Acing A-Level/IB Geography: Expert Advice from The Admissions Academy

A-level/IB Geography is a densely packed subject. You have a comprehensive amount of material to juggle from coasts to cities and humans to hazards, in addition to all the case studies and stats that go with them. It’s completely normal to feel overwhelmed or like “nothing is sticking”.

The first thing to know: there is no single correct way to revise!

There is no end to the online resources with “the perfect way” to revise for A-level/IB geography. All of those are valid – what matters is whether they help you understand and remember.

A helpful way to think about Geography revision is to Understand → Condense → Recall → Apply.

·      Understand: Make sense of the content

·      Condense: Shrink it into usable notes

·      Recall: Practise remembering it without looking

·      Apply: Use it in exam-style questions

Different tools can help with each step. Your job over Year 12 and 13 isn’t to find a “perfect method”, but to build a personalised mix that works for you. The rest of this guide walks through five big areas, with lots of options.

1. Building Your Geography Revision Toolkit

Start with something you can actually revise from. That might be typed “revision docs” where you rewrite the spec in your own words, mixing textbook content, teacher notes, diagrams, case studies, and stats. For some it is helpful to make handwritten notes using the Cornell method (content on one side, questions/key words in the margin, short summary at the bottom). Others create condensed A3 topic sheets (e.g. one sheet for “Coastal Systems” or “Globalisation”, with key processes, key terms, case studies, and simple diagrams with arrows showing links). Don’t worry if your friends’ notes look prettier. Notes just need to be clear, complete and understandable to you.

Different tools help you use and recall information in different ways. Flashcards (apps like Anki or physical cards) are great for definitions, command words, processes, and “micro” case study facts. You can put a question or heading on one side (“Impacts of Typhoon Haiyan”) and 4–6 concise bullet points on the other. Mind maps or spider diagrams are ideal for seeing links between concepts (e.g. how climate change, migration and conflict interact). In this method you can use branches like “causes / impacts / responses” or “social / economic / environmental / political”. Finally, post-its and mini prompts where you can write stubborn key terms, diagrams, or mnemonics on post-it notes and stick them somewhere visible like by your desk, light switch, or mirror. You’ll end up seeing them repeatedly without thinking about it.

Creating a personal key-word index is another tool you can use. A-level Geography has a lot of vocabulary. Building your own mini “glossary” helps. Use a notebook or digital document with headings for each topic (Coasts, Hazards, Global Systems, etc.). Under each, list key terms and short, exam-ready definitions. You can revisit this list regularly and turn these into flashcards or quizzes. The more fluent you are with keywords, the more confidently you’ll tackle tough questions.

2. Revising Case Studies

Case studies are where you show you really understand Geography. These shouldn’t be treated as lists of numbers to memorise but actual stories about people and places. Consequently, step one should be to actually understand the place. Before you try to memorise stats look at maps (Google Maps/Earth, atlas, textbook diagrams) to get a mental map of the area then find a few photos or short videos about the area. Take a note of the context: Where is it? Who lives there? What was happening politically/economically before your event/process? This way, once you understand the place, the facts have somewhere to “stick”.

The next step is to condense your case studies. Choose the format that suits you – this could look like A3 annotated map posters (e.g., draw the outline of the area; annotate with causes, impacts and responses using colours), create tables (e.g., columns for background / causes / impacts / short-term responses / long-term management, plus rows for social/economic/environmental/political) or case study index cards (e.g., one card per case with only essential facts: 4–6 key stats, location, and one “so what?” sentence). Stick the most important ones on your wall so you see them every day.

Next, we need to memorise, and do so using different formats. To get case studies to stay in your head, first tell them as stories to a friend, family member or your phone’s voice recorder. Include dates, magnitudes, death tolls, costs and responses. Get someone to test you using your cards or posters. Ask them to star anything you miss or explain badly so you can revisit it. Turn the lists into mnemonics (e.g. HACA for erosion: hydraulic action, abrasion, corrosion, attrition) and keep revisiting them over weeks: that spaced repetition is what really locks them in.

Finally, you need to connect your case study to current affairs and your own life. Geography comes alive when it feels relevant. Listen to short news podcasts (e.g. BBC World/Global News) or read articles from places like National Geographic or major newspapers. After you engage with each piece of media, jot 3-4 bullet points and which topic it links to (hazards, water security, global governance, etc.). Use local examples where you can, for instance coastal defences in your town, a river you’ve visited, or regeneration in a nearby city. In essays, mixing textbook case studies with up-to-date or personal examples makes your answers much more persuasive.

3. Getting ready for the exam

As you will be aware, of initial importance will be to identify your exam board specification (AQA, Edexcel, OCR, etc.) and use this as your official checklist. Download it and highlight the topics and skills then cross topics off as you cover them in revision. At the end of the day, if a topic isn’t on your exam board topic list, it probably isn’t examinable, so don’t waste valuable revision time on it.

Ensure that you are familiar with and understand command words used in exams. Command words tell you how to answer:

·      Describe – say what something is like; no reasons.

·      Explain – give reasons or mechanisms: “because”, “therefore”, “this leads to…”.

·      Analyse – break something down, pick out patterns or relationships.

·      Evaluate / assess / to what extent – weigh up both sides, then give a clear judgement.

At this point you could make a small sheet or flashcards just for command words, with examples of how a 4-mark “describe” answer looks different from a 9-mark “evaluate” one. Different boards phrase things slightly differently, so always check their guidance.

You’re now ready to look at past papers, mark schemes, and examiners’ reports. Past papers is where your geography knowledge gets tested alongside exam technique. You should start untimed. Pick a question, plan it, and write it without timing yourself. Mark your essay against the mark scheme and add improvements in a different coloured pen. Now you can try a timed practice. It’s important to be strict with yourself and stopping when the time is up so that you understand what you’re able to write in the timed period. Finally, consider looking at study mark schemes and examiner reports. Here you can highlight phrases that come up again and again (e.g. “clear links”, “well-developed example”, “balanced evaluation”) and look for common mistakes (“limited use of data”, “case studies not specific enough”) to make a “things not to do” list.

Higher-level marks often depend on how well you handle data and spatial information. To prepare for this aspect of examination, regularly practise describing and explaining patterns in choropleth maps, line graphs, bar charts, climate graphs, population pyramids, and flow lines. Examiners often complain that students ignore or barely reference the data provided. Being really good at this is an easy way to stand out.

5. Planning, Habits, and Looking After Yourself

You don’t need a perfect rainbow timetable, but you do need a realistic plan. Some ideas include making a weekly overview on A3 paper so you can see when you’ll fit Geography around other subjects, clubs and life. On a separate daily plan, write specific tasks:

. “4–4:40pm: Hazards – revise volcano case studies”

. “4:40–4:50: break”

. “4:50–5:20: 10 mark globalisation question + mark scheme”

You should allow yourself to be flexible. If a topic is harder than expected, give it more slots next week. If you’re exhausted, shorten a session rather than forcing a useless three-hour “stare at your book” block.

As a rough starting point, many students find the following manageable (adjust up/down for you):

·      Term time: 1-2 hours extra on weekdays; 2-3 hours per day at weekends, including all subjects.

·      Holidays: build up over time to a few hours a week in summer after Year 12, then more in the run-up to Year 13 mocks and final exams.

Importantly if you never revisit material, you’ll forget most of it, so it’s imperative to build habits like spaced repetition where you come back to topics after 1 day, 1 week, 1 month and retrieval practice. This is where instead of re-reading notes you close your book and write everything you can remember on a blank page, sketch a process diagram from memory, or list all the impacts of a case study. Afterwards you can check to see what you missed.

If you feel stuck, mix up how you revise. When one method stops working, change it up. Remember, if someone else’s favourite method makes you miserable, you don’t have to copy it. There are plenty of alternatives. Take real breaks and protect your wellbeing. You will always learn better if you’re not burnt out. If you feel you need to incorporate more breaks, try “Pomodoro”-style blocks: ~25-35 minutes focused work, 5-10 minutes away from your desk. You can use breaks to stand up, stretch, get a drink, or go outside for five minutes and importantly you must aim for decent sleep, regular meals, and some movement each day.

Conclusions

A-level/IB Geography is demanding, but it’s also one of the most fascinating subjects you can study. Over the next year, you’ll build your own revision toolkit: a mix of notes, flashcards, posters, podcasts, past papers, news stories, conversations, and case-study stories that suit you.

There’s no single right way to revise, only the way that helps you understand, remember, and apply what you’ve learned. Experiment, adjust, and keep going. Future-you, walking out of that last exam into a very long summer, will be incredibly glad you did.