This introduction covers You Have One Hour to Decide within Decision Making Skills for GCSE Geography. Revise Decision Making Skills in Decision Making & Issue Evaluation for GCSE Geography with 15 exam-style questions and 20 flashcards. This is a high-frequency topic, so it is worth revising until the explanation feels precise and repeatable. It is section 1 of 15 in this topic. Use this introduction to connect the idea to the wider topic before moving on to questions and flashcards.

🏔️ You Have One Hour to Decide

You are on the planning committee for a rural Welsh county. A developer wants to build 20 wind turbines on a hillside above a village of 600 people. A farming family that has worked the land for five generations will lose access to their best grazing pastures. The county tourism board says the turbines will destroy the landscape that attracts 40,000 visitors every year. Local residents are split — some see jobs and income, others see their view and property values destroyed. An environmental NGO says the site is essential for Wales to meet its 2035 net-zero targets. The energy company has wind-speed data proving the site is among the most productive in Wales. You have all the evidence in front of you. You have one hour. How do you decide?

This is the exact situation your GCSE Geography Paper 3 puts you in. The topic, location and stakeholders change every year — but the decision-making skill required is always the same. The students who score highest are not the ones who know the most about wind farms. They are the ones who know how to weigh competing evidence, acknowledge trade-offs honestly, and reach a conclusion that is geographically justified. That skill is what this topic teaches.

Practice questions for Decision Making Skills

What is a stakeholder?

A. A government official responsible for making all final decisions
B. Any individual or group who has an interest in or is affected by a decision
C. A business that provides financial investment in a project
D. An environmental scientist who measures the impact of development

1 markfoundation

Define the term 'stakeholder' and give one example of a stakeholder group in a geographical decision.

2 marksstandard

Quick recall flashcards

What is a cost-benefit analysis?

A structured method comparing the costs (negatives) and benefits (positives) of a decision across economic, social and environmental dimensions.

On a 1:25,000 OS map, how far is 4 cm?

1 km. On a 1:50,000 map, 2 cm = 1 km. Use a ruler and the scale bar to calculate real distances between locations.

You Have One Hour to Decide