Exam Connection — GCSE Geography

🎯 Exam Connection — GCSE Geography

Paper: examined across all major boards — AQA (Paper 1, Section A: The Challenge of Natural Hazards), Edexcel (Hazardous Earth), and OCR B (Paper 1 — Our Natural World, Global Hazards, Topic 1).

Exam frequency: Very high on every board — tectonic hazards appear in every paper sitting, typically with both a case study question and a factors/comparison question.

Typical Question Types for This Topic (OCR-style below; AQA and Edexcel examine the same content at the same command-word depth):

• "Outline one primary effect of an earthquake you have studied." [2 marks] — Name the earthquake, state one specific primary effect with a statistic. Example: "In the 2015 Nepal earthquake (7.8 Mw), approximately 9,000 people were killed and over 600,000 homes were completely destroyed."
• "Explain why some countries suffer more from tectonic hazards than others." [4 marks] — You need two explained reasons. Use vulnerability and preparedness as the structural framework. Link to named examples (Chile vs Nepal).
• "Assess the effectiveness of responses to a tectonic hazard you have studied." [6 marks] — This requires a Level 3 answer: a named case study, specific evidence for and against effectiveness, and a supported judgement. For Nepal, you can argue responses were partially effective (international aid arrived quickly) but ultimately limited (72-hour access delay, 3 years in temporary shelters).
• "Using evidence, explain how the impacts of two tectonic events differed." [6 marks] — Direct Chile vs Nepal comparison. Focus on WHY (vulnerability, preparedness, building quality, wealth) not just WHAT happened.

What Gets You to Level 3 (Top Marks):

• A named case study with specific data (not "a country in South America" — say "Chile" and give the magnitude)
• Explaining the mechanism, not just stating the fact ("because unreinforced brick collapses easily in seismic events" — not just "buildings fell down")
• A supported judgement for assess/evaluate questions ("Overall, Chile's response was highly effective because... although... the tsunami warning system had gaps that...")
• Linking physical geography (plate margin type) to human outcomes (why the hazard occurred here in the first place)

Command Words (used the same way across AQA, Edexcel and OCR B):

• Outline / State: Brief factual answer — give the key point, ideally with a statistic
• Explain: Give reasons WITH mechanisms — "because" is essential; link cause to effect
• Assess / Evaluate: Make a judgement supported by evidence; consider both sides; reach a conclusion
• Compare: Explicitly show similarities AND differences using "whereas" / "however" / "in contrast"