Cambridge IGCSE Geography (0460): Theme 3.3 – Industry – Practice Questions

These are original questions written for Marlbridge, for revision and practice on this content. They are not reproduced past-paper questions, and they do not replicate the exam’s exact structure, question count or mark tariffs – examination boards hold copyright in their own papers. Use these alongside the official past papers from your board or school.

These questions cover section 3.3 Industry of the Cambridge IGCSE Geography (0460) syllabus for examination in 2025 and 2026, Version 2 (published November 2022). The section is assessed in Paper 1 Geographical Themes, where you answer three 25-mark questions, one from each section; Paper 2 Geographical Skills tests skills with data such as tables and graphs, and its knowledge questions are based on the three themes; Questions 4, 8 and 9 practise this kind of data work. All places, firms and figures in the sources are fictional unless a question asks for your own case study.

Revise first with the Industry study guide and the Industry revision notes. Track your progress on the Cambridge IGCSE Geography hub and checklist.

Questions

1. Define the term “assembly industry”. [2]

2. State the difference between the location and the site of a factory. [2]

3. Read the source about a fictional factory.

The Orvale Juice Company in Lamsa (a fictional town) employs 120 workers. Each day lorries bring oranges from farms within 30 km. The factory was built with a loan from a local bank. It uses river water, electricity from the national grid, cardboard cartons bought from a supplier and pressing machines bought from overseas. Inside, the oranges are washed, pressed and heated to kill bacteria, and the juice is packed into cartons. Each day the factory sends out packed juice, several tonnes of orange peel and dirty water from washing.

(a) Identify two human inputs from the source. [2] (b) Identify two waste outputs from the source. [2] (c) Explain why the Orvale factory is an example of processing industry. [2]

4. Study the table. The data are fictional.

Industry type (Kessar region, a fictional area)	Jobs in 2005 (thousands)	Jobs in 2025 (thousands)
Processing	18.0	12.6
Manufacturing	24.0	15.0
Assembly	10.0	16.5
High technology	4.0	11.0
Total	56.0	55.1

(a) Calculate the percentage change in high-technology jobs between 2005 and 2025. Show your working. [2] (b) Calculate high-technology jobs as a percentage of all jobs in 2025. Give your answer to one decimal place. [2] (c) Describe the changes in employment shown in the table. Use data in your answer. [3]

5. A firm plans a new car assembly plant needing 40 hectares in Port Tavin, a fictional coastal region. A sketch map shows three possible sites.

Site A: 50 hectares of flat, drained land beside a container port; 2 km from a motorway junction; several parts suppliers already nearby; land is expensive. Site B: 60 hectares of cheap, hilly farmland 30 km inland; 15 km from the motorway; no railway; next to a national park boundary. Site C: 8 hectares of an old textile mill in the inner city; surrounded by housing; narrow roads; a large workforce lives nearby.

Choose the best site for the plant. Justify your choice and explain why you rejected the other two sites. [6]

6. Explain why high-technology firms are often described as footloose, yet often cluster near universities. [4]

7. Explain two ways in which political factors can influence the location of industry. [4]

8. A fictional sugar mill in Velmora needs 8 tonnes of sugar cane to make 1 tonne of sugar. Transport costs 2 dollars per tonne per kilometre. Site X is beside the cane fields, 60 km from the market city. Site Y is in the market city, 60 km from the cane fields.

(a) Calculate the transport cost of delivering 1 tonne of sugar to the market from each site, and the difference between them. [3] (b) Use your answer to explain why many processing industries locate near their raw materials. [2]

9. Study the data on two fictional shoe factories.

	Factory P (Dunmere, fictional)	Factory Q (Halvik, fictional)
Workers	25	2,400
Pairs of shoes made per week	300	60,000
Methods	Hand tools, small workshop	Robots, production line, just-in-time deliveries
Main market	Local town	Exports to many countries

(a) Calculate the number of pairs made per worker per week in each factory. [2] (b) Suggest how location factors could explain the differences in scale of production and methods of organisation between the two factories. [4]

10. For a named industrial zone or factory you have studied, explain how both its site and its wider location helped it to succeed. [8]

11. “Human factors are now more important than physical factors in deciding where industry locates.” To what extent do you agree? Refer to examples. [10]

12. Compare the inputs, processes and outputs of a processing industry with those of a high-technology industry. [8]

Answers

1. An industry that puts together components or parts [1] that were made in other factories, for example cars or televisions [1]. [2] Examiner insight: The second mark needs the idea that the parts come from elsewhere; “makes cars” alone is not a definition.

2. Location is the general area or region where the factory is found, such as near a port [1]; site is the actual plot of land it stands on, with its size, slope and surroundings [1]. [2] Examiner insight: Each term needs its own meaning; saying “site is more detailed” without explaining earns only one mark.

3. (a) The 120 workers (labour) [1]; the loan from a local bank (capital), or the pressing machines (machinery) [1]. [2] (b) Orange peel [1]; dirty water from washing [1]. [2] (c) It changes a raw material, oranges, into a more useful product, juice [1]; the oranges lose a lot of weight as peel and water are removed [1]. [2] Examiner insight: “Identify” answers must come from the source; oranges, river water and electricity are physical inputs, so they cannot score in part (a).

4. (a) (11.0 − 4.0) ÷ 4.0 × 100 [1] = an increase of 175% [1]. [2] (b) 11.0 ÷ 55.1 × 100 [1] = 20.0% [1]. [2] (c) Processing and manufacturing jobs fell, for example manufacturing from 24,000 to 15,000 [1]. Assembly and high-tech jobs rose, for example assembly from 10,000 to 16,500 [1]. Total employment stayed almost the same, falling only by 900 jobs, so the change was a shift between types rather than a loss of jobs [1]. [3] Examiner insight: A description of change needs figures with units; the table is in thousands, so “fell from 24 to 15” without “thousand” loses accuracy.

5. Site A is best [1]. Its 50 hectares of flat, drained land meet the 40-hectare need and are cheap to build on [1]. The port allows parts to be imported and cars exported [1]. Being 2 km from the motorway and near suppliers suits just-in-time deliveries, which outweighs the higher land price [1]. Site B is rejected because hilly land is costly to level, it is far from the motorway and building beside a national park may be refused [1]. Site C is rejected because 8 hectares is far too small and narrow roads in a housing area would block lorries, even though labour is nearby [1]. [6] Examiner insight: Justify with details from all three sites; a correct choice with only general points about “good transport” stays low.

6. High-tech products are light and high in value, so transport costs are a small share of total costs [1]; they do not depend on bulky raw materials or a coalfield, so they can locate almost anywhere [1]. They cluster near universities because they need highly skilled graduates and researchers [1], and being close lets firms share ideas and work with university laboratories, as in science parks [1]. [4] Examiner insight: The question has two halves; answers that only explain “footloose” can reach two marks at most.

7. Governments can offer grants, tax breaks or cheap land [1], which lowers costs and can attract a firm to an area it would not otherwise choose, such as a region with high unemployment [1]. Governments can create free trade zones or join trade agreements [1], so firms locate inside them to avoid customs duties on imports and exports [1]. [4] Examiner insight: Each way needs the action and its effect on the firm’s costs or markets; a list of policies scores half marks.

8. (a) Site X: 1 tonne × 60 km × 2 dollars = 120 dollars [1]. Site Y: 8 tonnes of cane × 60 km × 2 dollars = 960 dollars [1]. Difference: 960 − 120 = 840 dollars, so Site X is cheaper [1]. [3] (b) The raw material is eight times heavier than the product, so moving the raw material costs eight times as much as moving the sugar [1]; locating near the cane fields cuts transport costs, which is why weight-losing processing industries locate near raw materials [1]. [2] Examiner insight: Show each step of the calculation with units; a correct final figure with no working risks losing marks if it is wrong.

9. (a) Factory P: 300 ÷ 25 = 12 pairs per worker [1]. Factory Q: 60,000 ÷ 2,400 = 25 pairs per worker [1]. [2] (b) Factory Q serves an export market, so it needs good transport such as a port or motorway, which supports large-scale production [1]. A large, cheap, flat site would allow a long production line and robots [1]. Just-in-time deliveries need reliable roads and nearby suppliers, so Q is probably in an industrial zone [1]. Factory P serves a local market, needs little land and uses local skilled labour with hand tools, so it can stay small [1]. [4] Examiner insight: “Suggest” allows reasonable ideas, but each must link a location factor to the scale or method shown in the table.

10. The real exam marks extended answers with levels of response, not point by point; these are indicative creditworthy points for Toyota, Burnaston. Named factory: Toyota car plant at Burnaston, near Derby, England [1]. Site: it covers the former Derby Airport [1], a large area of flat land that was cheap to build on and suited a long assembly line [1]. Site: it lies beside the A38 dual carriageway, giving direct road access for lorries [1]. Location: the A38 links to the A50 and then the M1, connecting the plant to suppliers and ports [1]. This matters because just-in-time delivery fails if parts are delayed [1]. Location: the UK was then in the European Community, so cars could be sold to other member countries without import duties [1]. Location: Derby’s history of engineering offered skilled workers [1]. [8] Examiner insight: Separate site points from location points and attach real names, such as roads or ports, to each; generic answers are capped in the lower levels.

11. The real exam marks extended answers with levels of response, not point by point; these are indicative creditworthy points. Physical factors include land and raw materials; human factors include labour, markets, transport and political factors [1]. Agree: political factors such as the free-zone rules at Jebel Ali Free Zone, Dubai, attract foreign firms [1]. Agree: firms at Jebel Ali import most inputs by sea, so local raw materials matter little [1]. Agree: high-tech firms at Cambridge Science Park follow skilled graduates rather than raw materials [1]. Agree: Burnaston’s position inside the European Community gave duty-free access to customers in other member countries, a political factor [1]. Disagree: flat land is still needed for large plants, as at Burnaston’s former airfield [1]. Disagree: weight-losing processing industries, such as sugar mills, still locate near raw materials [1]. Disagree: energy-hungry industries such as aluminium smelting need cheap power [1]. Evaluation: factors combine, so a human factor may choose the country while physical factors choose the site [1]. Judgement: largely agree for most modern industry, but physical factors still decide siting and matter for processing [1]. [10] Examiner insight: “To what extent” needs both sides and a final judgement that follows from your examples, not a one-sided list.

12. The real exam marks extended answers with levels of response, not point by point; these are indicative creditworthy points. Processing inputs are mainly bulky raw materials, such as sugar cane or fruit [1], while high-tech inputs are mainly human: highly skilled labour, research and capital [1]. Both need energy and water, but processing often needs large amounts of water for washing [1]. Processing involves simple stages such as washing, crushing and heating [1]; high-tech processes are complex, such as designing and testing microchips in clean rooms [1]. Processing outputs are low-value products by weight, such as sugar [1]; high-tech outputs are small, high-value products [1]. Processing creates large amounts of bulky waste, such as peel or cane fibre, while high-tech waste is smaller in volume [1]. [8] Examiner insight: “Compare” needs linked statements using words such as “while” or “whereas”; two separate descriptions earn fewer marks.

Where marks are usually lost

• Taking physical inputs from a source when the question asks for human ones.
• Forgetting waste as an output, or listing only products.
• Leaving out working or units in calculations such as Questions 4, 8 and 9.
• Not using every site’s details in a decision question like Question 5.
• Answering only one half of a two-part question, as in Question 6.
• Mixing up site and location in case study answers.
• Using a case study with no real names, places or dates.
• Writing a one-sided answer to a “to what extent” question.

Next steps

• Check gaps in your knowledge with our diagnostics.
• Review settlement and urban land use with the Population and Settlement practice questions.
• Book a free trial class.

Official syllabus

These questions are written for the Cambridge IGCSE Geography (0460) syllabus for examination in 2025 and 2026, Version 2 (published November 2022), section 3.3 Industry. Check the latest version on the Cambridge International website; your teacher will confirm anything the syllabus does not print.