Edexcel GCSE Geography A guide FAQ (1GA0)
Guide overview All 15 topics Sample questions Papers and weighting Look inside Questions and answers
Edexcel GCSE Geography A: questions and answers
Specification 1GA0. Two sets, because students and parents ask different things.
For students
I only do some of these topics. Is the rest wasted?
No. On Paper 1 you take The Changing Landscapes of the UK plus two of coastal, river and glaciated upland landscapes, then Weather Hazards and Climate Change and Ecosystems, Biodiversity and Management. On Paper 2 you take Changing Cities, Global Development and Resource Management, then one of energy or water.
All the options are in the guide because schools choose differently. Work yours and skip the rest.
Is my own fieldwork covered?
Paper 3 asks about fieldwork you have done: the question, the methods, the data, the conclusion and the problems with it. The guide covers the fieldwork techniques, sampling, data presentation and evaluation that the questions are built on. The specifics of your two days out are yours.
How much maths is there?
Enough to have its own topic of 100 questions. Means, medians, modes and ranges, interquartile range, percentages and percentage change, ratios, scale, gradient, and reading graphs, choropleth maps and cross-sections.
Do I need my own case studies?
Yes, and your school will have taught specific ones. The guide covers the processes and the standard examples. Use your own named places where you have them, because examiners credit specific detail.
How long does one session take?
About twenty minutes for one subtopic, all three steps. Topics run from 31 to 156 questions.
Can I do it in my head instead of writing?
Write. Geography marks turn on named places and specific figures, and step 2 is where a vague version gets replaced. The method page sets out the evidence.
When should I start?
Any point in Year 10 or Year 11. All three papers are sat at the end of Year 11.
Do I still need past papers?
Yes. Past papers train the resource response and the eight-mark evaluations. Pearson publishes them free.
For parents
What is this, in plain terms?
A PDF of 1,385 exam-style questions covering the whole of Edexcel GCSE Geography A including every optional topic, with the answers printed after each topic.
My child only studies some of these.
That is correct. Papers 1 and 2 each carry choices made by the school, so all the options are in the guide and the unused ones are skipped.
How do I check it is the right course?
The specification code is on the exam timetable. Edexcel runs Geography A (1GA0) and Geography B (1GB0), which are different courses. This guide is 1GA0.
My child knows the case studies but cannot recall the detail.
That is the gap this closes. A case study recalled as a general story scores little; the marks are in the place, the figure and the outcome.
How do I know if it is being used properly?
There should be handwritten answers on paper and three passes over the same questions, and two scores per session to compare.
How much is it compared with a textbook?
£7.00 for the whole specification including every option. A GCSE Geography textbook is usually £20 to £30.
How much time does it take?
101 subtopics at roughly twenty minutes each is about 34 hours for everything, and closer to 26 once the unused options are skipped.
Edexcel GCSE Geography A Active Recall Guide
1,385 questions with their answers, 101 subtopics, one file.