Candidates copy long stretches of the resource booklet into their A2 3 report almost word for word, instead of pulling out the figures they need and re-stating them in their own geographical language.

Read the resource once for the numbers you need, close it, then write the point in your own words with the figure attached. If a sentence in your answer could sit unchanged in the booklet, rewrite it.

Two-part prompts, such as disaster preparation and response, or in-migration and out-migration, get answered on one side only, with the second half reduced to a single sentence.

Before writing, split the question into its two demands and give each one a paragraph of its own. If a question names two things, plan two blocks of roughly equal length.

The compulsory graph in A2 3 is drawn without a full title naming both variables, without units on the axes, or without a key, so marks are lost on a task that is otherwise straightforward.

Title every graph as 'variable A against variable B for [place or scenario]', label both axes with units, and add a key if more than one data set is shown. Do this before you start plotting.

A2 3 gets written as a continuous essay instead of a report, dropping the required headings, sub-headings and the professional persona, for example independent consultant, that the question asks for.

Copy the exact section headings from the question paper into your answer booklet before you write anything else, and keep the persona in the first person throughout, for example 'I recommend' rather than 'it is recommended'.

In 18-mark essays, candidates lean on only the resource booklet or only their own case study, when the mark scheme rewards both; answers built on one source alone are capped at Level 1 or Level 2.

Plan each 18-mark answer with two columns before writing: one for what the resource gives you, one for your own named case study. Use both in the answer.

When a question says 'with reference to the Resource only', candidates still bring in outside case studies, on the assumption that extra knowledge is always rewarded. It is not, and it costs marks against that specific instruction.

Treat 'Resource only' as a hard limit. If you see that phrase, set your case study material aside and answer purely from what is printed in front of you.

Carbon footprint and ecological footprint get used as if they mean the same thing. A carbon footprint is one input, the greenhouse gas emissions of an activity. An ecological footprint is the total productive land and sea area a population needs.

Learn the two definitions as a pair so you never write one when you mean the other, and use the correct term in sustainable settlement and resource questions.

In the decision-making report, candidates hedge in Section C instead of naming a decision, on the assumption that a neutral conclusion looks more balanced.

Section C wants a stated decision, for example approve or reject the proposal, backed by a weighing of the costs and benefits you have already set out. A report with no clear decision cannot access full marks.

CCEA A-Level · Exam Tips

Geography 3910 Exam Tips

A Level Geography (CCEA) exam tips built from real examiner reports: how to hit Level 3 on the 18-mark essays, how to write the A2 3 decision-making report as a report and not an essay, and the graph conventions that cost marks every year.

5 min readUpdated: 3 Sept 2026

Exam at a Glance

Papers

Total Marks

200

Time Limit

4h 30min

Question Types

Paper	Duration	Marks	Questions	Weighting	Question Types
A2 1: Physical Processes	1h 30min	70	6	35%	Stimulus Analysis and Resource Interpretation (Part a), Diagrammatic and Process-Based Explanation (Part b), Case Study Extended Evaluative Essay (Part c)
A2 2: Human Geography	1h 30min	70	6	35%	Definitional and Resource Interpretation (Part a), Theoretical and Comparative Analysis (Part b), Case Study Extended Evaluative Essay (Part c)
A2 3: Decision Making	1h 30min	60	7	30%	Report Section A: Proposal Description and Need, Report Section B(i): Socio-Economic Impacts and Counterarguments, Report Section B(ii): Environmental Impacts and Counterarguments, Report Section C: Decision and Justification, Report Conventions (Role and Headings Format), Graphical Construction and Presentation

Grade Scale

A*ABCDEU

Calculator Policy

Calculators are allowed in every assessment unit under the general JCQ and CCEA rules: no stored retrievable information such as formulae, text or programs, no computer algebra function, no internet or translator function. There is no Geography-specific calculator ban in the specification. You will need one for the statistical and quantitative content in Assessment Unit A2 3, for example checking scale conversions or working through a statistical test, and for any calculation elsewhere in the papers. If your calculator has an exam mode, switch it on rather than relying on the reset button, which does not clear stored memory.

AO1: AO1: demonstrate knowledge and understanding of places, environments, concepts, processes, interactions and change at a variety of scales (33.6%)
AO2: AO2: apply knowledge and understanding in different contexts to analyse, interpret and evaluate key concepts, information and issues (40%)
AO3: AO3: use a variety of relevant methods and techniques to investigate geographical questions and issues, analyse, interpret and evaluate data and resources, and construct arguments and draw conclusions (26.4%)

Built from real past papers and marking schemes (2022–2025).

Tips & Strategies

Where the marks actually sit

A Level Geography carries 200 marks across three papers in 270 minutes: Assessment Unit A2 1 (Physical Processes, Landforms and Management, 70 marks, 90 minutes), Assessment Unit A2 2 (Processes and Issues in Human Geography, 70 marks, 90 minutes) and Assessment Unit A2 3 (Decision Making in Geography, 60 marks, 90 minutes). The two 18-mark case study essays in A2 1 and A2 2 are worth 72 marks between them, more than a third of the whole qualification. The decision-making report in A2 3 is worth 60 marks on its own. Get those two things right and you have covered most of the paper.

Paper by paper timing

A2 1 and A2 2 share a shape: two options, each answered in three parts, an 8-mark stimulus question, a 9-mark process or theory question, and an 18-mark case study essay. At 90 minutes for 70 marks, that is roughly 1.3 minutes per mark. Budget about 10 minutes for each 8-mark part, 12 minutes for each 9-mark part, and 23 minutes for each 18-mark essay, leaving a few minutes spare to check place names and labels. A2 3 works differently: it is one continuous report built from six graded sections (10, 14, 14, 10, 4 and 8 marks), worth 60 marks in 90 minutes, so 1.5 minutes per mark. Spend the first 10 minutes reading the resource booklet and planning the report structure before writing a word.

The 18-mark essays: what separates Level 2 from Level 3

Real scripts show the same pattern again and again: candidates who use only the resource booklet, or only their own case study, get capped at Level 1 or Level 2 (maximum 12 out of 18) even when the geography itself is accurate. Level 3 needs both: specific figures or evidence lifted from the resource, and a named, place-specific case study you bring yourself. Plan each essay with two columns before writing, one for the resource, one for your case study, and draw on both.

The second habit that caps marks is one-sided treatment of a two-part prompt. If a question asks about preparation and response to a hazard, or in-migration and out-migration, write two blocks of roughly equal length. A single closing sentence on the second half of the question reads to an examiner as an afterthought, and is marked as one.

Where a question is marked 'with reference to the Resource only', treat that as a hard constraint, not a suggestion. Bringing in outside case study material when the resource is meant to carry the whole answer earns no extra credit and pulls you away from what the mark scheme is actually rewarding.

Assessment Unit A2 3: write a report, not an essay

A2 3 asks you to adopt a role, often an independent consultant, and produce a decision-making report with named sections: Section A (the proposal and the need for it, 10 marks), Section B(i) (socio-economic impacts and counterarguments, 14 marks), Section B(ii) (environmental impacts and counterarguments, 14 marks), Section C (the decision and its justification, 10 marks), plus 4 marks for following the report format and role correctly and 8 marks for a constructed graph. Copy the exact headings from the question paper into your answer before you start, and keep the persona consistent in the first person throughout.

Section B rewards a genuine two-sided appraisal: state the benefits and then the drawbacks for both the socio-economic and the environmental impacts, not a list of positives with the negatives left out. Section C wants a stated decision, not a hedge. Naming a decision and weighing it against the costs and benefits you have already set out earns marks that a vague, balanced-sounding conclusion cannot reach.

The graph is worth 8 marks on its own and is one of the easiest marks on the paper to lose through carelessness. Give it a title naming both variables, label both axes with units, use a sensible scale, and add a key if you are plotting more than one data set. Then refer back to your own graph inside the report, quoting the figures it shows, rather than leaving it as an unused diagram at the end.

Across all three papers, resist the urge to copy long stretches of the resource booklet word for word. Read a paragraph, close the booklet, and write the point in your own geographical language with the figure attached. If a sentence in your answer could sit unchanged in the source material, it needs rewriting.

CCEA conventions to know

Extended answers are marked against banded mark schemes rather than a simple points list: examiners place your answer in a level first, then decide where in that level's mark range it sits, based on how well you meet the level's descriptors (place-specific detail, balance, evaluative judgement). Quality of written communication is assessed inside these extended answers, so legible writing, accurate spelling and specialist vocabulary (attrition, lapse rate, plagioclimax, and so on) all feed the same mark, not a separate one.

Two pairs of terms come up repeatedly in the wrong context. A carbon footprint measures the greenhouse gas emissions of one activity; an ecological footprint measures the total productive land and sea area a population needs, a much broader figure. And hotspot volcanic chains such as Hawaii form over a stationary mantle plume, not at a plate margin, so do not explain them using constructive or destructive boundary processes.

Exam day plan

For A2 1 and A2 2: read both options before choosing, since a case study you know well is worth more than a slightly more familiar theory with no examples to back it up. Write the 8 and 9-mark parts first while the stimulus is fresh, then give the 18-mark essay the time it needs, roughly a quarter of the paper. For A2 3: read the whole resource booklet before writing anything, note the figures you will need for each section as you go, draw the graph as soon as you have the data for it, and leave the final few minutes to check that every required heading is present and the decision in Section C is stated, not implied.

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Common Mistakes

1highMarks at stake: 6Assessment Unit A2 3: Decision Making in Geography
Candidates copy long stretches of the resource booklet into their A2 3 report almost word for word, instead of pulling out the figures they need and re-stating them in their own geographical language.
How to avoid it: Read the resource once for the numbers you need, close it, then write the point in your own words with the figure attached. If a sentence in your answer could sit unchanged in the booklet, rewrite it.
2highMarks at stake: 5A2 1 and A2 2 essays (Part c)
Two-part prompts, such as disaster preparation and response, or in-migration and out-migration, get answered on one side only, with the second half reduced to a single sentence.
How to avoid it: Before writing, split the question into its two demands and give each one a paragraph of its own. If a question names two things, plan two blocks of roughly equal length.
3highMarks at stake: 8Graphical construction in A2 3
The compulsory graph in A2 3 is drawn without a full title naming both variables, without units on the axes, or without a key, so marks are lost on a task that is otherwise straightforward.
How to avoid it: Title every graph as 'variable A against variable B for [place or scenario]', label both axes with units, and add a key if more than one data set is shown. Do this before you start plotting.
4mediumMarks at stake: 4Assessment Unit A2 3: Decision Making in Geography
A2 3 gets written as a continuous essay instead of a report, dropping the required headings, sub-headings and the professional persona, for example independent consultant, that the question asks for.
How to avoid it: Copy the exact section headings from the question paper into your answer booklet before you write anything else, and keep the persona in the first person throughout, for example 'I recommend' rather than 'it is recommended'.
5highMarks at stake: 6A2 1 and A2 2 extended essays
In 18-mark essays, candidates lean on only the resource booklet or only their own case study, when the mark scheme rewards both; answers built on one source alone are capped at Level 1 or Level 2.
How to avoid it: Plan each 18-mark answer with two columns before writing: one for what the resource gives you, one for your own named case study. Use both in the answer.
6mediumMarks at stake: 3Resource-based questions across all three papers
When a question says 'with reference to the Resource only', candidates still bring in outside case studies, on the assumption that extra knowledge is always rewarded. It is not, and it costs marks against that specific instruction.
How to avoid it: Treat 'Resource only' as a hard limit. If you see that phrase, set your case study material aside and answer purely from what is printed in front of you.
7mediumMarks at stake: 2Sustainable settlements and resources
Carbon footprint and ecological footprint get used as if they mean the same thing. A carbon footprint is one input, the greenhouse gas emissions of an activity. An ecological footprint is the total productive land and sea area a population needs.
How to avoid it: Learn the two definitions as a pair so you never write one when you mean the other, and use the correct term in sustainable settlement and resource questions.
8mediumMarks at stake: 5Report Section C: Decision and Justification
In the decision-making report, candidates hedge in Section C instead of naming a decision, on the assumption that a neutral conclusion looks more balanced.
How to avoid it: Section C wants a stated decision, for example approve or reject the proposal, backed by a weighing of the costs and benefits you have already set out. A report with no clear decision cannot access full marks.

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