How have economic change and globalisation reshaped the UK?
How the decline of primary and secondary sectors and the rise of tertiary and quaternary sectors have changed employment in different regions, and how globalisation, free trade and privatisation have increased foreign direct investment and the role of TNCs.
A focused answer to Edexcel GCSE Geography B Topic 5 (The UK's evolving human landscape) on economic change and globalisation, covering the decline of primary and secondary sectors, the rise of tertiary and quaternary sectors, the regional pattern of employment change, and how globalisation, free trade and privatisation have increased FDI and the role of TNCs.
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What this dot point is asking
This is Edexcel GCSE Geography B (1GB0) Paper 2, Section B (Topic 5, The UK's evolving human landscape). Edexcel expects you to explain why the decline of the primary and secondary sectors and the rise of the tertiary and quaternary sectors have changed economic and employment structure in contrasting regions of the UK; and why globalisation, free-trade policies (UK and EU) and privatisation have increased foreign direct investment (FDI) and the role of TNCs in the UK economy. This builds on the human-landscape overview but focuses on the changing economy and its regional pattern.
The changing balance of economic sectors
The structure of the UK economy has been transformed over the last century.
The regional pattern of change
This economic shift has not affected all regions equally.
The decline of heavy industry (steel, shipbuilding, coal, textiles) hit the old industrial regions of the North of England, Wales and Scotland hardest, causing unemployment, deprivation and depopulation where the lost manufacturing jobs were not replaced. The growth of services, finance, IT and research concentrated in London and the South East and other prosperous cities, creating new, often better-paid jobs there. The result is a widening core-periphery divide, with a dynamic, service-based core and struggling former-industrial peripheral regions, although regeneration has revived some old industrial areas.
Globalisation, free trade and privatisation
The UK economy has also become far more globally connected.
These changes brought benefits (investment, jobs, access to global markets and capital) but also costs: the economy became more exposed to global competition and to decisions made overseas, so a TNC closing a UK plant can cause sudden regional job losses.
Try this
Q1. Name the four economic sectors. [1 mark]
- Cue. Primary, secondary, tertiary and quaternary.
Q2. Explain one reason the secondary sector has declined in the UK. [3 marks]
- Cue. Cheaper overseas competition, mechanisation replacing workers, or the exhaustion of resources (such as coal) made UK manufacturing less competitive, so factories closed and secondary employment fell.
Exam-style practice questions
Practice questions written in the style of Pearson Edexcel exam questions on this dot point, with worked answer explainers. The year tag is the paper they imitate, not the source.
Edexcel B 20194 marksExplain how globalisation has increased the role of transnational corporations in the UK economy. (Paper 2, Section B)Show worked answer →
A 4-mark "Explain" question on Paper 2 (The UK's evolving human landscape), assessing AO1 and AO2. Markers reward a chain from globalisation to TNC activity.
Award credit for: globalisation and UK and EU free-trade policies removed barriers to trade and investment, making it easier for foreign transnational corporations (TNCs) to operate in the UK; privatisation opened formerly state-run industries (energy, water, rail) to private and foreign ownership. As a result, foreign direct investment (FDI) rose, and TNCs set up car plants, supermarkets, banks and tech operations in the UK, creating jobs but also bringing decisions made overseas. The strongest answers link free trade and privatisation to rising FDI and a greater TNC presence.
Edexcel B 20228 marksAssess the impacts of the shift from secondary to tertiary and quaternary employment on UK regions. (Paper 2, Section B)Show worked answer →
An 8-mark extended-writing question assessing AO1, AO2 and AO3 (judgement), with a levelled mark scheme. "Assess the impacts" needs a balanced, supported judgement.
Strong answers explain the shift: heavy manufacturing (steel, shipbuilding, textiles) and mining declined from the mid-twentieth century, while services, finance, IT and research grew. Positive impacts: new, often better-paid jobs in services and the quaternary sector, especially in London and the South East, and regeneration of some former industrial areas. Negative impacts: unemployment, deprivation and depopulation in old industrial regions (the North, Wales, Scotland) where new jobs did not replace those lost, deepening the core-periphery divide. Reach a judgement: the shift has benefited some regions and workers greatly but harmed others, so the impacts are highly uneven across the UK. Markers reward both positive and negative impacts, a regional dimension and a clear conclusion.
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Sources & how we know this
- Pearson Edexcel GCSE (9-1) Geography B (1GB0) specification — Pearson Edexcel (2016)