Pearson Edexcel A-level Geography
Open the official qualification source
Available here: original skills, concepts and selected sourced evidence exercises. This is not a complete course or a claim that every option and examination task is covered.
Issue 6 applies to revised content assessed from 2026. Distinguish UK A level from International A level.
Pearson’s January 2026 AI guidance prohibits generating NEA questions, specification links, methodologies, assessed prose, interpretation or tailored feedback shaping assessed work.
2027 assessment route
| Component | Duration | Marks | Weight |
|---|---|---|---|
| Physical geography | 135 minutes | 105 | 30% |
| Human geography | 135 minutes | 105 | 30% |
| Synoptic investigation | 135 minutes | 70 | 20% |
| Independent investigation | Independent assessment | 70 | 20% |
Assessment objectives
- AO1: Knowledge and understanding (34%)
- AO2: Application, analysis and evaluation (40%)
- AO3: Quantitative, qualitative and fieldwork skills (26%)
Save your taught options
Topic coverage by component
Partial means a few linked exercises cover part of the topic. It does not mean the topic has been taught in full.
Physical geography
Compulsory topics 1, 5 and 6 plus one topic 2 option.
- Tectonic processes and hazards: Plate motion and tectonic hazards, Hazard, exposure and vulnerability — partial
- Glaciated landscapes and change (option): Glacier change and measurement — partial
- Coastal landscapes and change (option): Coastal processes and management — partial
- The water cycle and water insecurity: Drainage basins as systems, Water security and competing uses — partial
- The carbon cycle and energy security: Power, energy and reliable supply, Forest conversion and distant demand — partial
Four and six figure grid references · Map scale and distance · Bearings · Contours and relief · Gradient · Climate graphs · Population pyramids · Scatter plots · Choropleth maps · Percentage change · Mean, median and range · Source evaluation · Interquartile range · Standard deviation · Spearman rank correlation · Chi-square goodness of fit · Welch two sample t statistic · Gini coefficient
Human geography
Compulsory topics 3 and 7 plus one topic 4 and one topic 8 option.
- Globalisation: Global value chains — partial
- Regenerating places (option): Evaluating regeneration — partial
- Diverse places (option): no dedicated concept lesson yet
- Superpowers: no dedicated concept lesson yet
- Health, human rights and intervention (option): no dedicated concept lesson yet
- Migration, identity and sovereignty (option): no dedicated concept lesson yet
Four and six figure grid references · Map scale and distance · Bearings · Contours and relief · Gradient · Climate graphs · Population pyramids · Scatter plots · Choropleth maps · Percentage change · Mean, median and range · Source evaluation · Interquartile range · Standard deviation · Spearman rank correlation · Chi-square goodness of fit · Welch two sample t statistic · Gini coefficient
Synoptic investigation
Unseen place-based issue connects two or more compulsory topics: 1, 3, 5, 6 and 7.
- Players; attitudes and actions; futures and uncertainties: Matching evidence to a claim, Association and geographical explanations — partial
Four and six figure grid references · Map scale and distance · Bearings · Contours and relief · Gradient · Climate graphs · Population pyramids · Scatter plots · Choropleth maps · Percentage change · Mean, median and range · Source evaluation · Interquartile range · Standard deviation · Spearman rank correlation · Chi-square goodness of fit · Welch two sample t statistic · Gini coefficient
Independent investigation
Independent 3,000–4,000 word report; internally assessed and externally moderated.
- Individual investigation: Sampling and representativeness, What a statistical test can establish, Matching evidence to a claim — partial
Four and six figure grid references · Map scale and distance · Bearings · Contours and relief · Gradient · Climate graphs · Population pyramids · Scatter plots · Choropleth maps · Percentage change · Mean, median and range · Source evaluation · Interquartile range · Standard deviation · Spearman rank correlation · Chi-square goodness of fit · Welch two sample t statistic · Gini coefficient
Fieldwork and independent assessment
At least four days of fieldwork, in physical and human geography. Centre declaration is required.
The investigation links to compulsory or optional content and uses quantitative and qualitative evidence as appropriate. The report and analysis must be independent.
Case and example requirement slots
This inventory records distinct roles and dimensions. Further specification auditing is needed for an exhaustive list. Saved examples can be assigned to roles from Your practice.
- Local regenerating place (option): Topic 4A; Detailed local place; Change and lived experience
- Contrasting regenerating place (option): Topic 4A; Significant contrast; Change and lived experience
- Local diverse place (option): Topic 4B; Detailed local place; Demographic and cultural change
- Contrasting diverse place (option): Topic 4B; Significant contrast; Demographic and cultural change
- Urban regeneration strategy (option): Topic 4A.10–4A.11; Strategy; Contested success
- Rural regeneration strategy (option): Topic 4A.12; Strategy; Stakeholder criteria
Linked concepts and case exercises cover selected parts of topics. A mapping is not proof that all specification content is taught here.
Issue 6 component weights are 30%, 30%, 20% and 20%. Older 35%, 35%, 10%, 20% summaries must not be used.
All official topics and option decisions are represented; superpowers, diverse places and topic 8 currently lack dedicated concept lessons.
Place-study and regeneration slots are recorded. The many detailed located examples across topics 1–8 require further line-by-line auditing. Illustrated places in the specification are not automatically mandatory named choices.
Statistical methods here are selected links. They do not reproduce the entire Appendix 1 skills specification. Mann–Whitney is available as enrichment, not asserted as a mandatory issue 6 method.
What is available here
Shared maps/data/methods practice, sourced case evidence and original assessment packs. Whole-course completeness and examiner-equivalent marking are not claimed.
Skills practice · Written-answer practice · Create an original assessment
Mapped content areas
- Water and carbon
- Landscape systems
- Global connections
- Changing places
- Hazards
- Fieldwork and statistics
Check your taught examples
- A tectonic hazard eventName and date the event.; Separate the tectonic process from exposure and vulnerability.; Use contrasting examples where your specification requires them.
- Coastal managementIdentify the defended or realigned coastal stretch.; Explain how the intervention changes risk and sediment or habitats.; Evaluate consequences for different people and timescales.
- Water supply and securityDefine the supply area and period.; Connect physical availability, demand and infrastructure.; Evaluate financial, energy, ecological and distributional effects.
- RegenerationDefine the project boundary and baseline.; Distinguish announced objectives from completed outcomes.; Evaluate outcomes for residents, workers and businesses separately.
- Energy supply and transitionsDistinguish capacity from generation.; Identify the technology, location and time period.; Assess reliability, access and environmental consequences.
- An ecosystem and its managementIdentify the ecosystem’s scale and processes.; Explain interactions and human pressures.; Do not attribute every change to a single cause.
- Migration and population changeDefine the origin, destination and period.; Distinguish internal migration from international movement.; Use evidence about differing household choices.
- Global production and connectionsTrace flows of goods, investment, labour or information.; Distinguish exports from domestically retained value.; Explain uneven opportunities and dependencies.
- Place and changing meaningsDefine the neighbourhood or place.; Combine numerical indicators with lived experience.; Compare whose perceptions and outcomes the evidence represents.