OCR GCSE Geography A
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Lessons and practice for this course
These lessons cover selected parts of the course, including optional topics. Follow the options your class studies.
- Rivers and flooding
- Coasts and coastal change
- Urban growth and change
- Weather hazards
- Climate change
- Ecosystems
- Tropical rainforests
- Development and inequality
- Energy resources
- Geographical enquiry
- River landforms
- Coastal landforms
Map, graph and calculation practice · General fieldwork methods · Written-answer practice
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Official specification and assessment requirements
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The current linked specification identifies version 2.0, 2026. Topic-family links here do not certify complete OCR case requirements.
2027 assessment route
| Component | Duration | Marks | Weight |
|---|---|---|---|
| Living in the UK today | 60 minutes | 60 | 30% |
| The world around us | 60 minutes | 60 | 30% |
| Geographical skills | 90 minutes | 80 | 40% |
Assessment objectives
- AO1: Location and process knowledge (15%)
- AO2: Geographical understanding (25%)
- AO3: Application, analysis and judgement (35%)
- AO4: Geographical and fieldwork skills (25%)
Topic coverage by component
These links cover selected parts of the specification. Use your school course and the official specification to check the full requirements.
Living in the UK today
- Landscapes of the UK: Drainage basins as systems, Coastal processes and management — partial
- People of the UK: Urban transport and access, Measuring development — partial
- UK environmental challenges: Hazard, exposure and vulnerability, Power, energy and reliable supply — 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
The world around us
- Ecosystems of the planet: Ecosystem interdependence, Forest conversion and distant demand — partial
- Coral reef processes and management: no dedicated concept lesson yet
- People of the planet: Measuring development, Urban transport and access — partial
- Environmental threats to our planet: Adaptation to changing conditions, Hazard, exposure and vulnerability — 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
Geographical skills
- Geographical skills, fieldwork and synoptic assessment: Sampling and representativeness, 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
Fieldwork and independent assessment
Fieldwork must take place on at least two occasions in contrasting environments, with both physical and human geography addressed.
Generated exercises practise techniques; they do not replace fieldwork or supply evidence that a school has met its declaration requirements.
Case and example requirement slots
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- UK river basin: Geomorphic processes; Geology and climate; Landforms; Human activity
- UK coastal landscape: Geomorphic processes; Geology and climate; Landforms; Human activity
- UK place or region with economic growth or decline: Causes; Consequences
- Major UK city: Character; Migration; Ways of life; Challenges
- UK flood caused by extreme weather: Weather causes; Effects; Management at different scales
- Tropical rainforest: Interdependence; Value; Threats; Sustainable management
- Coral reef: Nutrient cycling; Interdependence; Value; Threats; Sustainable management
- One LIDC or EDC: Changing development; Trade; Investment; Population; Aid project; Rostow model
- Major LIDC or EDC city: Regional context; Migration; Ways of life; Challenges
- Drought associated with El Niño or La Niña: Specific atmospheric cause; Effects; Responses
All themes are compulsory. Rivers and coasts are both required, as are rainforest and coral reef studies.
Coral reefs, detailed UK diversity and the specified ENSO drought need further teaching and source evidence. A generic drought record is insufficient.
Case studies should be contemporary, with the required wider country contexts considered.
What is available here
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Skills practice · Written-answer practice · Create an original assessment
Mapped content areas
- Living in the UK today
- The world around us
- Geographical skills
Check your taught examples
- A country’s developmentUse the required national scale and income/development context.; Explain economic change, international connections and uneven social outcomes.; A city intervention alone cannot fulfil a national case.
- Urban growth and changeIdentify the city and its national context.; Connect opportunities and challenges to growth and migration.; A transport project covers only part of a whole-city case.
- A UK cityIdentify the city and its regional connections.; Explain social, economic and environmental change.; Add your taught evidence beyond the intervention shown here.
- Tropical rainforest use and managementIdentify the rainforest and country or region.; Explain causes, consequences and management of forest change.; An Indonesian Borneo example is not automatically a Malaysian case.
- A tectonic hazard eventName and date the event.; Separate the tectonic process from exposure and vulnerability.; Use contrasting examples where your specification requires them.
- A tropical stormName and date the storm.; Explain hazards, impacts and responses.; Identify whether a number is an estimate, observation or forecast.
- 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.
- River flooding and managementSeparate the catchment, affected settlement and intervention.; Explain rainfall, flows, exposure and response.; Assess residual risk and avoid promising complete protection.
- Water supply and securityDefine the supply area and period.; Connect physical availability, demand and infrastructure.; Evaluate financial, energy, ecological and distributional effects.
- 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.