The AQA GCSE Geography examiner reports are always packed with useful information, but at 63 pages for Paper 1, 44 pages for Paper 2 and 49 pages for Paper 3, there is a lot to digest!

So, here are some of the key takeaways from the 2026 examiner reports, along with some practical ideas to take into the classroom.

Paper 1 - Living with the Physical Environment

What was done well?

Students were generally well prepared and showed improvements in their use of photographs, case studies, geographical vocabulary and development of shorter answers. Stronger students interpreted graphs, maps and photographs confidently and produced well-structured extended responses with clear evaluation.

Areas for improvement

Some familiar misconceptions remain, including the eye/eyewall of tropical storms, rainforest soils and aspects of desertification. Physical landscape interpretation was also challenging, particularly recognising river, coastal and glacial landforms and accurately explaining the processes responsible for them. Generic case-study material and simply copying information from figures continued to limit AO3 marks.

Actions for the classroom

Keep reinforcing command words, precise geographical terminology and process chains. Students should practise interpreting unfamiliar figures rather than describing them, and case-study knowledge needs to be specific and explicitly applied to the question. More practice identifying landforms from photographs and OS maps would also be worthwhile.

Paper 2 - Challenges in the Human Environment

What was done well?

Students demonstrated some excellent place and case-study knowledge, including the Olympic Park and TNC examples. UK cities, urban waste and congestion, climate-related issues and wider geopolitical issues were also handled well. Stronger responses confidently expressed opinions and judgements and successfully linked evidence from figures to their own knowledge.

Areas for improvement

The recurring problem was what the report calls the 'geography of anywhere' - generic references to tourism, jobs, money and the multiplier effect without enough place-specific detail. Some students also struggled with percentages and completing graphs/maps. For AO3 questions, copying figures or reproducing a learnt case study without applying it to the question did not gain application marks.

Actions for the classroom

Case studies need to be specific but flexible: practise point → evidence → link so students use their knowledge to answer the actual question. Build basic numeracy and graph completion into retrieval practice, and explicitly model how to combine a figure with own knowledge. For 9-markers, students need clear evaluation and justified final judgements rather than a pre-prepared answer.

Paper 3 - Geographical Applications

What was done well?

Preparation for the Issue Evaluation was generally strong. Students engaged well with the complexity of the reservoir issue and many considered conflicting viewpoints, stakeholders, short- versus long-term impacts and sustainability. The pre-release booklet was often used effectively. Mathematical skills in unfamiliar fieldwork were also generally sound, while most students demonstrated awareness of fieldwork risks and could evaluate their data-collection methods.

Areas for improvement

Some students copied evidence from the pre-release without explaining its significance or relied too heavily on a single figure. In fieldwork, avoidable problems included vague risks, confusing data collection with data presentation, and failing to write the full enquiry title. The latter made it difficult for examiners to judge answers in context and could restrict marks.

Actions for the classroom

Make synoptic thinking part of pre-release preparation and encourage students to read across the whole resource rather than relying on individual figures. Give plenty of practice with unfamiliar fieldwork and require students to suggest specific improvements to reliability. For familiar fieldwork, make knowing and writing the full enquiry title non-negotiable.