What skills does OCR GCSE Geography B assess?

OCR assesses geographical skills across all three components: cartographic skills (OS maps, grid references, scale, contours, and thematic maps such as choropleth and isoline), graphical skills (constructing and interpreting bar, line, scatter and pie graphs), and numerical and statistical skills (mean, median, mode, range, the interquartile range, percentages and describing relationships with a line of best fit). Fieldwork is assessed in Components 1 and 2, and skills are tested synoptically in Component 3, Geographical Exploration.

What fieldwork is required for OCR Geography B?

OCR requires two fieldwork enquiries in contrasting environments: one physical (linked to Our Natural World, such as a river or coast investigation) and one human (linked to People and Society, such as an urban land-use or environmental-quality study). There is no coursework grade; instead the exams ask about your own enquiries, so you must know the full enquiry process for each: forming a hypothesis, sampling and data collection, presentation and analysis, conclusions, and evaluation of the methods.

What is the Geographical Exploration paper?

Component 3, Geographical Exploration, is OCR Geography B's synoptic paper, worth 60 marks (30 percent) in 1 hour 30 minutes. It uses a resource booklet of maps, graphs, photographs and data about an unfamiliar place or issue. The questions work through a staged enquiry and end in a decision-making exercise, often a 12-mark question, where you weigh the options and recommend one, justifying your decision using the resources. It tests skills and application rather than memorised case studies.

How do I calculate the interquartile range?

Order the data, then find the lower quartile (the median of the lower half) and the upper quartile (the median of the upper half). The interquartile range is the upper quartile minus the lower quartile. It measures the spread of the middle 50 percent of the data, ignoring extreme values, so a small interquartile range means the data are closely clustered and a large one means they are widely spread. It is a fairer measure of spread than the range when there are outliers.

How should I revise the skills and fieldwork content?

Practise OS map skills (grid references, measuring distance with the scale, reading contours) and graph description until they are automatic, because they appear in every paper. Drill the statistics, especially the interquartile range and percentage change, with worked numbers. Learn your own two fieldwork enquiries as the spec demands, ready to explain and evaluate the methods. Finally, practise the Geographical Exploration paper against past resource booklets, focusing on using the resources and reaching a clear, justified decision.

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OCR GCSE Geography B Geographical Skills, Fieldwork and Exploration: a complete overview of maps, statistics, enquiry and decision-making

A deep-dive OCR GCSE Geography B guide to geographical skills, fieldwork and the Geographical Exploration paper. Covers OS map and graph skills, statistics including the interquartile range, the fieldwork enquiry process, and the decision-making exercise, with the exam patterns OCR repeats.

Generated by Claude Opus 4.818 min readJ384 Skills, Fieldwork and Component 3Updated 2026-06-02

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

Jump to a section

What this strand actually demands
Cartographic and graphical skills
Numerical and statistical skills
Fieldwork
Geographical Exploration
How this strand is examined
Check your knowledge

What this strand actually demands

Geographical skills, fieldwork and the Geographical Exploration paper run across the whole of OCR Geography B. Unlike the content topics, this strand is about doing geography: reading maps, handling data, carrying out enquiries, and reaching reasoned decisions. The skills are assessed in every component, fieldwork is examined in Components 1 and 2, and Component 3 brings everything together synoptically.

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

Cartographic and graphical skills

The foundation is map and graph skills. On OS maps, you give four-figure and six-figure grid references (eastings before northings), measure distance with the scale, give direction, and read relief from contour lines (close contours mean steep slopes). Thematic maps display data spatially: choropleth (shading by area), isoline (lines of equal value) and proportional-symbol maps. Graphical skills mean choosing the right graph (bar, line, scatter, pie) and describing trends, patterns and anomalies with figures.

Numerical and statistical skills

The strand also requires statistics. You calculate central tendency (mean, median, mode) and spread (the range, and the interquartile range, which measures the middle 50 percent and ignores extremes), work with percentages and percentage change, and describe relationships on a scatter graph using a line of best fit (positive, negative or no correlation). OCR rewards showing working, giving units, and interpreting what the result means.

Fieldwork

OCR requires two fieldwork enquiries in contrasting environments: one physical (linked to Our Natural World) and one human (linked to People and Society). The exams ask about your own enquiries, so you must know the full enquiry process: a hypothesis, sampling (random, systematic, stratified) and data collection (primary and secondary, quantitative and qualitative), presentation and analysis, a conclusion that answers the question, and an evaluation of reliability and limitations.

Geographical Exploration

Finally, Component 3 applies everything to an unfamiliar place through a resource booklet and a decision-making exercise. You work through a staged enquiry (describe, explain, analyse the resources) and reach a justified decision in a high-tariff question (often 12 marks), weighing the options and recommending one using the evidence.

How this strand is examined

A typical OCR profile for skills, fieldwork and exploration:

Map and data questions. Grid references, measuring distance, describing relief, reading and completing graphs and thematic maps.
Statistics questions. Calculating the median, range, interquartile range or percentage change, with working and interpretation.
Fieldwork questions. Explaining and evaluating your own enquiry methods, sampling and conclusions.
Decision-making. Using the resource booklet to evaluate options and reach a justified decision, the largest single question on Component 3.

Check your knowledge

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

Explain how to give a four-figure grid reference. (2 marks)
On a 1:50 000 OS map, two points are 6 cm apart. How far apart are they in reality? (2 marks)
How do you recognise a steep slope on an OS map? (2 marks)
Calculate the interquartile range of: 4, 6, 8, 10, 14, 18, 22, 26. (3 marks)
A city's population rose from 4 million to 5 million. Calculate the percentage change. (2 marks)
Explain the difference between primary and secondary data. (2 marks)
Explain the difference between random and systematic sampling. (3 marks)
Suggest how to structure a justified decision in the decision-making exercise. (3 marks)

Solutions

Q1: Read the eastings (bottom axis) first, left to right, then the northings (side axis), bottom to top, and combine them (for example 4317): "along the corridor, then up the stairs".
Q2: On a 1:50 000 map, 2 cm represents 1 km, so 6 cm represents $6 \div 2 = 3$ km.
Q3: The contour lines are close together (and the height values rise quickly over a short horizontal distance).
Q4: Lower half $4, 6, 8, 10$ gives $Q_1 = \frac{6+8}{2} = 7$ ; upper half $14, 18, 22, 26$ gives $Q_3 = \frac{18+22}{2} = 20$ ; so $\mathrm{IQR} = 20 - 7 = 13$ .
Q5: $\frac{5 - 4}{4} \times 100 = 25\%$ (a 25 percent increase).
Q6: Primary data is collected first-hand in the field (your own measurements); secondary data comes from existing sources such as the census or OS maps.
Q7: Random sampling gives every point an equal chance, reducing bias; systematic sampling takes readings at regular intervals (such as every 10 metres), giving an even spread.
Q8: Weigh each option's economic, social and environmental advantages and disadvantages using the resources, then recommend one and justify why it is the best balance and better than the alternatives.

Sources & how we know this

OCR GCSE (9-1) Geography B (J384) specification — OCR (2016)