Detailed Delve: Paper 1 AQA GCSE Geography examiner report

In this blog I am going to summarise the key points across different questions types on Paper 1.

Don't forget that this year AQA have included exemplar answers with commentary highlighting good and weak answers which is really useful for your own or departmental CPD.

MCQs

What was done well?

• Skills questions were answered successfully

Areas for improvement

• MCQs testing knowledge – some students couldn’t select the correct definition or factor

Point marked questions

What was done well?

• Skills-based questions were answered well, particularly maths calculations, photo/graphic interpretation
• Identification of different types of plate margins and different effects of hazards in Section A
• Cloze questions were accurate
• Use of map evidence in Section C

Areas for improvement

• Some explanation given when not required (i.e. on a describe question)
• Arctic sea ice question was confusing in terms of map orientation, and some didn’t actually use the map in their answer
• Some students gave two reasons when specifically asked for just one (which then needed elaborating) – this was seen on question 2.1 which was about biodiversity
• Some students were unable to apply OS map information
• Many students failed to complete the graph in Section B
• Failure to apply map scale to measure the size of the spit in Section C – coasts
• Many students didn’t understand the terms relief and drainage in Section C – rivers (this was also an issue on Paper 3)
• Some students struggled to describe valley shape from an OS map in Section C – glaciers

4-mark questions

What was done well?

• The questions in Section C addressing AO1 and AO2 were better answered than the one in Section A addressing AO2 and AO3
• Question about managing climate change – some really good discussion of the global nature of the problem and then need for countries to cooperate, some reference to LICs being worse affected, and some discussion of countries opting out of agreements or them being watered down
• Coastal management question – some good reference to specific schemes, how they work and the positive and negative impacts
• River management question – some good reference to why a specific management scheme was needed in the first place, along with how it was implemented
• Tourism in glaciated upland areas question – good answers referred to the specific attractions (both physical and human)

Areas for improvement

• Question about managing climate change – some very basic pros and cons of internation agreements given, some ignored the international element of the question so answers could be quite generic
• Coastal management question – some couldn’t recall a specific scheme so just wrote about the pros and cons in general (or they were vague in their locations)
• River management question – lots of students just talked about the pros and cons of flood defences in general without talking about a specific place
• Some confusion between coastal and river management schemes applied to the wrong question
• Tourism in glaciated upland areas question – some answers were vague, e.g. beautiful landscape, and some students got confused about landscapes formed by glaciation and glaciers themselves

6-mark questions

Section A

Question about why people choose to live in tectonically active areas – tested AO1/2…

Weaker answers – vague answers that could apply to any hazard, and misconception that housing is cheap in hazard areas. Some students wrote in lists.

Better answers – explored economic opportunities linked to tectonic, e.g. farming and geothermal energy, with some reference to examples.

Section B

Question about causes of deforestation in a named area – tested AO2/3…

Weaker answers – often drifted off into impacts of deforestation, misconceptions about palm oil plantations (i.e. deforestation to plant palm oil plantations, not to chop it down). Many gave a range of reasons but didn’t link it to a case study as the question required.

Better answers – used specific examples of projects in the Amazon, e.g. Belo Monte dam, Carajas mine, etc; focused on a few activities which they explained in detail rather than several; some talked about road building as a catalyst for other activities.

Section C

Question about coastal landform development – tested AO2/3…

Weaker answers – just gave a simple sequence of development using what they could see in the photo; many lacked explanation of processes, missed steps in the sequence or showed misconceptions of rock type; a few students got confused between landforms and some drew basic diagrams with no labels.

Better answers – talked about a range of landforms and the specific processes involved in their formation; some used well annotated step-by-step diagrams; some talked about resistant/less resistant rocks and concordant/discordant coastlines.

Question about river landform development – tested AO2/3…

Weaker answers – just gave a simple sequence of development using what they could see in the photo; some students tended to focus on one landform and briefly mention others, lots of answers were quite disorganised; some showed confusion with water speeds on bends with meanders.

Better answers – talked about both erosion and deposition; had clear sequences which were well explained using specific processes; referred to other features that were not in the photograph stimulus; some talked about different landforms at different points of the river’s course.

Question about glacial transportation and deposition – tested AO2/3…

Weaker answers – just gave simple ideas about processes; many could recognise landforms but couldn’t say how they were formed; some got confused between glacial and river processes; some referred to landforms that weren’t relevant to the question. This answer was answered more poorly than the coasts and rivers options.

Better answers – talked about specific processes of transportation and deposition, and landforms not in the image; clearly sequenced with developed points; some reference to the different ways that material can be deposited.

9-mark questions (always test AO1/2/3)

Section A (+ 3 SPaG)

Question about immediate and long-term responses to a named weather event…

Weaker answers – often confused case studies and wrote about tectonic events; didn’t always know how to categorise responses; some focused on effects; some listed responses that were generic; Level 1 answers tended to be very basic without mentioning a specific example (couldn’t get beyond Level 2 without an example).

Better answers – included named events as well as using the stimulus material from the paper; linked to different levels of wealth; had detailed discussion of immediate and long-term responses in context of a named storm; had good conclusions; the best answers weaved the examples and source material throughout, along with evaluative language, concluding as they went.

Section B

Question about animal and plant adaptations for either hot deserts or cold environments…

Weaker answers – just used the images and described the adaptations they could see; some focused on just animals and didn’t consider plants; some misconceptions, e.g. camels humps storing water. However, most students got to Level 2 on this question.

Better answers – linked features to environmental conditions with good elaboration, and specific detail about the environmental conditions; referred to adaptations that were not in the images; lots of discussion.