GCSE Specification A GEOGRAPHY
TEACHERS’ BULLETIN April 2011
Welcome to the Spring term issue of the GCSE Geography Specification A Bulletin. This bulletin
includes advice on further developing your Controlled Assessment tasks in the second cycle.
We hope that you will find it useful and would welcome any suggestions about information you
would like to see included.
Contents
1 Controlled Assessment
2 Examples of Urban Fieldwork Enquiries
3 Key Dates (Summer 2011 Series)
4 Contacts
1 Controlled Assessment
Thanks to all of you for marking, annotating and getting your sample of Controlled Assessment
off to your moderator by 25th March. The procedure means that I have, at last, been seeing
examples of real pieces of Controlled Assessment. I have already seen some excellent
examples of good practice and it is my intention to put exemplar materials on WJEC’s website
during the Summer term and also use different examples in the Autumn Inset.
As the moderation deadline got closer I was being asked similar questions by teachers who
were already thinking about the second cycle of Controlled Assessment. So, the main focus of
this bulletin is to address some of the issues that have been raised.
1.1 Do teachers need to set a different pair of tasks in the second cycle?
I am fully aware of how busy teachers are (I have, after all, only recently left a very busy
department in an 11-18 school). I am also aware of how long it can take to develop a good task.
However, I have to remind you that the regulator expects teachers to set a different Controlled
Assessment task each year. At the least, this means you need to develop two pairs of tasks,
and alternate them every other year.
In reality, you may well be able to tweak an existing task so that it can be repeated in
consecutive years with very little change. The easiest way to do this with the Fieldwork Enquiry
is to keep the title of the task the same, but visit a different site. The alternative is to visit the
same site, but set a different enquiry question or hypothesis. However, I would be cautious of
this approach especially for those centres who have done a river enquiry in the first cycle. It’s
not impossible to alter the enquiry question or variables sufficiently to create a new task, but it’s
not easy! The fact is, there are only a limited number of variables that can be measured in a
GCSE river study, so if you have measured them all in year one, you are left with nowhere to go
in year two.
I have, therefore, been thinking hard about what makes a good alternative and I have come up
with two different urban fieldwork enquiries. You will find these described later in this bulletin.
1.2 Do my students need to write a methodology for their Fieldwork Enquiry?
No. The mark scheme in the Legacy specification meant that it was logical to structure an
Enquiry with an Introduction, Method, Analysis, Conclusion and Evaluation. The new mark
scheme for the current Fieldwork Enquiry does not give any marks for describing the method, so
my advice is to leave it out.
There are marks for candidates who can relate their Enquiry to their wider geographical studies
(see paragraph 1.3 below). Therefore, it would be sensible to use a structure along these lines:





Where is my study located?
What concepts / issues / theories am I investigating?
What does my data tell me?
How do my findings compare to what I expected?
How could my project be improved?
1.3 How can students access the marks for AO2 in the Fieldwork Enquiry?
It should be relatively easy for students to access marks for AO1 by doing things like:



Describing the location and scale of the specific area of study
Describing and explaining facts about the specific place they have studied
Reaching conclusions about the specific place they have studied based on the data they
have processed.
However, to gain marks for AO2, candidates need to apply what they have seen at the specific
study site to their wider geographical knowledge and understanding. This means that students
need to be aware of the concepts / processes / issues / ideas or theories that underpin their
investigation. They are unlikely to write about this unless they realise that it’s needed – so
please share the mark scheme with your students and give them strategies to help them
incorporate their wider geographical understanding. There are various ways of doing this. One
simple way is to ask them to write a paragraph describing the underlying concepts. However,
this can be presented as a ‘bolt-on’ section that does not properly relate to the student’s own
observations at the site of the fieldwork, in which case the student will find it difficult to get
beyond level 2. Another simple way to get around the problem is to show the students a video
on the topic that is under investigation as part of their teaching and learning prior to the fieldtrip.
So, for example, you could show students a video about the problems of honeypot sites in the
Peak District before taking the students to a local honeypot site to investigate the impacts of
tourism. Students can then comment on the differences and similarities between the impacts
they observed at their own site, compared to the general problems that were described in the
video.

1.4 Will I be able to continue to get FREE advice?
There is no need to seek approval for your Controlled Assessment tasks. However, WJEC offer
free guidance to centres who wish to submit tasks for approval and we would encourage all
centres to go through this process. Details of how to get advice can be found on WJEC website
by following the link below:
http://www.wjec.co.uk/uploads/publications/9216.doc
This service will continue for the foreseeable future. The Controlled Assessment tasks for your
current year 10 will need to be different from those taken by current year 11. Please take time to
reflect on the performance of your tasks and consider ways in which they could be amended
and improved. Our controlled assessment advisors will be more than happy to discuss your new
tasks with you.
2 Examples of Urban Fieldwork Enquiries
In talking to various teachers I have come across some great ideas for urban fieldwork enquiries
based on Themes 5, 6 and 11. The following two proposals are based on discussions with
several teachers. I am particularly grateful to Fiona Osmaston and Glyn Owen for sharing their
ideas about the global High Street and ‘clone town’.
In planning your fieldwork enquiry there are several considerations:
 What is the generic title for your chosen theme?
 How should you phrase the title of the task to make it focussed but sufficiently
challenging?
 Which enquiry questions will be assessed?
 How will you contextualise the title for your own study?
 What are the wider geographical applications of this study? Ie what are the ideas and
concepts?
 What primary and secondary data sources could be collected?
 How will you enable students to show independence?
The following two documents are offered as outlines of a Fieldwork Enquiry proposal for
Themes 5 and 6. You will obviously need to contextualise the proposal to suit the town or city
that you intend to visit.
Theme 5 Fieldwork Enquiry
5
Generic title
Enquiry questions assessed
Example of a
contextualised title
The goods and/or
services we receive
from/sell to other
countries.
1.1 How have changes in business
and technology allowed increased
interdependence between MEDCs
and LEDCs?
1.2 What are the benefits of
globalisation and why do some see it
as a threat?
How is Plymouth
connected to the rest of
the world?
Contextualised title
Asking ‘How is…’ will encourage description but not necessarily explanation. ‘How well is
Plymouth connected to the rest of the world?’ would encourage a more evaluative approach and
would allow students to access the higher levels of the mark scheme.
Application
Candidates may apply their knowledge of the factors that drive globalisation at a global scale
(such as trade, MNC structures, improved transport and communication, immigration /
emigration) to evidence seen in the study area. They may be able to compare and contrast the
study area to a named city or region from a case study.
Primary and secondary evidence
 Land use mapping of town centre to identify independent shops; national chains and
TNCs. This would be a similar analysis to ‘clone town’ survey (see weblinks).
 Mapping the origin of products in weekly shopping.
 Pedestrian and traffic flows
 Questionnaire surveys to identify opinions of shoppers / shopkeepers on impact of
globalisation.

Use of census data to identify patterns of migration.
Encouraging independent thought
1 Create a short class questionnaire for whole class collated results. Ask students to work in
groups of four. Each group to identify and agree an additional four questions for the survey.
2 Suggest a variety of enquiry questions and ask students to select one in addition to the
overarching title eg:
 Are TNCs located on streets with greater pedestrian / traffic flow?
 Are people aged 14-21 better connected to the rest of the world than people aged over
50?
 Who benefits from globalisation of Plymouth?
 Which groups, in Plymouth, see globalisation as a threat?
Useful weblinks
The following link is to a description of a ‘clone town survey’ developed by a school in Guildford,
Surrey and posted on the Teaching Today website
http://www.geographyteachingtoday.org.uk/fieldwork/info/local-learning/local-area-studies/clonetowns-a-fieldwork-investigation/
The New Economics Foundation (NEF) coined the phrase ‘clone town’. Follow this link to read
their report on the state of Britain’s High Street.
http://www.neweconomics.org/projects/clone-town-britain
The results of the survey can also be downloaded and students could use this as secondary
data:
http://www.neweconomics.org/sites/neweconomics.org/files/Clone_Town_Britain_1.pdf
A simple description of how to conduct your own survey can be found at
http://www.geographyteachingtoday.org.uk/images/text/FW_clone_survey.pdf
Theme 6 Fieldwork Enquiry
6
Generic title
Enquiry questions assessed
Example of a
contextualised title
Variations in
development in a
local area using
development
indicators.
1.1 How is economic and social
development measured and what are
the global patterns?
An investigation into
quality of life in a variety
of wards within Cardiff.
Contextualised title
This title will work if the teacher encourages the approach suggested below. In which case each
student will create their own enquiry questions based around the socio-economic group they are
considering.
Application
The specification does not require the study of models of urban land use. Students can apply
the concept of externalities to quality of life ie the idea that an individual’s quality of life is
affected by environmental and social factors external to their home such as traffic noise,
perception of crime and standards of education. These external factors also affect demand for
housing and, therefore, house prices.
Primary and secondary evidence
 Environmental Quality Index and/or bi-polar surveys;
 traffic flow;
 land use mapping of services (GP, schools, bus routes, library, leisure facilities);
 Questionnaire surveys;
 Census data at ward level;
 Results for local schools;
 Local crimes;
 Local house prices.
Encouraging independent thought
Students choose a socio-economic group or family type (single mother, OAP, middle income
family of four etc) and identify their housing needs and wants. They can then use these criteria
to sieve the data to find the family an appropriate housing location. Students will choose
different groups and identify the criteria independently.
Useful weblinks
www.communityhealthprofiles.info/index.php This website describes quality of life in all local
authorities in England. These Community Health Profiles describe key health data for each local
authority, commenting on whether the figures are above or below average.
www.upmystreet.com You can use this website to find UK data on themes such as school
performance and average house prices. You can search the site using postcodes.
http://local.live.com/ This website has excellent aerial photos and satellite images. You can use
it to describe housing type and housing density. You can also use it to describe externalities: the
features of the neighbourhood such as parks and busy roads that add positive or negative value
to quality of life.
www.statistics.gov.uk This is the official website of the UK National Census. Like the sites
above, you can search by postcode to find all sorts of data about each ward (an enumeration
district) in your chosen city. The census includes data such as:
 number and percentage of people in each age group
 housing tenure (the percentage of people who own or rent their home)
 percentage of people who are unemployed or in various types of employment.
http://www.police.uk/ This site allows you to search a GIS database of crimes by post code.
3 Key Dates (Summer 2011 Series)
Unit 1 (Core Geography)
Monday 13th June (am)
Unit 2 (Optional Themes)
Friday 17th June (am)
Results for June 2011 examination issued to centres
23rd August
4 Contacts
Please contact us with any queries.
Andy Owen
Subject Officer: GCSE Geography
andrew.owen@wjec.co.uk
Telephone (029) 20265114
Fax (029) 20575994
Steve James
Subject Support Officer
steve.james@wjec.co.uk
Telephone (029) 20265029
Fax (029) 20575994
Rob Bisatt
GCSE section (for examiner applications)
rob.bisatt@wjec.co.uk
Telephone (029) 20265151
Website http://www.wjec.co.uk
DISCLAIMER
Internet communications are not secure and therefore WJEC does not accept legal
responsibility for the contents of this message. Any views or opinions expressed in this
message are solely those of the author and not necessarily those of WJEC, unless otherwise
specifically stated.
Please note that WJEC may intercept incoming and outgoing email communications.
YMWADIAD
Nid yw cyfathrebiadau rhyngrwyd yn ddiogel ac felly nid yw CBAC yn derbyn cyfrifoldeb
cyfreithiol am gynnwys y neges hon. Safbwyntiau neu farn yr awdur yn unig yw'r rhai a fynegir
yn y neges hon ac nid ydynt o angenrhaid yn adlewyrchu safbwyntiau neu farn CBAC, oni nodir
hynny'n benodol. Gofynnir i chi nodi y gall CBAC atal cyfathrebiadau e-bost mewnol neu allanol.