How do I prepare for the exam?
N5:
recap grid references; make sure you understand how to work out a 6-figure grid ref as you automatically gain marks in certain question types if you've included in answers.
make sure you understand feature formations, including naming and explaining processes of erosion, eg. hydraulic action and abrasion. That picks up marks even if the rest of your explanation is potentially lacking in detail. Well annotated diagrams can also gain marks so we’d always recommended including labelled diagrams in any feature formation answer.
make sure case studies are well known, eg. Urban case studies for a developed and developing world city. Same with for land use conflicts, make sure you are confident with the area chosen for that case study and refer to it throughout your answer, again, as marks can be gained for regular references to this.
make sure names of countries are known, or at least names of continents are there will be ‘describe’ questions where you can gain marks for naming specific countries and linking them to the key on the map – even if you don’t know the name of a country, they can still gain marks by saying, for example, “the east coast of Africa”.
Higher:
knowledge of case studies is vital in order to maximise marks here as marks can be awarded for named examples. Topics where this applies include Rural, Urban, Development, Lithosphere and Population. Marks will be limited for pupils who fail to mention specific case study knowledge in their answers for these sorts of questions.
make sure you understand feature formations, including naming and explaining processes of erosion, eg. hydraulic action and abrasion. That picks up marks even if the rest of the explanation is potentially lacking in detail.
must know 6-figure grid references and how to work them out etc. for Application of Skills question in Paper Two.
the final question in Paper 2 is a 20-mark one called ‘Application of Skills’ and you have to state the advantages /disadvantages and positive/negative impacts of a proposed development. Pupils always miss out on marks due to not writing enough, so my advice is if there is ANY time left when you think that you’ve finished the paper, go back and write, write, write as many other points as they can – even if waffle, you might be able to pick up some extra marks so it’s worth a shot!!
What websites are useful for revision?
Click the buttons below to find some websites with useful revision resources and tips. Gairloch High has some useful notes and resources for Higher pupils - and the Flashcards site has some great study resources for Higher too.