After careful consideration, we've made the decision to pause our planned changes to GCSE Geography B (J386).

If you are a current customer, please continue to teach our J384 GCSE Geography B specification for now. We’ll keep you informed about any future developments, so please make sure you are signed up for our email updates. 

 

Why have we made this decision?    

We’re always mindful of your workload and want to make sure you have everything you need to prepare for the delivery of any new qualification. Our decision to pause is the result of your feedback and two other key factors:    

  1. The Curriculum and Assessment Review   
    With many unanswered questions about what the content and structure of GCSEs may look like in future, we believe it’s wise to wait for the Department for Education’s review outcomes later this year before making significant changes.  

  2. Development process and timelines 
    We aim to develop the best possible qualifications for you and your students, and provide you with clarity and sufficient planning time for any changes we may make. We’re currently unsure how much longer the development process will take and, as the summer term approaches, want to offer you more certainty for next year.    

 

Improvements to our existing J384 qualification from September 2025  

We’ve received lots of feedback from you about our proposed J386 specification, which we are extremely grateful for. We have used this to make some small changes to our current J384 specification (for first teach September 2025) and assessments to improve the experience for you and your students. 

 

Change 

Benefit 

Timeline  

Four minor, factual content and/or Equality, Diversity, Inclusion and Belonging (EDIB) updates to our specification content  

Ensures our qualification remains accessible and relevant to students today  

These changes are for first teach September 2025 and will impact any students starting their GCSE from this time. They’ll be reflected in assessments from summer 2027.  

Any students who've already begun GCSE Geography B and are due to sit exams in summer 2026 will not be impacted by these changes. Please continue to teach the specification as it currently is to these students.  

N.B. the mark scheme for June 2026 assessments will allow responses from both versions of the specification (first teach 2016 and first teach September 2025) where applicable.   

Exam duration increased to 1 hour 30 mins for:  

  • Component 01, Our Natural World  
  • Component 02, People and Society  

Gives your students more time to think, read questions and engage with resources during their exams  

This change will come into effect for all students sitting these exam papers from summer 2026. 

 

To help support you, we’ve developed a detailed 'What's changed guide' with more information. You can also read our subject update. 

The updated specification (for September 2025) and Sample Assessment Materials (SAMs) will be available shortly. You'll be able to access these on Teach Cambridge and our Geography B qualification webpage. We’ll also keep you updated via our geography email updates.   

As well as this, we’re working on new resources to support your teaching.   

  

Who should you contact with any questions? 

Please don’t hesitate to get in touch if you have any queries or concerns – we'd be happy to help: 

  • phone: 01223 553998