Global Development | Edexcel GCSE Geography A (1GA0)
Global Development
- 126 questions
- 9 subtopics
- Paper 2
- Paper 2
Global Development is examined in Paper 2, The Human Environment.
It covers defining and measuring development, the global pattern of development and why it is uneven, the consequences of uneven development for quality of life, strategies to reduce uneven development: aid, top-down and bottom-up, the chosen country: location, context and internal unevenness, economic change, trade, aid and investment in the chosen country, population and social change in the chosen country, geopolitics and technology in the chosen country and the impacts of rapid development and how they are managed.
Sample questions from Global Development
Answer each one closed book first, then open the answer.
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Defining and measuring development
How do economic factors such as income and jobs raise human development?
Show the answer
Higher wages and secure work buy better food, housing and healthcare, and the taxes paid fund public services. -
The global pattern of development and why it is uneven
Which parts of the UK are generally the most prosperous, and which the least?
Show the answer
London and the south-east have the highest incomes and most employment, while parts of northern England, Wales and Northern Ireland have lower incomes. -
The consequences of uneven development for quality of life
Why does a large informal sector hold down a country’s measured development?
Show the answer
Its work is untaxed and unrecorded, so it raises no revenue for schools or health care and does not show in national income figures. -
Strategies to reduce uneven development: aid, top-down and bottom-up
Give two criticisms often made of international aid.
Show the answer
It can make a country dependent on donors, and money can be lost to corruption or spent on projects that suit the donor more than the poorest people. -
The chosen country: location, context and internal unevenness
Which social features describe the setting of a developing or emerging country?
Show the answer
The size and age structure of its population, its ethnic and language groups, and its levels of health, literacy and inequality. -
Economic change, trade, aid and investment in the chosen country
Give two benefits a growing manufacturing industry brings a developing country.
Show the answer
It creates large numbers of paid jobs, and exports earn foreign currency that raises incomes and government tax revenue. -
Population and social change in the chosen country
What problems does a rising share of elderly people create for a country?
Show the answer
Pensions and healthcare cost far more while a smaller proportion of the population is working and paying tax. -
Geopolitics and technology in the chosen country
What is a territorial dispute?
Show the answer
A disagreement between countries over who owns or controls an area of land or sea.
The 9 subtopics
One subtopic is one session. Work down the list.
| Subtopic | What it covers | Questions |
|---|---|---|
| Defining and measuring development | Economic, social and political definitions and measures of development, how income, education, technology and culture affect it, food and water security, GDP per capita and its limits, the Human Development Index, measures of inequality and indexes of political corruption. | 20 |
| The global pattern of development and why it is uneven | Where the richest and poorest countries lie, the development gap, the UK's north–south divide, and how climate, being landlocked, natural resources, colonial history and industrial decline explain uneven development. | 10 |
| The consequences of uneven development for quality of life | Housing, health, schooling and work in the least developed countries, the informal sector, the digital divide, food insecurity, disease from unsafe water and sanitation, and how uneven development within one country affects daily life. | 10 |
| Strategies to reduce uneven development: aid, top-down and bottom-up | International, bilateral, multilateral and tied aid, emergency against long-term aid and its criticisms, inter-governmental agreements and debt cancellation, and the advantages and limitations of top-down and bottom-up projects and who runs them. | 15 |
| The chosen country: location, context and internal unevenness | The location, neighbours, coastline, latitude and world position of a chosen country, its political, social, cultural and environmental setting, core and periphery, why growth concentrates and migration widens the gap, and calculating and mapping difference from the mean. | 19 |
| Economic change, trade, aid and investment in the chosen country | Primary, secondary, tertiary and quaternary sectors and how employment shifts between them, the benefits and drawbacks of industrial growth, exports, imports and trade surplus, changing trade and aid, public, private and foreign direct investment, and reliance on transnational corporations. | 17 |
| Population and social change in the chosen country | How population structure, life expectancy and birth rates change with development, the problems of an ageing population, the dependency ratio, a growing middle class and its effect on the economy, rising inequality, and the value of schooling and of educating girls. | 10 |
| Geopolitics and technology in the chosen country | Geopolitics, foreign policy and relations with powerful countries, military pacts and territorial disputes, defence spending, connectivity, mobile banking, the gap between urban and rural technology, internet healthcare, technology in farming and who gains least from connection. | 13 |
| The impacts of rapid development and how they are managed | The social and economic benefits of rapid development, its costs in informal settlements, pollution, emissions and lost traditions, and how governments, international bodies and communities manage those impacts. | 12 |
How the guide is worked
Answering a question from memory stores it far better than reading the answer again. The guide runs that as a fixed procedure on one subtopic at a time, about twenty minutes a session.
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Step 1 · Closed book
Cover the answers. Work through one subtopic and write down what you can. Leave blanks where you have nothing.
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Step 2 · Open book
Go back to the top. Read each printed answer and write it out in full, including the ones you had right.
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Step 3 · Closed book again
Same questions, same order, from memory. The gap between pass one and pass three is the session result.
Read the full method, the return schedule and the research behind it.
Nearby topics
Edexcel GCSE Geography A Active Recall Guide
Every topic, not just this one. 1,385 questions with their answers.