Exam Questions

• 20 Marker Paragraph Structure:

  • P - point

  (answer the question using its key terms)

  • E - example

  (AO1 knowledge e.g. case studies e.g. "for example")

  • A - application

  (how does this answer the question, AO1+AO2 and consider the significance e.g. "this leads to")

  • C - criticisms

  (e.g. "however" / "although")

  • E - evaluate

  (link back to the question e.g. "therefore" / "overall")
• ‘𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘦𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘰𝘮𝘪𝘤 𝘪𝘮𝘱𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘩𝘲𝘶𝘢𝘬𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘢𝘭𝘸𝘢𝘺𝘴 𝘨𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘰𝘤𝘪𝘢𝘭 𝘪𝘮𝘱𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘴’ 𝘛𝘰 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘦𝘹𝘵𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘥𝘰 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘢𝘨𝘳𝘦𝘦?’

  Recognise the contention in this question – 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝘆 ‘𝗮𝗹𝘄𝗮𝘆𝘀 𝗴𝗿𝗲𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗿’?
• ‘𝘈𝘴𝘴𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘪𝘮𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘨𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘯𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘶𝘤𝘤𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘧𝘶𝘭 𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘢𝘨𝘦𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘰𝘯𝘪𝘤 𝘩𝘢𝘻𝘢𝘳𝘥𝘴’.

  Spot the hidden agenda. 𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗼𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿 𝗳𝗮𝗰𝘁𝗼𝗿𝘀 𝗰𝗼𝘂𝗹𝗱 𝗯𝗲 𝗶𝗺𝗽𝗼𝗿𝘁𝗮𝗻𝘁?
• ‘𝘛𝘰 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘦𝘹𝘵𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘥𝘰 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘢𝘨𝘳𝘦𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘴𝘦𝘪𝘴𝘮𝘪𝘤 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘴 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘢𝘭𝘸𝘢𝘺𝘴 𝘨𝘦𝘯𝘦𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘴𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘥 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘪𝘮𝘱𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘯 𝘷𝘰𝘭𝘤𝘢𝘯𝘪𝘤 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘴?’

  Recognise the contention - 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘀𝗰𝗮𝗹𝗲 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗿𝗮𝗻𝗴𝗲 𝗼𝗳 𝗶𝗺𝗽𝗮𝗰𝘁𝘀.
• ‘𝘌𝘷𝘢𝘭𝘶𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘪𝘮𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘳𝘦𝘣𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘶𝘤𝘤𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘳𝘦𝘨𝘦𝘯𝘦𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯’.

  Note two hidden agendas here: importance and success. 𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗰𝗿𝗶𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗶𝗮 𝗰𝗮𝗻 𝗯𝗲 𝘂𝘀𝗲𝗱 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗯𝗼𝘁𝗵?
• ‘𝘛𝘕𝘊𝘴 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘰𝘴𝘵 𝘴𝘪𝘨𝘯𝘪𝘧𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘧𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘰𝘳 𝘪𝘯 𝘤𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘶𝘯𝘦𝘲𝘶𝘢𝘭 𝘧𝘭𝘰𝘸𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘱𝘦𝘰𝘱𝘭𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘮𝘰𝘯𝘦𝘺 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯 𝘨𝘭𝘰𝘣𝘢𝘭 𝘴𝘺𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘮𝘴. 𝘏𝘰𝘸 𝘧𝘢𝘳 𝘥𝘰 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘢𝘨𝘳𝘦𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵?’

  Here we have complicated demands: 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗺𝗼𝘀𝘁 𝘀𝗶𝗴𝗻𝗶𝗳𝗶𝗰𝗮𝗻𝘁 𝗳𝗮𝗰𝘁𝗼𝗿; 𝗽𝗲𝗼𝗽𝗹𝗲 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗺𝗼𝗻𝗲𝘆; 𝗶𝗻𝗲𝗾𝘂𝗮𝗹𝗶𝘁𝘆.
• When it comes to ‘to what extent’ or ‘how far do you agree’ questions:

  • never ‘sit on the fence’
  • equally, it is best to avoid extreme agreement or disagreement
  • an 'agree because, but…...' or a 'disagree because, but…...' judgement is often the best position to take.
• • A good conclusion acknowledges explicitly that any conclusion reached is likely to be partial because there are so many ways of thinking about the issue, and/or so many perspectives to consider.
  • It should refer to the most significant facts which have been featured in the main body of the essay (in support of an evidence-based final judgement).
  • It may make reference to specialist geographical theories, terms or ideas in order to add 'weight' to the final judgement.
  • Finally, it may establish connections between different ideas and themes that are featured in the essay.
• 𝙄𝙉𝙏𝙍𝙊𝘿𝙐𝘾𝙄𝙉𝙂 𝙄𝘿𝙀𝘼𝙎:

  One aspect which illustrates…. can be identified as…
• 𝙄𝙉𝙏𝙍𝙊𝘿𝙐𝘾𝙄𝙉𝙂 𝙄𝘿𝙀𝘼𝙎:

  The current debate about ….. has recently been challenged by …..
• 𝙀𝙓𝙋𝘼𝙉𝘿𝙄𝙉𝙂 𝙄𝘿𝙀𝘼𝙎:

  Building on from the idea that ….. this section illustrates that …
• 𝙀𝙓𝙋𝘼𝙉𝘿𝙄𝙉𝙂 𝙄𝘿𝙀𝘼𝙎:

  To further evaluate the role of ….. this section explores the idea that ….
• 𝙀𝙓𝙋𝘼𝙉𝘿𝙄𝙉𝙂 𝙄𝘿𝙀𝘼𝙎:

  Another line of argument on …. demonstrates that ….
• 𝘾𝙊𝙉𝙏𝙍𝘼𝙎𝙏𝙄𝙉𝙂 𝙄𝘿𝙀𝘼𝙎:

  However, another angle on this debate suggests that ….
• 𝘾𝙊𝙉𝙏𝙍𝘼𝙎𝙏𝙄𝙉𝙂 𝙄𝘿𝙀𝘼𝙎:

  In contrast to evidence which suggests …. an alternative view is that ….
• 𝘾𝙊𝙉𝙏𝙍𝘼𝙎𝙏𝙄𝙉𝙂 𝙄𝘿𝙀𝘼𝙎:

  Not all research shows that ….. Some evidence states that ….
• 𝙎𝙐𝙈𝙈𝘼𝙏𝙄𝙊𝙉 𝙊𝙁 𝘼 𝙋𝘼𝙍𝘼𝙂𝙍𝘼𝙋𝙃:

  This evidence highlights that ….
• 𝙎𝙐𝙈𝙈𝘼𝙏𝙄𝙊𝙉 𝙊𝙁 𝘼 𝙋𝘼𝙍𝘼𝙂𝙍𝘼𝙋𝙃:

  There is therefore general agreement that….
• 𝙎𝙐𝙈𝙈𝘼𝙏𝙄𝙊𝙉 𝙊𝙁 𝘼 𝙋𝘼𝙍𝘼𝙂𝙍𝘼𝙋𝙃:

  The strength of such an approach is that….
• 𝘾𝙊𝙉𝘾𝙇𝙐𝘿𝙄𝙉𝙂:

  Having considered all of the evidence, the extent to which there can be agreement with the statement is …
• 𝘾𝙊𝙉𝘾𝙇𝙐𝘿𝙄𝙉𝙂:

  The majority of the evidence presented in this essay shows that ….
• 𝘾𝙊𝙉𝘾𝙇𝙐𝘿𝙄𝙉𝙂:

  To conclude, this essay has addressed a number of significant factors, which tend to point towards….
• 6-MARK STRUCTURE:

  • OHLAD
  • Overview - make a comment about the general trend shown in or between the figure(s)
  • Highs - point out any high or large values in the data (but not anomalies)
  • Lows - any low data points or reductions
  • Anomalies - any unusual oddities or 'blips' that appear out of order
  • Data manipulation - taking what is shown in the figure, using it in your observations, and altering it to better suit your point