Cambridge IGCSE™, IGCSE (9–1) and O Level Geography syllabuses (0460/0976/2217)
What you need to know
Cambridge IGCSE and O Level Geography
This factsheet provides an overview of the main changes to syllabuses for examination from 2027, and explains how our resources support you and your students with these updates.
Key change
We have revised the syllabus content to make sure it remains relevant and up to date and supports progression to further study.
What this means for you
We regularly review our qualifications to make sure they are up to date and fit for purpose.
Our qualifications and resources reflect the latest thinking in a subject area, drawn from expert international research to include new and refined ideas and check what we do is still best practice.
We consult with the people we serve and use your feedback to make sure everything is working well, so you can teach the updated syllabuses with confidence.
We have divided content into physical geography and human geography.
We have introduced a new topic on climate change and included more focus on sustainability.
To better align with our Cambridge International AS & A Level Geography (9696) syllabus, and to support students in their further geography study, we have divided content into two areas of geography. Paper 1 is now based on physical geography and Paper 2 on human geography.
We have also changed Paper 2 to match the Paper 1 format. The number of marks will increase to 75 and the examination will be 1 hour 45 minutes.
Every Cambridge school has the opportunity to deliver climate education that shapes knowledge, understanding and skills, and gives learners the confidence to thrive and make a positive impact in our changing world. The updated geography syllabuses have been designed to help schools do this.
Climate change is now an explicit topic within the syllabus and is explored in much more detail. There is a greater focus on learners understanding sustainable strategies and techniques, which is an overarching theme that runs through different topic areas beyond the climate change topic.
There will no longer be a specific skills paper.
These skills will be assessed across all question papers. This is to give a more authentic experience of applying geographical skills.
For Cambridge IGCSE, we have renamed the title of Paper 4 to ‘Geographical Investigations’.
This paper involves two compulsory questions containing short answer and extended response items. Some of these items are based on source material. It is externally assessed.
To develop our updated syllabuses and new published resources, we talked with geography teachers and educational experts in Cambridge
How we support you
and globally. Their insights have helped us develop syllabuses and resources that encourage students to accelerate their learning and develop skills for life.
In addition to the syllabus document, we will also provide the following support to help you teach the updated syllabuses:
• scheme of work
• learner guide
• coursework support
• example candidate responses
• past papers
• teaching tools and lesson planning videos.
These resources are available on the School Support Hub for Cambridge teachers at cambridgeinternational.org/support
Our support offer also includes print and digital resources. We have updated our series in response to the syllabus changes and from the insights from teachers around the world. You can learn more about our new coursebook and teacher’s resource below and on the back page of this brochure.
We have divided content within our print and digital coursebook to reflect the syllabus changes and to help you and your students navigate the content. There are many learning features throughout the resource to strengthen students’ understanding and help put their learning into practice.
The teacher’s resource is also divided into two themes and includes a wealth of features to help you teach both the physical and human geography themes. You are supported with tools such as teaching and learning plans, guidance on language support, downloadable materials, common student misconceptions and how to overcome them, guidance on running projects and more. There is also a range of activities to help prepare your students for assessment.
Your feedback told us that you wanted more content on climate change in the updated coursebook. The themes of climate change and sustainability are now embedded throughout the coursebook units to develop awareness of these important and challenging world issues. We have also introduced a dedicated chapter that explores the causes and impacts of climate change, strategies and techniques to manage climate change and a Detailed Specific Example on climate change challenges within India.
To support you with teaching this topic, we have provided a variety of content and materials within our teacher’s resource. It includes lesson ideas, worksheets, tasks, homework ideas, language support, differentiation ideas and more.
In addition to a dedicated skills section at the start of the coursebook, including data representation and analysis, students will also see specific skills highlighted within the text when they need to apply a certain skill e.g. ‘Draw a sketch diagram…’ or ‘Using data from the pie chart, describe…’.
The digital coursebook contains videos to accompany the Detailed Specific Examples. These videos encourage students to talk about the themes of the topic, introduce topic vocabulary and describe and explain concepts, processes and job roles related to the example. Additional questions to accompany the videos are included in the teacher’s resource.
A dedicated section within the ‘Geographical enquiry’ part of the coursebook focuses on building students’ fieldwork skills. This unit outlines the scientific methods and examples of popular fieldwork investigations. Students will work through both the enquiry and skills units to give them guidance on their methods and how they may want to analyse and present their findings.
The teacher’s resource contains a chapter called ‘Geographical investigations – teacher guidance’ with support on choosing your investigation pathway, preparing for coursework and geographical investigations, planning fieldwork and understanding the coursework report.
For full details on the updated syllabuses, please visit cambridgeinternational.org/uppersecondary
Our published resources
The updated series takes a skills-based approach that helps your students build key geographical and practical skills. They are encouraged to become informed and responsible global citizens, who feel empowered to influence change.
The coursebook and teacher’s resource support the Cambridge IGCSE™, IGCSE (9–1) and O Level Geography syllabuses (0460/0976/2217) for examination from 2027.
We are working towards endorsement of these titles for the Cambridge Pathway.
Coursebooks with digital access – Available in 2025
• New geographical enquiry section to help develop fieldwork skills.
• Dedicated climate change chapter explores causes and effects of climate change through a variety of engaging learning features.
• Detailed Specific Examples, with additional videos in each topic.
‘Think like a geographer’ feature encourages students to apply their skills to a variety of real-world scenarios.
• Projects help put learning into practice and develop key collaboration skills.
• A dedicated ‘Preparing for assessment’ section and practice questions for every topic.
Digital teacher’s resource – Available in 2025
• Guidance and practical ideas on teaching geography through an enquiry-based approach, written by a senior teaching associate at the Faculty of Education, University of Cambridge.
• Advice and activities to support a differentiated classroom.
• Worksheets and revision templates for the Detailed Specific Examples.
• A wide range of support to help you prepare your students for assessment.
Exam Preparation and Practice – Available in 2026
This new resource is designed to increase students’ confidence, help them recognise different question types, understand connections between concepts, reflect on progress and manage test anxiety. A wealth of questions and activities will improve their ability to recall knowledge and answer effectively. The guide is available in print and digital format and includes over 400 auto-marked questions and past-paper question practice.
This text has not been through the endorsement process for the Cambridge Pathway. Any references or materials related to answers, grades, papers or examinations are based on the opinion of the author(s). The Cambridge International Education syllabus or curriculum framework associated assessment guidance material and specimen papers should always be referred to for definitive guidance.
Do you also teach Cambridge International AS & A Level Geography (9696)?
We have also updated this syllabus for examination from 2027. To see what has changed visit cambridgeinternational.org/advanced
Cambridge Pathway
The Cambridge Pathway offers five stages of education from age 3 to 19, with curriculum, resources and assessment. Registered Cambridge International Schools benefit from high-quality programmes, qualifications, assessments and a wide range of support so that teachers can effectively deliver in the classroom. Visit cambridgeinternational.org/pathway to find out more.