated upland area of the UK and its landforms); the school chooses it.

Written against: AQA 8035 3.1.3.4

Option: Physical landscapes option: Glacial landscapes. A school teaches 2 of the 3 AQA offers; all 3 are mapped here.

Builds on: Glaciers shaped Britain — “The U-shaped valley and sharp ridges from Year 9, now one of seven named landforms.” · Contour lines and relief · The last ice age and how glaciers work — “Each landform is explained by naming the glacial processes that made it.”

Glacial landforms of transport and deposition

How erratics, drumlins and the different types of moraine were left behind by moving and melting ice. AQA asks for one named example here (a glaciated upland area of the UK and its landforms); the school chooses it.

Written against: AQA 8035 3.1.3.4

Option: Physical landscapes option: Glacial landscapes. A school teaches 2 of the 3 AQA offers; all 3 are mapped here.

Builds on: The last ice age and how glaciers work — “Moraines and drumlins are made of the till that glaciers carry and drop.”

Land use and conflict in glaciated uplands

How glaciated uplands are used for tourism, farming, forestry and quarrying, and the conflicts between those uses and between development and conservation.

Written against: AQA 8035 3.1.3.4

Option: Physical landscapes option: Glacial landscapes. A school teaches 2 of the 3 AQA offers; all 3 are mapped here.

Builds on: Glaciers shaped Britain · Glacial landforms of erosion — “The steep, scoured landforms decide what the land can and cannot be used for.”

Tourism in a glaciated upland

What draws visitors to one glaciated upland area, the social, economic and environmental impacts of tourism there, and how those impacts are managed. The school chooses the area.

Written against: AQA 8035 3.1.3.4

Option: Physical landscapes option: Glacial landscapes. A school teaches 2 of the 3 AQA offers; all 3 are mapped here.

Builds on: Land use and conflict in glaciated uplands — “Tourism is the land use where the conflicts are sharpest.”

Atlas and thematic maps: describing patterns

Using latitude and longitude, describing where things are on world and regional maps, and spotting links between two patterns, such as relief and population.

Written against: AQA 8035 3.4.1

Builds on: Latitude and longitude — “Latitude and longitude are how you say where a pattern is.” · Where people live and why · Maps that show data

Reading a landscape from an OS map

Recognising relief and landforms from contour patterns, matching cross-sections and transects to the map, and working out drainage, settlement, routes, land use and human activity such as tourism from what the map shows.

Written against: AQA 8035 3.4.1

Builds on: Contour lines and relief — “Landforms are recognised by the shapes their contours make.” · OS maps & grid references — “You need grid references to say where each piece of evidence is.” · Aerial and satellite images

Graphs and charts for geography

Choosing, completing and reading the graphs geographers use, including divided bar charts, population pyramids, scatter graphs and dispersion graphs.

Written against: AQA 8035 3.4.2

Builds on: Presenting and analysing field data — “Year 9 chose a graph to fit field data; GCSE adds the graph types particular to geography.” · Bar charts (MATH) · Drawing pie charts (MATH)

Maps that show data

Completing and reading choropleth, isoline, dot, proportional symbol, desire line and flow line maps.

Written against: AQA 8035 3.4.2

Builds on: Maps that show data — “Year 8 read choropleth maps; GCSE adds five more kinds of data map.” · Contour lines and relief

Writing a geographical argument

Describing, explaining and judging in extended answers: setting out points in a clear order, backing each with evidence, and reaching a conclusion the evidence supports.

Written against: AQA 8035 3.4.6

Builds on: Presenting and analysing field data — “You already write a conclusion that the data supports; an extended answer builds several into one argument.” · Building a written argument (ENLA)

Sustainable cities and urban transport

What makes city life sustainable (saving water and energy, recycling waste, creating green space) and how transport strategies cut traffic congestion.

Written against: AQA 8035 3.2.1

Builds on: Responding to climate change · Population & urbanisation

Why food, water and energy matter, and who has them

Why food, water and energy are essential to a country's wealth and its people's well-being, and how unequally they are supplied and used around the world.

Written against: AQA 8035 3.2.3.1

Builds on: Energy: fossil and renewable · Water scarcity · Feeding a growing world

Evaluating an enquiry

The GCSE habit of grading your own enquiry: what was weak, what would change, and how far the conclusion holds.

Written against: AQA 8035 3.3.2

Builds on: Asking a geographical question · Fieldwork enquiry — “You can only evaluate an enquiry you've actually run.”

A fast-growing city in a poorer country: growth and opportunities

Why one major city in a lower income country or newly emerging economy matters and is growing, and the opportunities growth brings: health care, education, water, energy and jobs in industry. AQA requires a case study of one major city in a lower income country or newly emerging economy here; the school chooses which.

Written against: AQA 8035 3.2.1

Builds on: Population & urbanisation — “The city grows by the two ingredients of urbanisation you already know.” · Megacities · Migration: push and pull

Challenges of rapid urban growth

What a fast-growing city struggles with: slums and squatter settlements; clean water, sanitation and energy; health and education; unemployment and crime; waste, pollution and traffic.

Written against: AQA 8035 3.2.1

Builds on: Life in informal settlements — “Year 9 looked at daily life in an informal settlement; GCSE sets it among the city's other challenges.” · A fast-growing city in a poorer country: growth and opportunities — “The challenges belong to the same city whose growth you have just explained.”

Urban planning for the urban poor

How one planning scheme is improving quality of life for a city's poorest people. The school chooses the scheme.

Written against: AQA 8035 3.2.1

Builds on: Life in informal settlements — “Year 9 asked for one bottom-up improvement; this is a whole scheme studied in depth.” · Challenges of rapid urban growth — “A planning scheme is judged by which of the challenges it eases.”

A major UK city: importance and migration

Where one major UK city is, why it matters to the UK and the wider world, and how migration from within the UK and from abroad has shaped its growth and character. AQA requires a case study of one major UK city here; the school chooses which.

Written against: AQA 8035 3.2.1

Builds on: The UK: nations and cities — “You need the map of UK cities before studying one in depth.” · Migration: push and pull — “Push and pull explain who moved to the city and why.”

Opportunities in a changing UK city

What urban change has brought: a cultural mix, recreation and entertainment, jobs, joined-up public transport and urban greening.

Written against: AQA 8035 3.2.1

Builds on: A major UK city: importance and migration — “The opportunities belong to the city you have just located and explained.”

Challenges in a changing UK city

Urban deprivation and unequal housing, education, health and jobs; derelict land; the choice between building on brownfield and greenfield sites; and waste disposal.

Written against: AQA 8035 3.2.1

Builds on: A major UK city: importance and migration — “The challenges belong to the city you have just located and explained.” · Opportunities in a changing UK city

Urban sprawl and the rural-urban fringe

How a growing city spreads into the countryside around it, and the growth of commuter settlements.

Written against: AQA 8035 3.2.1

Builds on: Settlement sites and growth · A major UK city: importance and migration — “Sprawl is studied at the edge of the same UK city.” · Challenges in a changing UK city

Urban regeneration

Why one run-down urban area needed regenerating and the main features of the project that did it. The school chooses the project.

Written against: AQA 8035 3.2.1

Builds on: Challenges in a changing UK city — “Regeneration is an answer to the deprivation and dereliction you have just studied.”

Classifying and measuring development

How countries are grouped by level of development; the economic and social measures used, from income per head and life expectancy to literacy and the Human Development Index; and what each measure misses.

Written against: AQA 8035 3.2.2

Builds on: Measuring development — “Year 9 compared income with HDI; GCSE adds the full list of measures and their limits.” · Birth, death and natural change

Causes and consequences of uneven development

Physical, economic and historical reasons why some countries are richer than others, and what follows: gaps in wealth and health, and international migration.

Written against: AQA 8035 3.2.2

Builds on: The development gap — “Year 9 gave two causes of the gap; GCSE sorts the causes into three kinds and adds the consequences.” · Migration: push and pull · Classifying and measuring development — “You need to measure development before explaining why it is uneven.”

Strategies to close the development gap

An overview of eight strategies: investment, industrial development, tourism, aid, intermediate technology, fair trade, debt relief and microfinance loans.

Written against: AQA 8035 3.2.2

Builds on: Aid, trade and development — “Year 9 weighed aid against trade; GCSE widens the list to eight strategies.” · Causes and consequences of uneven development — “Each strategy is aimed at one of the causes of the gap.”

Tourism and the development gap

How growth in tourism is helping one lower income country or newly emerging economy to develop. The school chooses the country.

Written against: AQA 8035 3.2.2

Builds on: Strategies to close the development gap — “Tourism is one of the eight strategies, studied through one country.”

A fast-developing country: its setting and changing industry

For one lower income country or newly emerging economy: where it is and why it matters, its political, social, cultural and environmental setting, how the balance of its economic sectors is shifting, and how manufacturing drives growth. AQA requires a case study of one lower income country or newly emerging economy here; the school chooses which.

Written against: AQA 8035 3.2.2

Builds on: The four economic sectors — “The shift between the four sectors is how you describe a changing economy.” · China and India rising · Classifying and measuring development — “You place the country using the measures of development.”

Transnational corporations

What transnational corporations do in a developing country's industry, and the advantages and disadvantages for the country that hosts them.

Written against: AQA 8035 3.2.2

Builds on: A fast-developing country: its setting and changing industry — “The corporations are studied in the country whose industry you have just described.”

Trade, political links and international aid

How the country's trading and political relationships with the rest of the world are changing, the types of aid it receives, and what aid does for it.

Written against: AQA 8035 3.2.2

Builds on: Aid, trade and development — “Year 9 told emergency aid from long-term aid; GCSE names more types and judges their impact.” · A fast-developing country: its setting and changing industry — “Trade and aid are studied for the same country.” · Strategies to close the development gap

Development, the environment and quality of life

What rapid economic development does to the environment and to the quality of life of the country's people.

Written against: AQA 8035 3.2.2

Builds on: A fast-developing country: its setting and changing industry — “The impacts are those of the growth you have just described.” · Classifying and measuring development

Why the UK economy changed

The causes of economic change in the UK: de-industrialisation and the decline of traditional industry, globalisation, and government policies.

Written against: AQA 8035 3.2.2

Builds on: The four economic sectors — “De-industrialisation is a shift between the sectors you can already sort jobs into.”

The UK's post-industrial economy

What has grown in place of heavy industry: information technology, services, finance, research, and science and business parks.

Written against: AQA 8035 3.2.2

Builds on: The four economic sectors · Why the UK economy changed — “The new economy is what replaced the industries that declined.”

Industry and the environment in the UK

How industry affects the physical environment, and one example of modern industry made more environmentally sustainable. The school chooses the example.

Written against: AQA 8035 3.2.2

Builds on: Why the UK economy changed — “You need to know what industry the UK has before asking what it does to the environment.”

Rural change in the UK

Social and economic change in one rural area that is gaining people and one that is losing them. The school chooses the two areas.

Written against: AQA 8035 3.2.2

Builds on: Migration: push and pull · Why the UK economy changed

UK transport: roads, rail, ports and airports

How road and rail links and port and airport capacity are being improved and extended.

Written against: AQA 8035 3.2.2

Builds on: The UK: nations and cities · The UK's post-industrial economy

The north-south divide

The economic and social gap between the north and the south of the UK, and the strategies used to try to close it.

Written against: AQA 8035 3.2.2

Builds on: The UK: nations and cities · Why the UK economy changed — “The divide grew as traditional industry declined in the north.”

The UK in the wider world

The UK's links with other countries through trade, culture, transport and electronic communication, and its economic and political links with the European Union, which it left in 2020, and with the Commonwealth.

Written against: AQA 8035 3.2.2

Builds on: Continents and oceans · The UK's post-industrial economy

Food in the UK

How UK demand for food is changing: more imported, out-of-season and organic food; the carbon footprint of food miles and the move to local sourcing; and the growth of agribusiness.

Written against: AQA 8035 3.2.3.1

Builds on: Feeding a growing world · Why food, water and energy matter, and who has them — “The UK is one case of the worldwide pattern of supply and demand.”

Water in the UK

How UK demand for water is changing, how water quality and pollution are managed, where there is too little and too much, and why water is moved between regions.

Written against: AQA 8035 3.2.3.1

Builds on: Water scarcity — “Supply against demand, the idea from Year 9, now applied to the regions of the UK.” · Rivers & the water cycle · Why food, water and energy matter, and who has them

Energy in the UK

How the UK's energy mix is changing from fossil fuels towards renewables, why home supplies of coal, gas and oil have fallen, and the economic and environmental issues of exploiting energy sources.

Written against: AQA 8035 3.2.3.1

Builds on: Energy: fossil and renewable — “Year 8 explained what an energy mix is; GCSE tracks how the UK's mix is changing.” · Renewable and non-renewable resources (PHYS) · Why food, water and energy matter, and who has them · Energy resources: renewable, reliable, and what they are used for (PHYS) · Energy resources: environmental impact and trends (PHYS)

Global food supply: surplus and deficit

The world pattern of calorie intake and food supply, why the world is eating more, and what limits food supply: climate, pests and disease, water stress, technology, poverty and conflict.

Written against: AQA 8035 3.2.3.2

Option: Resource option: Food. A school teaches 1 of the 3 AQA offers; all 3 are mapped here.

Builds on: Feeding a growing world — “Year 9 showed that food supply and hunger do not match neatly; GCSE maps the pattern and explains it.” · Why food, water and energy matter, and who has them — “Food security is one part of the global inequality in resources.”

Impacts of food insecurity

What happens when people cannot rely on their food supply: famine, undernutrition, soil erosion, rising prices and social unrest.

Written against: AQA 8035 3.2.3.2

Option: Resource option: Food. A school teaches 1 of the 3 AQA offers; all 3 are mapped here.

Builds on: Global food supply: surplus and deficit — “The impacts fall on the places you have just identified as short of food.”

Increasing food supply

Ways to grow more: irrigation, hydroponics and aeroponics, biotechnology and the new green revolution, and appropriate technology; with the advantages and disadvantages of one large-scale farming development. The school chooses the development.

Written against: AQA 8035 3.2.3.2

Option: Resource option: Food. A school teaches 1 of the 3 AQA offers; all 3 are mapped here.

Builds on: Feeding a growing world — “Year 9 weighed one fix; GCSE compares the full set.” · Global food supply: surplus and deficit — “Each strategy is aimed at one of the things that limit supply.”

Sustainable food supplies

Feeding people without wearing out the land or sea: organic farming, permaculture, urban farming, sustainably sourced fish and meat, eating seasonally and wasting less; with one local scheme in a poorer country. The school chooses the scheme.

Written against: AQA 8035 3.2.3.2

Option: Resource option: Food. A school teaches 1 of the 3 AQA offers; all 3 are mapped here.

Builds on: Increasing food supply — “Sustainable supply is judged against the costs of the large-scale methods.”

Global water supply: surplus and deficit

The world pattern of water surplus and deficit, why the world is using more water, and what limits supply: climate, geology, pollution, over-abstraction, limited infrastructure and poverty.

Written against: AQA 8035 3.2.3.3

Option: Resource option: Water. A school teaches 1 of the 3 AQA offers; all 3 are mapped here.

Builds on: Water scarcity — “Year 9 separated physical from economic scarcity; GCSE maps the pattern and adds more causes.” · Why food, water and energy matter, and who has them — “Water security is one part of the global inequality in resources.”

Impacts of water insecurity

What happens when people cannot rely on their water supply: waterborne disease and pollution, less food and industrial output, and the risk of conflict.

Written against: AQA 8035 3.2.3.3

Option: Resource option: Water. A school teaches 1 of the 3 AQA offers; all 3 are mapped here.

Builds on: Global water supply: surplus and deficit — “The impacts fall on the places you have just identified as short of water.”

Increasing water supply

Ways to get more water: building dams and reservoirs, storing and diverting water, transferring it between regions, and desalination; with the advantages and disadvantages of one large-scale transfer scheme. The school chooses the scheme.

Written against: AQA 8035 3.2.3.3

Option: Resource option: Water. A school teaches 1 of the 3 AQA offers; all 3 are mapped here.

Builds on: Rivers & the water cycle · Global water supply: surplus and deficit — “Each strategy is aimed at one of the things that limit supply.”

Sustainable water supplies

Making water last: conservation, managing groundwater, recycling and using "grey" water; with one local scheme in a poorer country. The school chooses the scheme.

Written against: AQA 8035 3.2.3.3

Option: Resource option: Water. A school teaches 1 of the 3 AQA offers; all 3 are mapped here.

Builds on: Increasing water supply — “Sustainable supply is judged against the costs of the large-scale methods.”

Global energy supply: surplus and deficit

The world pattern of energy use and supply, why the world is using more energy, and what limits supply: physical factors, the cost of getting at it, technology and politics.

Written against: AQA 8035 3.2.3.4

Option: Resource option: Energy. A school teaches 1 of the 3 AQA offers; all 3 are mapped here.

Builds on: Energy: fossil and renewable — “A country's energy mix, from Year 8, is the starting point for asking who has enough.” · Russia and the Middle East · Why food, water and energy matter, and who has them — “Energy security is one part of the global inequality in resources.”

Impacts of energy insecurity

What happens when energy is short: drilling in difficult and fragile places, economic and environmental costs, less food and industrial output, and the risk of conflict.

Written against: AQA 8035 3.2.3.4

Option: Resource option: Energy. A school teaches 1 of the 3 AQA offers; all 3 are mapped here.

Builds on: Global energy supply: surplus and deficit — “The impacts fall on the places you have just identified as short of energy.”

Increasing energy supply

The renewable sources (biomass, wind, hydro, tidal, geothermal, wave, solar) and non-renewable sources (fossil fuels, nuclear), with the advantages and disadvantages of extracting one fossil fuel. The school chooses the example.

Written against: AQA 8035 3.2.3.4

Option: Resource option: Energy. A school teaches 1 of the 3 AQA offers; all 3 are mapped here.

Builds on: Energy: fossil and renewable — “Year 8 compared one fossil fuel with one renewable; GCSE covers the full list.” · Renewable and non-renewable resources (PHYS) · Global energy supply: surplus and deficit — “Each source is a way of closing the gap between demand and supply.” · Energy resources: renewable, reliable, and what they are used for (PHYS)

Sustainable energy use

Using less and wasting less: personal energy use and carbon footprints, designing homes, workplaces and transport to save energy, cutting demand, and burning fossil fuels more efficiently; with one local renewable scheme in a poorer country. The school chooses the scheme.

Written against: AQA 8035 3.2.3.4

Option: Resource option: Energy. A school teaches 1 of the 3 AQA offers; all 3 are mapped here.

Builds on: Increasing energy supply — “Saving energy is the other half of the answer to producing more.”

Issue evaluation

Working through a booklet of sources about a real geographical issue, given out twelve weeks before the exam, weighing the options and the views of the people affected, choosing one option and justifying the choice.

Written against: AQA 8035 3.3.1

Builds on: GIS: maps in layers · Writing a geographical argument — “The final answer is an extended written argument.”

Planning an enquiry: question, theory, evidence and risk

Choosing a question or hypothesis that can be tested, knowing the geographical idea behind it, picking sources of evidence and places to collect it, and judging and reducing the risks of working outdoors.

Written against: AQA 8035 3.3.2

Builds on: Asking a geographical question — “The testable question from Year 7, now with a hypothesis and a risk assessment.” · Fieldwork enquiry — “You have run a whole enquiry; GCSE asks you to justify how it was planned.”

Collecting data: primary, secondary and sampling

Telling primary data from secondary data, choosing what to measure, using random, systematic and stratified sampling, and describing and justifying the methods used.

Written against: AQA 8035 3.3.2

Builds on: Measuring and recording outdoors — “The careful measuring habits from Year 7, now with a named sampling method and a reason for it.” · Planning an enquiry: question, theory, evidence and risk — “What you collect and where follows from the question you planned.”

Analysing fieldwork data: patterns, links and anomalies

Describing and explaining what the results show, linking one set of data to another, using a suitable statistic, and spotting results that do not fit.

Written against: AQA 8035 3.3.2

Builds on: Presenting and analysing field data — “Year 9 summarised field data with averages; GCSE adds links between data sets and anomalies.” · Collecting data: primary, secondary and sampling — “You can only analyse data whose collection you understand.” · Statistics for geography