You Have One Hour to Decide
🏔️ You Have One Hour to 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.
Geography glossary
- 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.
GCSE Geography Paper 3 (Decision-Making) is unlike anything else in your GCSE. Most exam papers test what you have memorised. Paper 3 tests what you can do with geographical information — how you interpret evidence, analyse stakeholder viewpoints, evaluate options, and justify a decision. It is worth 60 marks and accou
Earn the mark scheme marks
🧠 The DECIDE SMART Mnemonic
There are 11 key steps in the complete decision-making process. The mnemonic DECIDE SMART gives you all 11 in order — use it as a checklist before you begin any decision-making answer.
| Letter | Step | The Key Question |
|---|---|---|
| D | Define the decision clearly | "What exactly is being decided? Where? By whom? By when?" |
| E | Evidence from the Resource Booklet | "Which specific statistics support or challenge each option?" |
| C | Consider ALL stakeholders | "Who is affected? Do not skip the ones you disagree with." |
| I | Identify the trade-offs | "What does each option sacrifice? Who loses out with each choice?" |
| D | Decision: state it clearly first | "Sentence 1 of your answer = your recommendation." |
| E | Explain your reasoning | "Why these criteria? Why do they matter for this specific place?" |
| S | Stakeholders: RAVES analysis | "Role — Attitude — Values — Evidence — Significance" |
| M | Matrix: compare options systematically | "Score all options against the same criteria. Weight your priorities." |
| A | Acknowledge opposing views | "What is the strongest argument against your recommendation?" |
| R | Reach a justified conclusion | "3C: Claim → Criteria → Conclusion with trade-offs" |
| T | Trade-offs: state explicitly what you sacrifice | "Explain why the gain is worth the loss — in geographical terms." |
Memory trick for DECIDE: The first six letters cover the core framework steps — what you do before writing. The last five letters (SMART) cover how you execute the answer — what you do while writing. Decide, then write SMART.
Now try it yourself
Quiz · Question 1 of 15
What is a stakeholder?
Tap an answer to check it
This topic in real past papers
Every real exam question we've found on decision making skills, with a full worked answer.