OCR GCSE Geography A guide FAQ (J383)
Guide overview All 8 topics Sample questions Papers and weighting Look inside Questions and answers
OCR GCSE Geography A: questions and answers
Specification J383. Two sets, because students and parents ask different things.
For students
Which topics are on which paper?
Component 01, Living in the UK Today, is Landscapes of the UK, People of the UK and UK Environmental Challenges. Component 02, The World Around Us, is Ecosystems of the Planet, People of the Planet and Environmental Threats to Our Planet. Component 03, Geographical Skills, is the skills and fieldwork topics and draws on the whole course. The breakdown is here.
Component 03 is 40 per cent. What is actually on it?
Geographical skills and fieldwork, applied to material from across the whole course. It is the largest single share of the grade and it is the paper students most often underprepare for, because skills feel like something you either have or do not rather than something to learn.
Do I need my own fieldwork?
Yes. Component 03 examines the fieldwork your school carried out, so you need your own data and your own enquiry. The guide covers the enquiry process, the techniques and the analysis, which is the part that is common to every centre’s fieldwork.
Are the map and graph skills covered?
Yes. Ordnance Survey maps, grid references, scale and distance, relief and cross-sections, graph types and when each is used, measures of central tendency, and interpreting data presented in unfamiliar forms.
Do I need case studies?
Yes, and your school will have taught specific ones. The guide covers the processes and the concepts they illustrate. Use your own named examples for the case study questions.
How long does one session take?
About twenty minutes for one subtopic, all three steps.
Can I do it in my head instead of writing?
Write. Geography marks turn on named places and specific figures. The method page sets out the evidence.
Do I still need past papers?
Yes, and particularly for Component 03, where the resource booklet and the timing are the difficulty. OCR publishes them free.
For parents
What is this, in plain terms?
A PDF of 749 exam-style questions covering the whole of OCR GCSE Geography A, with the answers printed after each topic.
How do I check it is the right course?
The specification code is on the exam timetable. OCR runs Geography A, Geographical Themes (J383), and Geography B, Geography for Enquiring Minds (J384). This guide is J383.
My child says the skills paper is impossible to revise for.
It is the most revisable paper on the course. Map skills, graph selection, statistical measures and the fieldwork enquiry process are all specific, learnable content, and they are 40 per cent of the grade.
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. A GCSE Geography revision guide is usually £6 to £10.
How much time does it take?
59 subtopics at roughly twenty minutes each is about 20 hours for a full first pass of the course.
What else does my child need?
Past papers, free from OCR, their own fieldwork notes and data, and an OS map for practising map skills.
OCR GCSE Geography A Active Recall Guide
749 questions with their answers, 59 subtopics, one file.