What does Component 3 Applied Fieldwork Enquiry cover in Eduqas Geography A?

Component 3 is the third written paper, worth 30 percent of the GCSE. It assesses geographical and fieldwork skills in three parts: Part A on fieldwork methodology, presentation and analysis (using unfamiliar fieldwork material); Part B applying your own two fieldwork enquiries to wider geographical questions; and Part C, a high-tariff decision-making exercise based on a resource booklet about an unfamiliar UK place or issue. You must carry out two fieldwork enquiries in contrasting physical and human environments, assessed entirely in this exam.

How do you read an Ordnance Survey grid reference?

Read the eastings (the numbers along the bottom) first, then the northings (up the side): remember the phrase along the corridor, then up the stairs. A four-figure reference gives the bottom-left corner of a 1 km square; a six-figure reference divides each square into tenths to pinpoint a feature. The scale (such as 1:50,000, where 1 cm equals 0.5 km) lets you convert map distance to ground distance.

How is the Component 3 decision-making question marked?

The final decision-making question in Part C is the highest-tariff question on the paper, marked by levels of response and assessing AO3 (interpret, analyse, evaluate and judge) plus SPaG. It rewards a clear decision, justified with specific evidence from the resource booklet and your own understanding, balanced consideration of the alternatives and the stakeholders affected, and a confident conclusion. Sitting on the fence loses marks.

How should I revise the skills and fieldwork content?

Drill the calculations first (mean, median, range, interquartile range, percentage change) until they are automatic, then practise OS map skills (grid references, scale, contours) and choosing the right graph for each data type. Know your own two fieldwork enquiries in detail (aim, methods, sampling, results, conclusion, evaluation). Finish by practising past decision-making exercises: read the resources, weigh the options and stakeholders, and write a justified decision against the mark scheme.

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Eduqas GCSE Geography A Geographical Skills and Fieldwork: a complete overview

Q: What numerical and statistical skills do I need for Eduqas Geography A?

At least 10 percent of the marks across the GCSE are quantitative. You need measures of central tendency (mean, median, mode) and spread (range, interquartile range), percentages and percentage change (dividing by the original value), ratios and proportions, and the ability to read and interpret data from tables and graphs, identify trends and spot anomalies. These appear in fieldwork data, development statistics and the decision-making exercise.

A deep-dive Eduqas GCSE Geography A guide to the geographical skills and the Applied Fieldwork Enquiry (Component 3). Covers numerical and statistical skills, cartographic and graphical skills, the fieldwork enquiry process, and the applied decision-making exercise, with the exam patterns Eduqas repeats.

Generated by Claude Opus 4.816 min readC111 Component 3Updated 2026-06-02

Reviewed by: AI editorial process; not yet individually human-reviewed

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What this part of the course actually demands
Numerical and statistical skills
Cartographic and graphical skills
The fieldwork enquiry
Applied decision making
How this is examined
Check your knowledge

What this part of the course actually demands

Geographical skills run through every component of Eduqas GCSE Geography A, and the Applied Fieldwork Enquiry (Component 3) brings them together. The skills are not a separate topic to memorise but a toolkit applied to maps, data, fieldwork and an unfamiliar UK issue. At least 10 percent of the marks are quantitative, and the highest-tariff question on the whole qualification is the Component 3 decision-making exercise. Eduqas tests whether you can calculate, map, present, analyse, enquire and judge.

This guide walks through the skills and fieldwork in a logical order, then sets out the exam patterns Eduqas repeats. Each part has a matching dot-point page with practice questions; this overview ties them together.

Numerical and statistical skills

The foundation is numeracy: the mean, median and mode, the range and interquartile range, percentages and percentage change (always dividing by the original value), ratios and proportions, and reading and interpreting data from tables and graphs, describing trends and spotting anomalies.

Cartographic and graphical skills

Next come maps and graphs: reading Ordnance Survey maps (grid references eastings-first, scale, distance, direction, relief from contours), interpreting thematic maps (choropleth, isoline, dot and proportional-symbol), and choosing the right graph for each data type (line for time, bar for categories, pie for parts of a whole, scatter for a relationship).

The fieldwork enquiry

The fieldwork enquiry process is the core of Component 3: forming aims and hypotheses, choosing locations and sampling (random, systematic, stratified), collecting primary and secondary data with physical and human methods, presenting and analysing the data, and evaluating the enquiry's reliability and how to improve it. You must know your own two enquiries in detail.

Applied decision making

Finally, the decision-making exercise in Part C: using a resource booklet about an unfamiliar UK place or issue, weighing the options against a geographical concept and stakeholder views, and reaching a clear, justified decision, the highest-tariff question on the paper.

How this is examined

A typical Eduqas profile for the skills and Component 3:

Calculation questions. Working out the mean, median, range, interquartile range and percentage change, with working shown.
Map and graph questions. Grid references, distance, contours, and choosing and interpreting graphs.
Fieldwork questions. Explaining and evaluating methods, sampling and your own enquiries.
The decision-making exercise. Analysing a resource booklet and writing a justified decision, the top-tariff question.

Check your knowledge

A mix of recall and applied questions covering the skills. Attempt them under timed conditions, then check against the solutions.

For the data 2, 3, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, calculate the mean and median. (3 marks)
A population rose from 20,000 to 26,000. Calculate the percentage increase. (2 marks)
Explain how to find the interquartile range of a data set. (3 marks)
How do you read a six-figure grid reference on an OS map? (2 marks)
Which graph best shows parts of a whole, and why? (2 marks)
Explain why a sampling strategy is used in fieldwork. (4 marks)
Explain the difference between primary and secondary data. (2 marks)
What does a strong Component 3 decision-making answer need? (4 marks)

Solutions

Q1: Mean = $\frac{2+3+3+4+5+6+7+8}{8} = \frac{38}{8} = 4.75$ ; median (mean of the 4th and 5th values) = $\frac{4+5}{2} = 4.5$ .
Q2: Percentage increase = $\frac{26{,}000 - 20{,}000}{20{,}000} \times 100 = \frac{6{,}000}{20{,}000} \times 100 = 30\%$ (divide by the original).
Q3: Order the data, find the lower quartile ( $Q_1$ , a quarter of the way through) and the upper quartile ( $Q_3$ , three quarters through), then subtract: $\text{IQR} = Q_3 - Q_1$ . It ignores outliers.
Q4: Read the eastings first (along the bottom), then the northings (up the side), dividing each 1 km square into tenths to pinpoint the feature ("along the corridor, then up the stairs").
Q5: A pie chart (or divided bar), because it shows each category as a share of the whole that adds to 100 percent, making relative sizes easy to compare.
Q6: It is impossible to measure everything, so a representative sample is taken to save time and make collection manageable; a strategy (random, systematic, stratified) reduces bias and gives a fair, representative sample so conclusions can be trusted.
Q7: Primary data is collected by you in the field (river measurements, questionnaires); secondary data comes from other sources (census, maps, records).
Q8: A clear decision, justification with specific evidence from the resources and your own understanding, consideration of the alternatives and stakeholders, and a confident conclusion rather than sitting on the fence.

Sources & how we know this

WJEC Eduqas GCSE (9-1) Geography A specification (C111) — WJEC Eduqas (2016)