Break it down! - The IGCSE Geography Exam

We complete 3 papers for the Geography IGCSE Exam, Paper 1, Paper 2 and Paper 4 (Paper 3 is field work, which we are going to introduce next year)

Paper 1

Paper 1 is the most important paper for the geography exam as it carries the most marks it is worth 45% (75 marks) of your total grade. You will have 1 hour 45 minutes to complete the paper. All of the topics covered are divided into three themes and you must answer ONE question from EACH theme.

• Theme 1 - Population /Migration and Settlement

• Theme 2 - Plate tectonics, River Processes, Weathering, Marine Processes, Weather, Climate and Ecosystems

• Theme 3 - Agriculture Systems, Industrial Systems, Leisure and Tourism, Energy, Water and Development.

It is very important that you read through the full paper and pick ONE question from each theme. BE VERY CAREFUL if you answer two questions from the same theme you will only be awarded marks for your best answer, so straight away you will lose 25 marks!

Paper 2 

Paper 2 is all about geographical skills, you will be tested on your ability to read maps, diagrams, graphs, data/tables and text (newspaper articles etc). You will have 1 hour 30 minutes to complete the paper. It is worth 27.5% (60 marks) of your total grade.

There are 6 questions on this paper. Question 1 is always Map Skills and this carries the most marks (20 marks), The remaining five questions are on various different topics and are worth 8 marks each. It is very important that you answer ALL questions

Paper 4

Paper 4 is the alternative to course work written exam which you take instead of completing the coursework assignment (Paper 3). There are 2 questions on this paper (30 marks each) and you must complete ALL questions. You will have 1 hour 30 minutes to complete the paper and it is worth 27.5% (60 marks) of your total grade.

The 2 questions will be based on the three themes from paper 1, so while you will not have gone out and done the coursework physically, you will be expected to

• understand how a typical coursework is organised
• have a good knowledge and understanding of a wider variety of data and collection techniques and skills which might be used in the fieldwork
• use geographical skills, knowledge and understanding to help interpret and analyse results from the data presented to you in the paper
• comment on any patterns shown
• formulate conclusions based on evidence presented
• evaluate how a particular study was carried out 
• make suggestions as to how the study could be improved

To help you to maximise your performance on this paper is it a very good idea to practice and use various geographical instruments which will help you in the written exam.

Important Website Links:


The Cambridge International Exam, Geography Syllabus

IGCSE CIE Geography Past Papers