Edexcel IGCSE Geography

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Common geographical skills

Shared geographical skills

Appendix 4 - Maps, coordinates and landscape evidenceLearn to locate places precisely and use maps, sketches and photographs as evidence. These Appendix 4 skills help you describe a landscape before proposing an explanation for it.
Appendix 4 - Relief, transects and GIS evidenceUse Appendix 4 map and research skills to turn height, images and digital layers into geographical evidence. Learn what a cross section, a GIS comparison and a census map can establish—and where their limits begin.
Appendix 4, Appendix 6 - Choosing and constructing data displaysLearn how Appendix 4 graph skills help you present evidence clearly, then apply Appendix 6's requirement to process primary and secondary fieldwork data. A good display makes a geographical comparison possible without changing what the data mean.
Appendix 4, Appendix 6 - Reading specialist geographical graphsUse Appendix 4's specialist graphs and maps to compare composition, direction and spatial patterns. Appendix 6 adds complex fieldwork displays: learn to decode their scales before making a geographical claim.
Appendix 4 - Ratios, percentages and hazard scalesUse Appendix 4 numerical skills to compare quantities, interpret change and understand hazard probabilities. Learn to check the denominator, units and scale before deciding what a number means.
Appendix 4 - Summarising data and judging relationshipsUse Appendix 4 statistics to summarise variation, explore relationships and test the strength of a numerical claim. Learn why a correct calculation can still support a weak geographical conclusion.
Appendix 5, Appendix 6, Appendix 7 - Planning enquiries and evaluating evidenceFollow Appendix 5's seven enquiry stages, meet Appendix 6's evidence requirements and apply Appendix 7's safety concepts. Learn to build a geographical argument from data while recognising how the investigation's design limits its conclusions.

Paper 1: Physical geography

Topic 1: River environments

1.1 - Water cycle and drainage basinsWater moves between oceans, air, land and living things without leaving the Earth's water system. Learn how the global cycle differs from a drainage basin, and how a map reveals the route water takes to a river mouth.
1.1 - River regimes and storm hydrographsA river can vary through the year and respond rapidly to an individual storm. Learn to distinguish those timescales, read rainfall and discharge evidence, and explain how catchment conditions and human decisions change the response.
1.2 - River processes and downstream changesRivers erode, carry and deposit material while weathering and gravity reshape their valley sides. Learn why the River Tees changes downstream, and how to use profiles, geology and measurements without mistaking a general trend for an unbroken rule.
1.2 - Upland and lowland river landformsRiver landforms are the accumulated results of erosion, slope change and deposition. Follow the formation of upland valleys and waterfalls, then explain how meanders, oxbow lakes, floodplains and levees develop in lower-relief reaches.
1.3 - Water demand, quality and supplyWater can be plentiful in a river yet unsafe or unavailable when people need it. Learn how demand, pollution, storage and distribution interact, using the UK Thames region and Bangladesh as contrasting river-management cases.
1.3 - River flooding and its managementFloods occur when water arriving at a channel exceeds its capacity, but their consequences depend on the places and people exposed. Explain the causes and compare prediction, prevention and risk reduction in the UK Thames basin and Bangladesh's major river system.

Topic 2: Coastal environments

2.1 - Coastal processes and their controlsCoasts change through wave action, weathering, gravity and sediment movement. Learn how these processes work together and why geology, vegetation, people and sea-level change make neighbouring stretches respond differently.
2.1 - Erosional and depositional coastal landformsCoastal landforms reveal where material has been removed, transported or deposited. Explain headlands, cliffs and erosion sequences, then follow the sediment that builds beaches, spits and bars.
2.2 - Coastal ecosystems and their threatsCoastal ecosystems develop where living organisms can tolerate particular physical conditions. Compare reefs, mangroves, dunes and salt marshes, then use the Sundarbans to connect food webs, nutrient cycling and human pressures.
2.3 - Coastal flooding and management strategiesCoastal flooding has several causes, and no single defence suits every shore. Learn how forecasting, planning, engineering and ecosystem management reduce harm, then judge their limits across a connected coastline.
2.3 - Coastal management in the UK and BangladeshCoastal management protects some places while changing costs and risks for others. Compare the UK Holderness coast with Bangladesh's coastal polders, using evidence to judge protection, livelihoods and long-term sustainability.

Topic 3: Hazardous environments

3.1 - Tectonic hazard patterns, causes and measurementEarthquakes and volcanoes are concentrated in recognisable belts, but they do not occur at every boundary in the same way. Learn the mechanisms behind those patterns and distinguish a hazard's physical size from its effects on people.
3.1 - Tropical cyclone formation and measurementTropical cyclones draw energy from warm oceans but need several conditions to organise into powerful rotating storms. Explain their formation, distribution and structure, then interpret wind and pressure measurements carefully.
3.2 - Hazard vulnerability and contrasting impactsThe same type of hazard can have very different consequences in different places. Explain why people live at risk, connect physical and social vulnerability, and use Eyjafjallajökull 2010 and Haiyan 2013 to distinguish immediate impacts from lasting change.
3.2, 3.3 - Japan and Nepal earthquakes: preparation and reliefUse Japan's 2011 Tohoku earthquake and Nepal's 2015 Gorkha earthquake to connect impacts with preparation and immediate response. The comparison covers the required earthquake impacts in 3.2 and warning, design, mapping and relief in 3.3.
3.3 - Japan and Nepal earthquakes: rebuilding resilienceRebuilding can restore yesterday's vulnerability or reduce the harm from a future event. Compare Japan and Nepal through risk assessment, hazard mapping, safer reconstruction and the recovery of livelihoods and communities.

Paper 2: Human geography

Topic 4: Economic activity and energy

4.1 - Economic sectors, location and changeA country's jobs connect farms, factories, services and research, often across national borders. Learn how these sectors differ, why businesses choose particular locations and how employment changes as technology, demand and government decisions change.
4.2 - Sector shifts and informal workChanges in the economic structure create opportunities and losses for different people. This part of 4.2 compares the UK and India, then examines why informal livelihoods are important in Mumbai and how to judge evidence about them.
4.2 - Population, resources and competing theoriesMore people can increase demand for food, water and energy, but people also innovate and change how resources are used. This part of 4.2 compares Malthus and Boserup, using graphs to test their different explanations and the limits of each.
4.3 - Energy demand, supply and the energy mixEnergy connects household needs, industry and transport, but resources and demand are unevenly distributed. This part of 4.3 explains energy gaps and security, then compares the sources a country can combine and the trade-offs for people and environments.
4.3 - Managing energy sustainably in the UK and IndiaEnergy management changes both how energy is supplied and how much is needed. This part of 4.3 compares UK and Indian approaches, explains education, efficiency and conservation, and works through carbon and ecological footprint calculations.

Topic 5: Rural environments

5.1 - Biomes and ecosystem goods and servicesRural environments are parts of ecosystems that provide materials, livelihoods and protection. This part of 5.1 locates the world's major biome groups and explains why their goods and services matter to people, including effects that are easy to overlook in a market price.
5.1 - Farming systems and ecosystem changeFarming provides food by managing plants, animals, soils and water. This part of 5.1 explains how farming systems differ and follows the causal links through which agricultural changes affect ecosystems and rural communities.
5.2 - Rural change in Cumbria and BiharRural areas differ in their landscapes, livelihoods and connections, and change can bring both opportunities and pressures. Compare Cumbria in the UK with rural Bihar in India, then use population structures to make cautious inferences about work and services.
5.3 - Farm diversification and changing rural incomesFarmers can add new products and activities to reduce dependence on a single income source. This part of 5.3 explains the opportunities and risks of different approaches, using a Cumbrian farm business and contrasting photographic, marketing and social-media evidence.
5.3 - Sustainable rural management in Cumbria and BiharRural sustainability requires livelihoods, services and environmental quality to support one another. This part of 5.3 compares strategies and stakeholder roles in Cumbria and Bihar, then shows how evidence can test whether quality of life has improved.

Topic 6: Urban environments

6.1 - Urbanisation, megacities and rapid growthCities grow through several processes, and a growing urban population is not always the same as a growing urban share. Learn to compare fifty years of urbanisation, explain the emergence of megacities and investigate the pressures of rapid growth using maps and photographs.
6.2 - Urban land use, accessibility and land valuesCity land uses compete for locations that meet different needs. This part of 6.2 explains how access and land values shape patterns, why those patterns change, and how satellite images can support a careful land-use interpretation.
6.2 - Urban challenges in London and MumbaiUrban growth concentrates opportunities, resource demands and inequalities. This part of 6.2 compares challenges in London and Mumbai, showing why a wealthy city can still contain disadvantage and why informal settlements must be understood through livelihoods and services as well as housing.
6.3 - The rural-urban fringe and development choicesThe edge of a city attracts development because it combines urban connections with larger areas of land. This part of 6.3 explains competing fringe uses and works through the greenfield–brownfield debate as a decision involving access, costs, people and environmental quality.
6.3 - Sustainable urban management in London and MumbaiSustainable urban management connects environmental improvements with homes, services and livelihoods. This part of 6.3 compares strategies in London and Mumbai, explains the roles of decision-makers and uses mixed evidence to judge changes in environmental quality.

Topic 7: Fragile environments and climate change

7.1, 7.2, 7.3 - Drylands, desertification and water securityWhy can a landscape support people for centuries yet lose productive soil within a few dry years? These dryland parts of 7.1–7.3 connect fragile environments, the causes and consequences of desertification, and technologies that improve water security. The key is to follow changes in vegetation,...
7.1, 7.2, 7.3 - Rainforests, deforestation and sustainable managementRainforest clearance can generate income while weakening the ecosystem on which future livelihoods depend. These rainforest parts of 7.1–7.3 explain the causes and consequences of deforestation, then compare management in the Brazilian Amazon. Maps and dated evidence help distinguish a real impro...
7.1 - Natural climate change and the enhanced greenhouse effectEarth's climate has changed naturally, but that fact alone does not explain today's rapid warming. This climate-causes subdivision of 7.1 examines natural drivers, the greenhouse effect and human emissions. You will learn to judge a proposed explanation by its mechanism, timing and evidence.
7.2, 7.3 - Climate impacts and responses in the UK and BangladeshThe same climatic change can have very different consequences depending on where people live and what they can afford to do. These climate parts of 7.2–7.3 trace impacts through ecosystems and livelihoods, then compare responses in the UK and Bangladesh. A useful judgement explains both how an ac...

Topic 8: Globalisation and migration

8.1, 8.2 - Commodity chains, global institutions and unequal gainsA shirt can connect farms, factories, shipping firms and customers in several continents. This global-economy subdivision of 8.1–8.2 follows those connections, explains how institutions help organise them, and examines why the gains are unequal. A growing global economy creates opportunities, but...
8.1, 8.2 - Migration patterns, motives and impactsPeople move for work, safety, family, treatment, sport and leisure, often for several reasons at once. This migration subdivision of 8.1–8.2 explains motives, measured patterns and consequences for origins, destinations and migrants. Clear definitions matter: a tourist arrival, a visa and a long-...
8.3 - Geopolitical relationships and managing UK migrationBorders are managed through relationships between governments as well as decisions within a country. This subdivision of 8.3 explains links between geopolitics, trade, tourism and migration, then compares approaches to long-term migration in the UK. It examines dated policy examples and their tra...
8.2, 8.3 - Tourism impacts and sustainable tourism in the UK and KenyaTourism can finance livelihoods and conservation while placing pressure on the places visitors value. This tourism subdivision of 8.2–8.3 explains those effects and compares sustainable-tourism responses in the UK and Kenya. The central judgement is whether benefits reach local people while envir...

Topic 9: Development and human welfare

9.1 - Defining, measuring and explaining developmentA country can produce more wealth while some people remain poorly housed, unsafe or unable to obtain healthcare. This lesson covers 9.1's definitions, influences and measures of development and human welfare. Comparing several indicators reveals more than treating one ranking as a complete descri...
9.2 - Uneven development and welfare in IndiaNational development averages can conceal large differences between places and groups. This spatial subdivision of 9.2 explains the causes of uneven development and examines poverty, employment, housing and infrastructure in India. It uses dated evidence to distinguish a national improvement from...
9.2 - Development, demographic change and population structuresPopulation data help explain the needs and opportunities of places, but similar numbers can have different causes. This demographic subdivision of 9.2 connects fertility, mortality, natural increase and population structure with development. It applies those ideas to dated UK, India and Niger dat...
9.3 - Development strategies and projects in the UK and IndiaA project can increase output while leaving some residents worse off, and a successful local scheme may be too small to meet a national need. This lesson covers 9.3's international strategies, different viewpoints and top-down/bottom-up projects in the UK and India. It judges outcomes by particip...