Edexcel GCSE Geography B (1GB0): complete guide to the three papers, topics and exam skills

Pearson Edexcel GCSE Geography B (specification 1GB0) is a linear, enquiry-based course assessed by three written papers at the end of Year 11. There is no coursework grade, but you must complete two fieldwork investigations. This page is the index: below is a map of the three papers, the topics in each, the named case studies you must learn, and the exam skills that run across the whole course.

The three papers

Edexcel B splits the course into three issue-based papers covering global geography, UK geography, and people-environment decision making.

• Paper 1: Global Geographical Issues. Hazardous Earth, Development dynamics, and Challenges of an urbanising world. 1 hour 30 minutes, 94 marks, 37.5%.
• Paper 2: UK Geographical Issues. The UK's evolving physical landscape, the UK's evolving human landscape, and geographical investigations (fieldwork). 1 hour 30 minutes, 94 marks, 37.5%.
• Paper 3: People and Environment Issues, Making Geographical Decisions. People and the biosphere, Forests under threat, Consuming energy resources, and a decision-making exercise from a pre-released resource booklet. 1 hour 30 minutes, 64 marks, 25%.

Each paper carries 4 marks for spelling, punctuation, grammar and specialist terminology, and calculators are allowed throughout.

Paper 1: Global Geographical Issues

This is the global-scale half of the course, made of three topics.

Hazardous Earth

Global atmospheric circulation and the redistribution of heat, natural and human causes of climate change, the formation and hazards of tropical cyclones (with a developed and a developing or emerging country), and tectonic hazards at the three plate boundaries (with a contrasting pair of countries).

Development dynamics

Defining and measuring development (GDP, HDI, inequality), the causes of global inequality, Rostow's and Frank's theories, top-down and bottom-up strategies and globalisation, and a depth case study of one emerging country (for example India or Nigeria).

Challenges of an urbanising world

Global urbanisation trends and megacities, how cities change over time and in land use, and a depth case study of quality of life in one megacity in a developing or emerging country (for example Lagos, Mumbai or Rio de Janeiro).

Paper 2: UK Geographical Issues

This is the UK-focused half of the course, including the fieldwork.

The UK's evolving physical landscape

An overview of why the UK landscape varies (geology, glaciation, human activity), then two depth studies: coastal change and conflict (coastal landforms, processes and management) and river processes and pressures (the long profile, fluvial landforms, hydrographs and flood management).

The UK's evolving human landscape

Population, economic activity and the urban core and rural periphery, migration and the changing economy, then a depth case study of one dynamic UK city (for example Birmingham, London or Manchester) and a contrasting changing rural area.

Geographical investigations

Two fieldwork investigations: one physical (coastal or river) and one human (urban or rural), each taken through the full enquiry process from question to evaluation, plus unfamiliar fieldwork in Paper 2.

Paper 3: People and Environment Issues

This paper studies the relationship between people and the environment, then tests decision making.

People and the biosphere

The global distribution of biomes and what controls it, how the biosphere provides goods and services, and the relationship between population and resources (Malthus and Boserup).

Forests under threat

The structure, functioning and adaptations of tropical rainforest and taiga, the direct and indirect threats to each, and conservation and sustainable management.

Consuming energy resources

Classifying energy and its impacts, the uneven access to energy, rising demand and the oil market, the pressure to exploit new and unconventional sources, and the costs and benefits of energy futures.

Making Geographical Decisions

Using a pre-released resource booklet to analyse a people-environment issue and answer a 12-mark decision-making question with a justified choice.

The skills that run across the course

Each topic rewards content knowledge, but the marks come from applying it through a fixed set of question types.

1. Process explanation. Describing how a landform develops or how a hazard or human process works, often with a diagram.
2. Case-study application. Using named facts, figures and place names to support an answer.
3. Data response. Reading and calculating from climate graphs, population pyramids, storm hydrographs, line graphs and cost-benefit tables in the resource context of every question.
4. Evaluation and decision making. Weighing options and reaching a justified conclusion, especially in the 8-mark extended answers and the 12-mark decision-making exercise.

The topics, dot point by dot point

Each module has an overview guide, dot-point answer pages and a quiz. Browse the full set at /gcse-edexcel/geography/syllabus.

For the official specification

Pearson publishes the full specification (1GB0), past papers and mark schemes at qualifications.pearson.com. Always revise from the current specification and Edexcel's own past papers, because question style and the pre-released decision-making topic are board-specific.