OxfordAQA International GCSE Geography (9230): Geographical and fieldwork skills – 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, Geographical and Fieldwork skills, of the OxfordAQA International GCSE Geography (9230) specification, Version 4.3 (exams May/June 2020 onwards). They practise the skills in 3.3.1 and the enquiry process in 3.3.2, which are assessed in Paper 3 (1 hour 15 minutes, 60 marks, 28% of the qualification); geographical skills can also appear on Papers 1 and 2. All places and data are fictional, except where a question asks about your own enquiry.

Revise first with the study guide for this unit and the revision notes. For other units, use the OxfordAQA International GCSE Geography hub and the 9230 checklist.

Questions

1. Explain the difference between primary data and secondary data. [2]

2. On a fictional map extract, a church lies in grid square 4718. It is three-tenths of the way east across the square and six-tenths of the way north.

(a) Give the six-figure grid reference of the church. [1] (b) On a 1:50 000 map, the church is 3.8 cm from the railway station. Calculate the real distance in kilometres. Show your working. [2] (c) On a 1:25 000 map, a 120 m contour and a spot height of 270 m are 3.0 cm apart. Calculate the average gradient between them as “1 in x”. Show your working. [3]

3. Students counted litter items in 11 equal-sized quadrats in a fictional park, Hartsgrove Park.

Quadrat	A	B	C	D	E	F	G	H	I	J	K
Litter items	6	15	3	9	41	6	11	5	12	8	6

(a) Find the median. [1] (b) Calculate the mean to one decimal place. [2] (c) Calculate the inter-quartile range. [2] (d) Explain why the median is a better measure of typical litter levels than the mean for this data. [2]

4. Visitors to a fictional forest park, Glenarra, rose from 48,000 in 2015 to 66,000 in 2025. Over the same period, the number of bird species recorded there fell from 32 to 26.

(a) Calculate the percentage increase in visitors. [2] (b) Calculate the percentage decrease in bird species, to one decimal place. [2] (c) A survey found that the 75th percentile of visitor group size was 6 people. State what this means. [1]

5. Suggest the most appropriate method to present each data set, and justify your choice.

(a) The number of males and females in five-year age groups in a fictional town. [2] (b) The home towns of 80 visitors to a fictional music festival. [2] (c) The percentage of each land use along one street. [2]

6. Students measured percentage vegetation cover in quadrats along a transect inland from the sea at a fictional dune system, Pellarby Dunes.

Distance from sea (m)	10	30	50	70	90	110	130	150
Vegetation cover (%)	5	18	30	22	55	63	78	90

(a) Describe the relationship between distance from the sea and vegetation cover. Use figures. [3] (b) Identify the anomaly and suggest one reason for it. [2] (c) Calculate the mean point that a line of best fit should pass close to. [2] (d) Using a line of best fit, estimate the vegetation cover at 100 m. [1] (e) Explain why using the line to predict cover at 300 m would be unreliable. [2]

7.

(a) A choropleth map of a fictional district, Kelvaston, shows the percentage of households without a car. The classes are 0 to 14.9%, 15 to 29.9% and 30 to 44.9%. Ward values are: A 12%, B 27%, C 41%, D 18%, E 35%, F 9%. Which wards are shaded in the darkest class, and which in the lightest? [2] (b) On an isoline map of noise, the 60 dB and 65 dB isolines are 2 cm apart beside a main road but 6 cm apart inside a park. Explain what this shows. [3]

8. Fifty visitors to a fictional market, Saltmere, gave their travel distance.

Distance (km)	0 to under 5	5 to under 10	10 to under 15	15 to under 20	20 to under 25
Frequency	6	15	12	9	8

(a) State the modal class. [1] (b) Calculate the cumulative frequency for each class. [2] (c) Identify the class that contains the median. [1] (d) Calculate the percentage of visitors who travelled less than 15 km. [1]

9. A fictional council leaflet contains this graph and claim.

A bar chart titled “Recycling soars!” shows two bars: 2023, 9,400 tonnes, and 2025, 9,900 tonnes. The y-axis starts at 9,000 tonnes. The 2025 bar looks more than twice as tall as the 2023 bar.

(a) Calculate the actual percentage increase in recycling, to one decimal place. [2] (b) Identify two weaknesses in how the data is presented, and explain how each could mislead. [4]

10. Students at a fictional school, Brookhill, test the hypothesis: “Air temperature is higher over tarmac than over grass on the school site.”

(a) Describe one method of collecting primary data for this enquiry, including the equipment. [2] (b) Suggest a sampling strategy and justify it. [3] (c) Identify one risk in this fieldwork and explain how it could be reduced. [2] (d) At 1 pm on one sunny day, the mean of five readings was 21.4°C over tarmac and 19.6°C over grass. The students concluded that the hypothesis is true. Evaluate this conclusion. [4]

11. Give the title of your individual fieldwork enquiry. To what extent did your data collection methods allow you to reach a reliable conclusion? [9]

12. Evaluate the usefulness of alternative methods of data collection, such as selecting internet data or interviewing people at home, compared with practical fieldwork, for an individual fieldwork enquiry. [9]

Answers

1. Primary data is collected first-hand by the investigator, for example by measuring or interviewing [1]. Secondary data has already been collected by someone else, for example census figures or published maps [1]. [2] Examiner insight: each mark needs a clear contrast; an example alone, with no definition, is not enough.

2. (a) 473186 [1]. (b) 3.8 x 500 m = 1,900 m [1] = 1.9 km [1]. (c) Horizontal distance 3.0 x 250 = 750 m [1]. Rise 270 - 120 = 150 m [1]. 750 / 150 = 5, so 1 in 5 [1]. Examiner insight: gradient marks are lost when centimetres are divided by metres; convert the map distance first and show each step.

3. (a) Ordered: 3, 5, 6, 6, 6, 8, 9, 11, 12, 15, 41. Median = 6th value = 8 [1]. (b) Total = 122 [1]; 122 / 11 = 11.1 [1]. (c) Lower quartile (3rd value) = 6 and upper quartile (9th value) = 12 [1]; IQR = 6 [1]. (d) The mean is pulled up by one extreme value, 41 in quadrat E [1]; the median of 8 is closer to most quadrats, so it better represents typical litter [1]. Examiner insight: “the mean is affected by outliers” needs the actual outlier from the table to gain the application mark.

4. (a) (66,000 - 48,000) / 48,000 x 100 [1] = 37.5% [1]. (b) (32 - 26) / 32 x 100 [1] = 18.8% decrease [1]. (c) Three-quarters (75%) of visitor groups had 6 people or fewer [1]. Examiner insight: the most common slip is dividing by the 2025 figure; always divide by the original value.

5. (a) Population pyramid [1], because it shows males and females side by side for each age group, so the age-sex structure is clear [1]. (b) Desire lines on a map [1], because straight lines from each home town to the festival show where visitors came from and how far they travelled [1]. (c) Pie chart or divided bar [1], because the land uses are parts of one whole that add to 100% [1]. Examiner insight: the justification must link to the type of data; “it is easy to read” earns nothing.

6. (a) Positive relationship: vegetation cover increases with distance from the sea [1]. It rises from 5% at 10 m to 90% at 150 m [1]. The increase is steepest between 70 m and 90 m, from 22% to 55% [1]. (b) The anomaly is 22% at 70 m, lower than at 50 m [1]. A footpath or trampling by visitors may have removed vegetation at that point [1]. (c) Mean distance = 640 / 8 = 80 m [1]. Mean cover = 361 / 8 = 45.1% [1]. (d) About 57% (accept any value from 52% to 62% read from a sensible line) [1]. (e) 300 m is far beyond the data, so the trend may not continue [1]; the line predicts about 180%, which is impossible because cover cannot exceed 100% [1]. Examiner insight: in “describe the relationship” questions, quote paired values (distance and cover) and name the anomaly; explanation is not credited.

7. (a) Darkest class: wards C and E [1]. Lightest class: wards A and F [1]. (b) Near the main road, the isolines are close, so noise changes quickly over a short distance [1], showing a steep noise gradient away from the traffic source [1]. In the park, wide spacing shows noise changes slowly, because there is no strong source nearby [1]. Examiner insight: isoline answers need both spacing and meaning: say “close together, so a steep gradient”, not just “close together”.

8. (a) 5 to under 10 km [1]. (b) 6, 21, 33 [1]; 42, 50 [1]. (c) The median is the 25th value, in the 10 to under 15 km class [1]. (d) 33 / 50 x 100 = 66% [1]. Examiner insight: write the cumulative totals in a column beside the table; this makes the median class and percentages quick to read off.

9. (a) (9,900 - 9,400) / 9,400 x 100 [1] = 5.3% [1]. (b) The y-axis starts at 9,000 tonnes, not zero [1], so a 5.3% rise looks like more than doubling [1]. Only two years are shown [1], so we cannot tell whether 2025 is part of a trend or a one-year rise [1]. Examiner insight: weakness questions need the effect on the reader explained; naming “truncated axis” alone gains only half the marks.

10. (a) Use a digital thermometer held at the same height above the ground at each site [1] and record readings after the display settles, for the same length of time at each site [1]. (b) Stratified sampling [1]: divide the site into tarmac and grass areas and choose sample points within each surface [1], so both surfaces are represented and can be fairly compared [1]. (c) Risk: vehicles in the school car park on tarmac sites [1]. Reduce it by working in pairs with one person watching for traffic, or by measuring when the car park is closed [1]. (d) The data supports the hypothesis: tarmac was 1.8°C warmer [1]. However, readings were taken at one time on one sunny day [1], so results may differ on cloudy days or in the morning [1]. Five readings is a small sample, and shade from buildings may affect some sites, so the conclusion is only partly reliable [1]. Examiner insight: “evaluate” needs a judgement; finish with how reliable the conclusion is, not just a list of problems.

11. The real exam marks extended answers using levels of response, not point by point. These indicative points show what earns credit. Example title: “How does land use change with distance from the centre of a local town?”

• States the title and the idea being tested, that commercial land use falls away from the centre [1].
• Describes the methods precisely: ground floor land use recorded every 100 m along two roads, for 1 km each [1].
• Justifies a method: systematic sampling gave even coverage and was easy to repeat [1].
• Explains a strength: two roads reduced the effect of one unusual road [1].
• Uses own results: commercial use fell from 80% of sites within 200 m of the centre to 10% at 1 km [1].
• Identifies a problem: some buildings had mixed uses, so classifying them was a judgement [1].
• Identifies a limit: only two roads were sampled, and land between sites was missed [1].
• Suggests improvement: two more roads and a local planning map would test the result [1].
• Reaches a judgement: methods allowed a largely reliable conclusion; the trend was clear on both roads [1]. [9] Examiner insight: top-level answers use details from their own enquiry throughout; general comments about “sample size” with no figures stay in the lower levels.

12. The real exam marks extended answers using levels of response, not point by point. Indicative points:

• The specification allows alternative methods if they involve planning and selecting, not ready-processed data [1].
• Internet data such as census tables can cover large areas and long time periods [1].
• It can be selected to fit the enquiry question, so it still develops selection skills [1].
• However, it may be out of date or collected for another purpose, so it may not match the enquiry [1].
• Interviews at home are safe and quick, and give qualitative views [1].
• But a small, convenient sample of family or friends may be biased [1].
• Practical fieldwork gives first-hand data and lets you see the place you study [1].
• It brings risks, cost and time limits, so samples may be small [1].
• Judgement: alternative methods are useful when fieldwork is not possible, but real fieldwork gives better understanding of the place and is recommended by the specification for full access to the marks [1]. [9] Examiner insight: a balanced answer that ends with a supported judgement scores higher than a one-sided list of advantages.

Where marks are usually lost

• Writing northings before eastings in grid references.
• Mixing map centimetres with ground metres in gradient calculations.
• Dividing by the new value in percentage change.
• Finding the median before putting the data in order.
• Explaining a pattern when the question only asks you to describe it.
• Naming a risk with no way to reduce it.
• Writing about fieldwork in general instead of your own titled enquiry in Section C.
• Listing problems in an evaluation with no final judgement.

Next steps

• Recheck weak areas in the study guide and revision notes.
• Practise reading landforms on maps with the Living with the Physical Environment guide, and plan for all three papers with preparing for the 9230 exams.
• Find your weaker topics with a free diagnostic.
• Want help with your fieldwork write-up? Book a free trial class.

Official syllabus

These questions are written for section 3.3 Geographical and Fieldwork skills of the OxfordAQA International GCSE Geography (9230) specification, Version 4.3 (exams May/June 2020 onwards). Use them with official past papers from your board or school; your teacher will confirm the official command words.