Study Photograph A (Insert), which shows Laroya, a rural settlement in the Almeria region of southern Spain.

Mark scheme

Marking points from the official mark scheme (May/June 2015). The mark or mark type is shown in brackets.

1. [1] (a) (i) A place where people live/residential area
2. [1] in the countryside/away from the city/a lot of farmland/open space around.
3. [2] (ii) Ideas such as:
4. [2] • limited flat land/steep slopes;
5. [2] • poor communications/no roads/difficult to get to;
6. [2] • lack of employment;
7. [2] • infertile/food production is difficult/farming is difficult;
8. [2] • risk of landslides; etc.
9. [3] (iii) Ideas such as:
10. [3] • for work/set up businesses;
11. [3] • to shop/to buy goods/or example;
12. [3] • for entertainment or example;
13. [3] • education;
14. [3] • health care;
15. [3] • to visit friends;
16. [3] • to sell their crops/trade; etc.
17. [3] NB: Accept reverse answers e.g. don't have jobs in village/no shops etc.
18. [4] (iv) Ideas such as:
19. [4] • some people like tranquility/quiet/more peaceful/lack of noise;
20. [4] • lack of specified pollution air/water;
21. [4] • retirement;
22. [4] • less stressful living environment/too crowded in cities;
23. [4] • lower crime rates/less vandalism/graffiti/safer to raise a family or examples;
24. [4] • people working from home;
25. [4] • improvement in communications/transport/people have greater personal mobility;
26. [4] • work in tourist industry;
27. [4] • work in farming/they are farmers;
28. [4] • scenic beauty/no visual pollution;
29. [4] • more land available/larger houses with gardens (or vice versa for cities);
30. [4] • less traffic congestion/less traffic; etc.
31. [3] (b) (i) Pampaida – dispersed/scattered
32. [3] Potou - linear/in a line
33. [3] Koraro- nucleated/nuclear/clustered
34. [3] NB: Not looking for a description.
35. [5] (ii) General ideas such as:
36. [5] • influenced by relief/large area of flat land;
37. [5] • land use influences pattern;
38. [5] • influenced by communications/along roads;
39. [5] • ideas linked to specific settlement patterns:
40. [5] • linear settlements develop in valleys /next to rivers (dev);
41. [5] • nucleated settlements grow up at junctions/where roads meet/rivers meet (dev);
42. [5] • nucleated along bridging points;
43. [5] • nucleated wet points/dry points;
44. [5] • in farming areas population will be dispersed/spread across the farmland;
45. [5] • on coalfields population will be nucleated/grow up close to mines;
46. [5] • where settlements have developed at/as defensive sites would be nucleated; etc.
47. [7] (c) Levels marking
48. [7] Level 1 (1–3 marks) Statements including limited detail which describe and/or explain the functions of an urban settlement.
49. [7] Level 2 (4–6 marks) Uses named example. More developed statements which describe and/or explain the functions of an urban settlement. NB: Max 5 if no named example
50. [7] Level 3 (7 marks) Uses named example. Comprehensive (2 functions) and accurate statements which describe and explain the functions of an urban settlement, including some place specific reference.
51. [7] Content Guide: Functions which candidates are likely to refer to; • industry, • commercial development, • market town, • education, • administration/government, • tourism • port; etc.
52. [7] Place specific reference is likely to consist of: Named parts of the chosen settlement/ detail of functions etc.
53. [7] NB: Functions need some explanation e.g. it has an industrial function because it is near raw materials. Or it has a tourist function because it is near the coast/has many historic sites to visit.
54. [7] Examples can be MEDC/LEDC city/town in any country.