gcse geography coasts case study

Coastal Landscapes in the UK ( AQA GCSE Geography )

Topic questions.

Study Figure 11, a photograph of part of a coastline.

Using Figure 11, identify the landform marked Z.

How did you do?

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Study Figure 11 , diagrams of destructive and constructive waves.

Using Figure 11 , compare two features of destructive and constructive waves.

Study Figure 12, below, a physical map of the British Isles.

Match the following descriptions of coastal landscapes in the UK with the correct letter shown on Figure 12.

Coastal landscapes in the UK

Study Figure 8 , a 1:50 000 Ordnance Survey map of part of the coastline in Norfolk.

Choose your answer

Study Figure 10 on the insert, a 1:50 000 Ordnance Survey map of the Woolacombe area in North Devon.

An area of sand dunes

A rocky wave cut platform

A wide sandy beach

A coastal spit

Beach length 3.8 km, average width 0.7 km

Beach length 4.1 km, average width 0.2 km

Beach length 3.3 km, average width 0.4 km

Beach length 3.0 km, average width 0.9 km

Study Figure 12, showing sediment size at two locations along a coastal spit.

Which of these is a process of mass movement in coastal environments? 

Shade one circle only.

Frost shattering

Longshore drift

Study Figure 13, an image showing a coastal realignment scheme at Medmerry, West Sussex.

Study Figure 14, a graph showing rates of erosion at a coastal site between 2000 and 2018.

Using Figure 14, what is the projected rate of erosion for 2030? _____________ metres per year

Study Figure 9 , a photograph taken along the stretch of coastline .

Suggest one type of mass movement that is affecting these cliffs.

Coastal landscapes in the UK Study Figure 11 , a map showing the changing coastline of the Holderness area, Yorkshire.

Using Figure 11 , what is the mode of annual rate of erosion along the Holderness coastline?

Shade one circle only

1.0 –1.9 metres per year

2.0 –2.9 metres per year 

3.0 –3.9 metres per year

4 metres and above per year

Using Figure 11 , describe how the rate of erosion changes from north to south.

Using Figure 11, what is the coastal landform that has formed at Spurn Head? Shade one circle only.

Using Figure 11 , suggest why there is a headland at Flamborough Head.

Study Figure 12 , a photograph showing cliffs at Aldbrough on the Holderness coast.

Using Figure 12 , give one reason why the rate of erosion of the Holderness coast is high.

Study Figure 13 , a photograph showing sea defences in Hornsea, Yorkshire.

Explain how the sea defences shown in Figure 13 help to protect the coastline from erosion.

Study Figure 14, a photograph showing a coastal landscape in Pembrokeshire, South Wales.

Explain how different coastal landforms are created by erosion.

Use Figure 14 and your own understanding.

Explain the benefits of using hard engineering strategies to protect the coastline.

Study Figure 15 , a photograph of part of Dorset, and sketch maps showing changes in the shape of a coastline over time.

Explain the formation of the physical features of the coastline shown in Figure 15.

Explain the formation of a spit.

Study Figure 10 and Figure 11, photographs showing soft engineering strategies.

Discuss the costs and benefits of soft engineering strategies in protecting coastlines. Use Figure 10 and Figure 11 and your own understanding.

Explain how a coastline of headlands and bays forms and changes over time.

'Coastal management schemes are effective in protecting the coastline from physical processes'.

Do you agree?

Using an example, explain your answer.

Explain how a wave cut platform is formed as a cliff is eroded.  Use one or more diagrams to support your answer.

Study Figure 13 , a diagram showing some coastal processes and coastal management strategies.

Assess the effectiveness of strategies used to protect coastlines against erosion. Use Figure 13 and your own understanding

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AQA GCSE Geography examiner reports - key takeaways

27th August 2024

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In this blog I am going to highlight the key takeaways from the three examiner reports.

This will be followed by three separate blogs looking at the feedback in a bit more detail for each paper.

Paper 1: Overall summary

What was done well?

• The paper seemed to be accessible to all students and students scored higher marks than in previous sessions
• There was a clear understanding of assessment objectives from teachers and students
• Time management was not an issue – the majority of students finished the whole paper within the time given – very few questions were left unanswered
• There were fewer rubric errors this year – most students knew which part of the paper they had to answer based on optionality
• Further improvement in exam skills (based on previous feedback, particularly with photographs but also interpretation of maps and diagrams)
• More use of case study evidence, even when not specifically required, and this was applied better than in previous years
• Maths-based questions were answered particularly well (and this was also seen with lower ability students)
• Mid-tariff questions were answered concisely but with good development
• Good deconstruction of high tariff questions – lots of evaluation seen

Areas for improvement

• Basic map skills – some students struggled with the describing relief and drainage so need more exposure to OS maps and physical features
• Some generic answers given, lacking place specific detail
• Some students regurgitated case study material and didn’t apply it to the specific demands of the questions
• Some confusion over command words and what they require
• Still an issue with the understanding of specific processes, and also recognising specific landforms in photographs
• Students need to understand that extended writing questions need evaluation, not just knowledge and understanding
• Lower ability students often ignored the resources provided
• Some students still missing the graph completion questions
• Students performed worse on section C (UK landscapes) overall, and those who answered questions on glacial landscapes wrote slightly poorer answers than those who wrote about rivers and coasts

Paper 2: Overall summary

• Good use of local examples and good recall of case studies
• Further improvement with interpreting a range of sources
• Generally accurate calculations – good application of skills
• Very few questions not answered
• Evidence of planning with high-tariff answers to apply knowledge to the demands of the question
• Locational knowledge – a lot of students couldn’t mark their named NEE on the world map
• Decoding the higher tariff questions (particularly 9 markers)
• Lots of students cannot calculate percentage increase
• Students need to make better use of figures – a lot of repetition of text, repeating case study information, or ignore the figure entirely

Paper 3: Overall summary

Section A: Issue evaluation

• Most students were well-prepared and understood the complexity of the issue
• Teachers should explicitly identify links from other parts of the spec when studying the pre-release materials
• Students need to consider human, physical and environmental geography here
• Students need to understand that some questions will be very specific to the named proposed project, and some will be broader and related to the overall topic of the pre-release (e.g. the UK housing challenge)
• Students need to carefully select appropriate evidence from the resource booklet – they need to develop these rather than simply repeat them

Section B: Fieldwork

• Students demonstrated their geographical skills well in the unfamiliar fieldwork section – particularly in terms of presenting data appropriately
• Familiar fieldwork had a much greater variation in quality and many students didn’t attempt this section
• It is important that students understand the different strand of fieldwork which may be asked about
• Students should also have a copy of the skills checklist to ensure that they are familiar with all of the skills on there
• Many students couldn’t write their fieldwork titles – sometimes this was left blank, sometimes they just wrote the location
• Students need to read questions carefully in terms of writing about human or physical fieldwork
• Still confusion between data collection and data presentation
• Time management – no evidence that anyone ran out of time this year
• Most MCQs were completed – high level of accuracy
• Very few students left questions blank in the issue evaluation
• Good use of pre-release booklet to provide evidence to support answers
• Better understanding of physical geography from the OS map than when this was last tested
• Understanding requirements for 2-3 markers – lack of development
• Too much copying of pre-release material without elaborating it
• Some confusion over OS map physical features, e.g. relief and drainage
• Students didn’t appreciate that the unfamiliar fieldwork questions were sequenced in a scenario and often dealt with them separately rather than referring back to earlier questions
• Many students failed to complete the simple graph questions
• Need to learn fieldwork titles as it is hard for examiners to assess what they are writing about

Vicki Woolven

Vicki Woolven is Subject Lead for Geography and Key Stage 4 Sociology and History at tutor2u. She is also an experienced senior examiner and content writer. Vicki previously worked as a Head of Geography and Sociology for many years, leading her department to be one of the GA's first Centres of Excellent, and was a local authority Key Practitioner for Humanities.

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Eduqas GCSE Geography – Revision Notes & Study Resources

EDUQAS GCSE Geography A mapping file. Download our comprehensive teaching resources and revision toolkit today. Use the mapping table to align with the EDUQAS examination board. Updated and aligned to Version 2 January 2019 specification.

You are highly advised to revise a few hours a day for your GCSE Geography exams from the outset. Starting strong and following your revision plan will mean that there are no unfortunate surprises waiting for you at the last minute. Ideally, you should be revising this subject for two to three hours each day. That will give you sufficient time to delve into deep learning and it will also keep you away from the burnout trap (working for too many hours and losing focus).

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Geography. Sustainable Urban Living - Masdar City Case study

Subject: Geography

Age range: 14-16

Resource type: Lesson (complete)

Last updated

28 August 2024

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Geography. Sustainable Urban Living - Masdar City Case study. 3 Differentiated task sheets and printable resources.

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Lyme Regis Case Study of Coastal Management

A Coastal Management Scheme in the UK

Lyme Regis is a small coastal town on the south coast of England. It lies on the western edge of the Dorset Coast and forms part of the Jurassic Coast, a World Heritage Site famous for its fossils and coastal landforms. The town is a popular tourist destination in the summer.

What were the reasons for coastal management in Lyme Regis?

The coast at Lyme Regis experiences erosion . Much of the town has been constructed on unstable cliffs, which experience some of the highest erosion rates in Europe due to high energy waves from the southwest and its geology. The geology of Lyme Regis is a mixture of limestone, resistant to erosion, and clay, vulnerable to erosion. The clay lies on limestone, so as the clay erodes, the cliffs are vulnerable to landslides. Therefore, houses, roads and farmland are at risk of cliff landslides.

In addition, tourist numbers were down due to the lack of beaches caused by erosion.

What was the coastal management strategy at Lyme Regis?

The local government developed a plan to manage the coastline at Lyme Regis called the Lyme Regis Environmental Improvement Scheme. During the planning process, the local government consulted different interest groups, including residents, fishermen, and environmentalists, to reduce conflicts.

Several strategies have been used to protect Lyme Regis from coastal erosion . These are explored below.

Coastal management strategies used at Lyme Regis

The harbour is dredged annually to improve navigation, and the dredged sand is used to replenish the beach . This provides additional protection from coastal processes and supports the tourist industry.

1990 - 1995

Phase 1 involved the construction of a sea wall and promenade to the east of the mouth of the River Lim. An emergency cliff stabilisation project was completed during the winter of 2003-2004. It involved using large nails to hold the rocks together, as well as improving drainage and reprofiling the slope of the beach.

£22 million was spent on extensive improvements to the seafront, including:

• the construction of new seawalls and promenades;
• the creation of a wide sand and shingle beach designed to absorb wave energy; and
• the extension of rock armour to protect the harbour wall (The Cobb) and to the eastern end of the seafront to absorb wave energy and retain the new beach.

Not undertaken

Phase 3 of the project, a plan to prevent landslips and coastal erosion to the west of The Cobb, was cancelled as the costs outweighed the benefits.

Phase 4 involved the construction of defences to protect the coast to the east of the town. The £20 million project involved building a 390m sea wall in front of the existing wall. 480 homes were protected as cliffs were stabilised by nailing, piling and improving drainage.

Nails, up to 19 metres long, have been installed into the cliffs. Once installed, the nails were covered with a 60 to 120-year design life mesh.

What are the effects of coastal management at Lyme Regis?

Positive impacts

There has been a significant improvement in the attractiveness of the seafront and beach due to nourishment and the wide promenade. This has led to increased visitor numbers, and seafront businesses are thriving.

The new defences have withstood recent stormy winters.

The harbour is better protected, benefiting the fishing industry and boat owners.

Negative impacts

Conflicts have increased as visitor numbers have increased. For example, local people have experienced increased traffic congestion and litter due to increased tourism .

Some feel the new coastal defences have spoilt the natural coastal landscape .

The new defences may interfere with natural coastal processes affecting neighbouring stretches of coastline, causing conflicts elsewhere.

Stabilising cliffs that prevent landslides will reduce the number of fossils found in the area.

Check your understanding

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