What Does It Take to Get an A*-A?

Pushing for A*-A

Programme

2015

What Does it Take to Get an A*-A?

There is a Japanese proverb that says:

“When you're dying of thirst it's too late

to think about digging a well”.

There is a very simple reason for writing the proverb above and it is this; “Now is the time to start digging!” Exam preparation is an essential part of education and, whether you like it or not, it is directly linked to the potential level of your success. So the message is clear; you have to do it (if you want to achieve your potential!) so don’t cry and wallow over it, saying how unfair and boring it is, just SUMO (SHUT UP, MOVE ON).

Let’s start the journey of trying to get an A* or an A. Firstly you should be proud that you have been chosen for this programme because it means that your teacher believes you have the potential to get one of the top grades. As with everything in life, not everyone on the programme will get an A* or A, but, if you follow it, you should enhance your chances. So what have you got to lose?

The first question we have to answer is, “what do I need to achieve either an A* or an A?” If we analyse past data of what percentage marks were needed to get an A* or A, there is a clear trend; it is getting a little harder each year to get the top grades. The 2015 projections are exactly what they say, projections. There is no inside information that has gone into these, it is just a prediction based on the trend over the past 4 years.

You shouldn’t fear this increasing trend. In fact you should embrace the challenge that it sets. The true facts are that only about 23% of all the students who take GCSE geography in Great Britain (which numbered 180,000 last year) get an A* or an A. If you can achieve this standard, you will be part of a small club that achieves the highest grades in what is commonly held as one of the most challenging subjects.

What are the Keys to Getting A*-A Grades?

There are four key areas to getting an A*-A, each of them are equally as important:

1.  Get Motivated

2.  Perfect Preparation

3.  Reach Level 3

4.  Be Relentless

1.  Get Motivated

You need to find the motivation to dedicate yourself to preparing for

your exams. What is it that you REALLY want from your exams and where do you want these exams to take you?

Motivation can be intrinsic (inside) or extrinsic (given to you). Which are you? Set yourself motivational targets to achieve every week and reward yourself for doing so OR get someone to regularly motivate you.

Keep in mind the BIGGER PICTURE of what you want to do or what you want to be in the future. Are you willing to put everything into achieving those dreams?

CHALLENGE 1: On your home computer or on a big piece of A3 paper, put pictures of everything you want to be or want to achieve in a big collage. Every morning and every time you sit for revision, look at the collage and say “SCHOOL/REVISION IS ANOTHER STEP CLOSER”

2.  Perfect Preparation

One of the realities of passing GCSE Geography at A* or A

is that you will have to prepare properly for it. You need to

devise an exam timetable that covers all aspects of geography that we have covered in the following topics; Restless Earth, Rocks, Resources and Scenery, The Coastal Zone, Population Change, Tourism and Globalisation.

Research suggest that it is more beneficial to make your revision GOAL ORIENTATED INSTEAD OF TIME ORIENTATED. This means rather than setting a time-limit of revision per night, set a goal to actively achieve e.g. I’ll revise mass tourism case study tonight rather than I’m going to revise for 30 minutes.

CHALLENGE 2: Audit your knowledge of geography using the tables provided. Categorise red/orange/green for how confident you are. Using the calendar below set up a GOAL orientated programme of revision. Prioritise red areas for multiple sessions to ensure it sticks!

3.  Reach Level 3

You MUST target the 8 mark questions as your top priority! Your aim must be to get a level 3 on these questions which will give you 7 or 8 marks. To give yourself a great chance at achieving a level 3 you must:

A.  USE CASE STUDIES/EXAMPLES (THROUGHOUT)

B.  USE GEOGRAPHICAL TERMS

C.  USE PRECISE DETAILS; FACTS/FIGURES/PLACE

D.  DEVELOP THE POINTS YOU MAKE

CHALLENGE 3: Every weekend try two 8 mark questions (give yourself a strict 15 min time). Use the list of questions later on in the programme. Using four different colours highlight the areas in your answer where you have case studies/examples, geographical terms, precise details and developed points. Get them graded by your teacher.

4.  Be Relentless

Face reality, there are going to be days when you don’t feel like revising or where you think your revising is poor. This is when you have to be relentless. If you feel like it’s all going wrong do two things:

A.  Be a Hippo: Wallow in the mud of despair for ONLY five minutes. Get all your frustrations, annoyances and doubts out in the open…then…

B.  SUMO: Shut Up and Move On and carry on pursuing your goal RELENTLESSLY

You have no guarantee of success but are you going to let this stop you pursuing an A* or A? That is the essence of being relentless and ultimately successful.

CHALLENGE 4: Relentlessly pursue your A* or A. Sacrifice the next 11 weeks to prepare for your exams and see where it can take you!

8 Mark Questions Store

Case Studies

Level 3 Answers (Assessing model answers)

Read the model answers for the questions on the next few pages. Annotate the answers with a coloured pen describing what makes it a level 3 answer, then keep these as model answers.

Describe the effects of a volcanic eruption you have studied? (8)

An excellent example of a volcanic eruption was Mt St Helens, Washington State, USA May 18th 1980. During the violent eruption there were many devastating primary effects.

Firstly, the eruption itself was so violent it reduced the height of Mt St Helens by over 1300ft, triggering a pyroclastic flow that felled every tree in a six-mile radius around the mountain. Estimations of over 2 million species of bird and animals perished with 7’000 ‘Big Game’ animals e.g. deer amongst them. One of the most devastating primary effects was the infilling of Spirit Lake by ash to a depth of 60m, together with the intense heat of the pyroclastic flow evaporating the water. What was once a popular tourist attraction was gone.

As well as the primary effects, many secondary effects caused further destruction. The melting of the glaciers on Mt St Helens mixed with the ash and rock to create fast flowing lahars which blocked and diverted the River Toutle. Salmon and Trout farms located on the banks of the River Toutle, which were a main source of income for many locals, were destroyed by these devastating walls of mud. For hours and days after the initial eruption, ash fall covered Interstate 5, severely restricting the movement of people around the state of Washington. Finally, the fine ash in the air caused respiratory problems for thousands of residents in Washington State, putting serious pressure on clinics and hospitals.

However all of the effects of the Mt St Helens eruption weren’t negative. Several years later tourism boomed as people became curious to see ‘the mountain that blew up’ thus boosting the local areas economy and again providing jobs e.g. tour guides for locals.

Describe the factors that have impacted on the rate of population growth? (8)

There are several factors that over history have impacted on the rate of population growth. One of the most important factors is the emancipation of women. As education and economies have developed over time, opportunities for females has also developed, which has led to a slowing down of population growth. In the UK during the early 20th century, the Suffragette Movement campaigned for equal rights for women, which coincided with reducing birth rate in the UK. Job opportunities continued to become more readily available for females and so women were more frequently making career choices ahead of starting families. This trend has led to reduced time for females to have children so total fertility rate has dropped in the majority of countries worldwide e.g. UK now has a 2.2 fertility rate.

Another factor of equal importance is the changing role and importance of agriculture. Early in a countries’ development, around the 18th/19th century in the UK, agriculture is extremely important and due to a lack of technology many people were required to farm the land. This led to families in farming communities to have many children as they were seen as an economic benefit, so populations grew accordingly at a steady rate. As countries developed, so did technology and agriculture benefitted from this greatly. Machines e.g. combine harvesters needed one operator and so the need to have many farm workers reduced, leading to a slow decline in family size in rural areas as children became an economic burden and as a result, population growth slowed.

Finally education has impacted significantly on population growth. As education systems have improved and become more accessible for the majority of people, there are greater levels of educational achievement. This has improved the employability of people and so people earn more money, leading to many professionals now seeing children as an economic burden and a threat to achieve high status in jobs and material goods. This has led to many couples choosing to have no children or just one, thus slowing population growth.