In this blog I am going to highlight the key takeaways from the three examiner reports.

This will be followed by three separate blogs looking at the feedback in a bit more detail for each paper.

Paper 1: Overall summary

What was done well?

• High ability students showed in-depth knowledge, sound understanding, detailed analysis and effective evaluation
• The paper seemed to be accessible to all students and students scored higher marks than in previous sessions
• Less confident students were able to gain lots of marks in the low-tariff questions, particularly the MCQs
• Better use of the figures in 6 and 9 markers this year - many students were able to interpret data from figures and mix it with their own understanding (which has been a weakness in previous years)
• Students are getting better at analysing graphs and photos
• Better use of relevant case studies - particularly for the tectonics 9-mark question, but also when not requested
• Students show good knowledge of climate change, tropical storms, tectonics, rainforests and coastal/flood management
• Students seem much better prepared for 9-mark questions - 01.12 was answered particularly well in comparison to previous 9-markers
• Many students wrote clearly about specific processes - which has been a weakness for a number of years
• Higher ability students are structuring their answers well - good planning is resulting in concise lower-tariff answers and well-developed and balanced arguments for longer questions - this shows that teachers are preparing them well
  

Areas for improvement

• Some students missed the complete map or graph tasks (not just lower ability students) and some students who did complete them, did so inaccurately (e.g. bars instead of lines)
• There are still a small number of students who copy information from the figures without explanation - e.g. the value of tropical rainforest question
• Some errors with numeracy questions - e.g. not rounding properly
• Lower ability students often left part of the UK Physical Landscapes section blank - particularly the question about corrie development in Glacial Landscapes
• There was some very inaccurate case study details presented for the tectonics questions by some students
• The development of physical processes, along with detailed diagrams was weak in Section C
• Some students did not know the key terms needed for some of the 1-2 mark questions, e.g. saltation, bulldozing
• Many 2 mark questions did not get their second mark for development (particularly the ones for tropical rainforests)
• Some confusion over command words like explain, compare, suggest, and discuss

Actions for the classroom

• Spend more time on explicit teaching of command words, especially ‘discuss’ and ‘to what extent’ – to improve AO3 marks
• Spend more time practising using figures – not just as sources, but also to weave with own understanding
• Keep practising landform development along with detailed explanation of specific processes (using diagrams)
• Spend more time on mitigation strategies for hazards, particularly climate change as this tends to get glossed over
• Include regular low-stakes testing of geographical skills
• Focus revision on key vocabulary, e.g. geographical terminology, core concepts, and essential processes

Paper 2: Overall summary

What was done well?

• Good use of local examples and good recall of case studies - and often with a lot of detail
• Lots of understanding beyond the textbooks, e.g. students awareness of water quality issues in the UK (which has been in the news a lot in the last couple of years)
• Higher ability students showed really good application and arguments in 6 and 9-markers - and were able to communicate their opinions clearly and effectively
• Students who used the figures did this effectively, e.g. linking comments directly to them
• Accurate graphical skills overall
• Very few questions were left incomplete - there were few incidents of students 'not bothering' to answer
• Many students were able to apply their learned examples to the food, water and energy questions, and scored highly

Areas for improvement

• Students struggled with geographical definitions, e.g. a huge number answered the urbanisation definition question incorrectly, and many didn't know what 'rural-urban fringe' was
• Lots of students failed to complete the graph questions
• A large proportion of students can't calculate percentage increase
• A lot of students couldn't the calculate area on a map or work out distance using a scale
• Some students clearly misread questions, so despite planning answers and showing good knowledge, they missed the focus
• Some students still 'lifting' text and repeating it for longer answer questions
• Some students just using learning case study material and not the figure in 6 and 9 markers

Actions for the classroom

• Liaise with the maths department to revise core calculations that are listed in the specification, e.g. percentage increase - but spend more time revising maths skills (which make up 10% of marks)
• More time on map skills during the GCSE course, e.g. reading grid references, converting scale, etc
• Reinforce 'BUG' the question
• Use a template to help students extract information from a figure and then use it with their own information (we have one of these here)

Paper 3: Overall summary

What was done well?

• Many students wrote lengthy responses to the 6- and 9-mark questions, often using extra pages
• MCQs were completely well - and had a high success rate
• Students were well prepared for the issue evaluation - very few students left the 6 and 9 markers blank in comparison to the previous year
• Students showed good understanding of the issue of renewable energy and economic investment - better than that shown for housing last year
• Students were able to effectively select evidence from the pre-release resource booklet for their answers
• Good development of information in the resource booklet - much less 'lifting' of text than in previous years
• The 9-marker issue evaluation was answered well - many students achieving levels 2 and 3, and considering economic and environmental impacts
• The 9-marker fieldwork question was answered much better than in previous years - it was much more accessible

Areas for improvement

• Often a lack of understanding about what was needed for 2 and 3-markers, many students achieved the first mark but then were unable to get any more marks due to lack of development
• Still some copying of text directly from resource booklet by lower ability students without development
• Some students didn't read the graphs carefully enough so their answers were incorrect (e.g. used wrong dates to extract data)
• Some students failed to read the unfamiliar fieldwork scenarios properly, and some of them failed to notice that the questions are sequenced and linked together
• Some of the complete the graph questions were missed
• Lots of students are still failing to write down the title of their fieldwork when asked
• Some students wrote about their physical geography enquiry instead of their human geography one

Actions for the classroom

• Practise issue evaluation questions with students - as a general rule electing appropriate evidence that clearly suits the question will gain Level 1 credit; using the evidence to support an answer will gain Level 2 credit; and discussing the evidence in detail or making a reasoned judgement about it will gain Level 3 credit - reinforce this with students
• Practise a variety of questions using all of the graphs from the pre-release booklet - chances are at least one of them will come up in the final exam!
• Reinforce the sequencing and linking of questions for unfamiliar fieldwork - go through the last 2/3 of papers with your students to practise these
• Create a summary sheet for the fieldwork basics for their two enquiries - with the two titles (which should be straightforward and easy to remember) and two strengths and limitations for their data collection and data presentation for enquiry - ensure that the sheet makes each enquiry very clear