GCSE Geography Case Studies List: Every AQA, Edexcel, OCR and WJEC Case Study You Need to Know
- 23 hours ago
- 6 min read
Find out exactly which named examples and case studies your child needs for GCSE Geography, broken down board by board, using the language of the actual specifications.
Ask any GCSE Geography examiner what separates a 6 from a 9 and case studies come up almost every time. Not knowing more geography. Knowing the right places, with the right names, the right figures, and the right level of detail. A student who writes "a country in Africa" earns a fraction of the marks of a student who writes "Malawi" and backs it up with a statistic. Same understanding. Very different grade.
The trouble is, every exam board names, structures and weights its case studies differently, and most revision guides written for "GCSE Geography" blur those differences rather than clarify them. This guide doesn't do that. It sets out exactly what AQA, Edexcel, OCR and WJEC Eduqas require, pulled directly from the specification documents themselves, so you know precisely what to revise for your board and nothing you don't.
Case Study or Named Example? It Changes How You Revise
Before diving into board-by-board detail, there's a distinction worth understanding properly, because it changes how revision time should be spent.
A case study is large. It covers several lessons, demands real depth, and needs named statistics, causes, impacts and responses, evaluated rather than just listed. A named example is smaller, often a single lesson's worth of content, and needs enough specific, accurate detail to avoid sounding generic without the same breadth.
Treat every required place like it needs case study depth and revision time runs out fast. Treat a genuine case study like a quick named example and the marks disappear on exam day. Knowing which is which, for your board, is step one.
AQA GCSE Geography Case Studies (8035)
AQA runs the most widely taught specification in the country, and it sets out its requirements more explicitly than any other board: 25 named examples and case studies across Paper 1 and Paper 2, clearly labelled as one or the other.
Paper 1: Living with the Physical Environment
The challenge of natural hazards
Named examples of a tectonic hazard in two areas of contrasting wealth, comparing effects and responses
A named example of a tropical storm, covering its effects and the responses to it
An example of a recent extreme weather event in the UK, covering causes, impacts and management
The living world
An example of a small scale UK ecosystem
A case study of a tropical rainforest, covering deforestation and sustainable management
A case study of either a hot desert or a cold environment (one option, check which your school taught)
Physical landscapes in the UK
An example of a UK coastline section and its landforms of erosion and deposition
An example of a UK coastal management scheme
An example of a UK river valley and its landforms of erosion and deposition
An example of a UK flood management scheme
An example of a UK upland area affected by glaciation
An example of a glaciated UK upland area used for tourism
Paper 2: Challenges in the Human Environment
Urban issues and challenges
A case study of a major city in an LIC or NEE, covering growth, opportunities and challenges
An example of urban planning improving quality of life for the urban poor
A case study of a major UK city, covering opportunities and challenges from urban change
An example of a UK urban regeneration project
The changing economic world
An example of tourism reducing the development gap in an LIC or NEE
A case study of one LIC or NEE, covering industrial structure, trade, aid and environmental impact
An example of more environmentally sustainable industrial development in the UK
The challenge of resource management (one option from food, water or energy)
An example of a large scale agricultural development, and a local LIC/NEE food scheme
An example of a large scale water transfer scheme, and a local LIC/NEE water scheme
An example of fossil fuel extraction's advantages and disadvantages, and a local LIC/NEE renewable energy scheme
Check with your child's teacher exactly which optional sections (hot desert or cold environment, and which one of food, water or energy) were actually taught, since only one from each pair is studied.
Edexcel A GCSE Geography Case Studies
Edexcel structures things differently. Rather than 25 separate items, it names three compulsory in-depth case studies, then requires a wider set of located examples drawn from developing, emerging and developed countries throughout the rest of the course.
The three compulsory case studies
A major UK city, covering context, migration impacts and the opportunities and challenges of urban change
A major city in a developing or emerging country, covering growth, inequality and the challenges of rapid urbanisation
Development in a developing or emerging country, covering political context, industrial structure, trade, aid and the impacts of rapid development
Required located examples by topic
The changing landscapes of the UK (two from three)
A named UK coastal landscape, river landscape, or glaciated upland landscape, showing how it has formed and changed
Weather hazards and climate change
A named developed country and a named developing or emerging country, comparing impacts of and responses to a tropical cyclone
The same comparison again, this time for drought
Ecosystems, biodiversity and management
A named region illustrating sustainable management of tropical rainforest
A named region illustrating sustainable management of deciduous woodland
Resource management (one option)
A developed and a developing/emerging country, illustrating sustainable management of energy or water resources
Edexcel also requires two fieldwork investigations and a UK challenges topic, both examined in Component 3 alongside content drawn from across the whole course.
OCR A GCSE Geography Case Studies (Geographical Themes)
Here's the genuine surprise in this list. OCR doesn't mandate a fixed roster of named places the way AQA, Edexcel and WJEC Eduqas do. The specification is built thematically, through Living in the UK Today and The World Around Us, and individual schools choose which specific places illustrate each theme.
In practice, that means there's no single definitive OCR case study list to hand a student, because it depends entirely on what their centre taught. Commonly used examples include cities like Rosario and Istanbul for urban themes and ecosystems like the Andros Barrier Reef for marine themes, but these are teaching choices, not fixed spec requirements. Examiners consistently note that detailed, well-evidenced named examples score well regardless of which specific place is used, so precision matters more than matching a particular name.
If your child sits OCR Geography A, the single most useful thing you can do is ask their teacher directly for the list of named places actually covered in lessons. No revision guide can substitute for that.
WJEC Eduqas A GCSE Geography Case Studies
Eduqas takes a genuinely different approach worth understanding before revision even starts. Its specification deliberately places less weight on memorised case studies than the other three boards. Higher tariff questions assess a single objective at a time, focusing on understanding concepts and evaluating issues using the resources given in the exam, rather than testing recall of one fixed named case study.
Located examples are still required throughout, just with a genuinely lighter emphasis on depth of named detail than AQA, Edexcel or OCR.
Component 1: Changing Physical and Human Landscapes
One UK landscape shaped by human-created environmental challenges
A UK river landscape and a UK coastal landscape with contrasting rates of change
At least one UK flooding location
One brownfield and one greenfield urban regeneration context
Two global cities, one LIC/NIC and one HIC
Option: a volcanic hazard and an earthquake event, OR a low lying coastline at risk of sea level rise
Component 2: Environment and Development Issues
A located low pressure and a located high pressure weather hazard
Tropical rainforest plus one other contrasting biome
One small scale UK ecosystem
One energy production environment
Two economically developing countries (one LIC, one NIC), illustrating uneven development
One LIC or NIC, illustrating how aid reduces inequality
Option: development issues in sub-Saharan Africa/Asia, OR climate change and tourism management in contrasting environments
Check which two optional themes your child's centre selected, since one option is chosen per component alongside the compulsory core content.
Turning This GCSE Geography Case Studies List Into Marks
Knowing the structure is step one. For every required example, build a single page: named place, key statistics, causes, impacts, responses. Test recall by writing it from memory, not by rereading notes, since rereading feels productive but barely moves the needle on actual exam recall.
Generic, unnamed knowledge consistently scores lower than specific, named detail, even when the underlying geography is identical. The time spent nailing exact place names and figures is some of the highest-value revision time available.
And if there's any doubt about which optional content a school actually taught, the safest move is asking the teacher directly. Options vary by centre even within the same board and specification, so no generic list, including this one, can override what's actually been covered in class.
If your child is working through their case studies and struggling to hit the level of named, specific detail the top grades demand, that's exactly where a specialist tutor who knows their exact board makes the difference. Get in touch with Geography Tutors® for a free progress review, and we'll match them with a tutor who knows their board, their case studies, and exactly where their answers need more depth.
Comments