That Blue Square Thing

GCSE Case Study Questions - LIC Cities

WARNING! These pages are now very old. Although I’ve updated the a little, the content really applies to an old version of any geography syllabus currently active in the UK.
I've kept them here because there might be something useful for someone and the general marking principles aren't all that different. But be aware that it's old and a bit out of date

Case study questions are a key part of Paper 2.

These questions are usually worth between 6 and 9 marks. If you can do them well you can pick up serious marks.

The key to this sort of question is to develop your answers by explaining what you mean and to use case studies. Use an example even when the question doesn't ask for one - this should be your standard approach. Examiners are particularly looking for evidence that you really know about the place you're writing about. This means it's important to be able to match case studies to each question.

You could go through each question and write an answer for it. Another way of using these questions is to decide how you'd answer each one by brainstorming points. Make sure you can use at least one good case study per question.

The Questions:

1. Explain how 'push factors' cause people in LICs to move from rural to urban areas.
(4 marks)
2. Suggest two reasons why people move from the countryside into shanty towns in LIC cities.
(2 marks)
3. What is being done to reduce problems in shanty towns in LIC cities?
(6 marks)
4. Explain why people move from the countryside into shanty towns in LIC cities.
(6 marks)
5. Describe the problems faced by the urban poor in LICs.
(4 marks)
6. The growth of cites in LICs has encouraged the development of shanty towns. Describe the main features of shanty towns.
(4 marks)
7. How could shanty towns be improved?
(6 marks)
8. Describe the problems of shanty towns in LIC cities.
(8 marks)
9. There are a number of ways that poor quality housing areas in LIC cities can be improved.
Explain the advantages and disadvantages of either self help schemes or local authority schemes.
(6 marks)

You can use the GCSE Markscheme to help you structure your answers.

Remember: 3 or 4 developed points supported with a good case study is much more likely to score high marks than an answer which simply talks briefly about 17 different points.