Table of Contents

1. Looking for gaps

Step 1 is to ensure that there are no gaps in your knowledge and notes. There are a couple of ways of doing this →

  1. Use the IB DP Geography Checklists.
  2. Use the 'revision clocks'. They are an auditing approach. They take a unit of work broken down into twelve logical chunks. The challenge is for you to write all your knowledge and understanding into each section, in turn, within a certain time limit. I suggest you give yourself 90 seconds or 2 minutes per section to write all you know/understand. Repeat until the whole clock has been done. Then review any 'gaps' and address these in a different pen colour. Revision clocks can be found on the revision page for each unit.

2. Key terms and digital flashcards

A broad understanding of the key geographical terms is beneficial. It helps you decipher what a question requires, and it enables you to show the depth of your understanding.

A page dedicated to all the key terms used in the geographyalltheway DP Geography course can be found here. The key terms can be downloaded by unit, with their definitions, as PDF or CSV files. CSV files can be uploaded into digital flashcard apps such as Anki and Quizlet.

Advice on the use of digital flashcards can be found here. Some prepared Anki flashcard decks can be found here.

3. Paper 1 case studies and detailed examples

4. Paper 2 case studies and detailed examples

5. How are your map skills?

There will be a topographic map somewhere in the exam. Common sense says it will be in Paper 1. It will only relate to one of the Geographic Themes, so it could be linked to the questions for a unit you have not studied, and therefore, you will not have to use a topographic map at all!

However, the topographic map could be for one of the units you need to tackle. Therefore check your knowledge and understanding of 'locate and differentiate elements of the Earth’s surface'.

6. Check your geographic skills

Do you know a Lorenz Curve from a Rose Diagram? Do you know the difference between mean, median and mode?

You have been shown a range of different graphs and styles of maps during the course.

Take some time to look through the IB DP Geography Geographic Skills page to reacquaint yourself with all the different types of graph, styles of map and 'statistical calculations'.

7. Master the command terms

Every one of your IB DP Geography exam questions will start with one of the 24 command terms.

You should know what each command term asks you to do!

There is an Anki deck here that you could use to help you review the terms. There is a Quizlet game here on the Command terms page on geographyalltheway.com.

You may have noticed that when the command terms appear on the site, if you roll your mouse/pointer over them, the definition of the command term pops up.

8. Look at some practice questions

There are currently 240 exam-style questions on geographyalltheway.com.

If you visit the IB DP Geography exam style questions page, you can search the exam question database by unit (and sub-unit), command term and the number of available marks.