Cambridge AS & A Level Geography 9696/32 is the May/June 2026 Paper 3 (Advanced Physical Geography Options), variant 2. It is an A Level component, lasts 1 hour 30 minutes and is worth 60 marks. You answer four questions from two different options: in each option, a compulsory 10-mark data question and one 20-mark essay from a choice of two. The two essays carry 40 of the 60 marks and are marked in levels. This guide covers every question on all four options and shows what the official mark scheme gave marks for. The paper, insert and mark scheme are free on the Tutopiya Learning Portal.

For an overview of all four 9696 papers from this series, see A Level Geography 9696 May/June 2026 past papers: what came up and how it was marked.

9696/32 at a glance

The rubric is: answer questions from two different options. In each option, answer the data question and one of the two essays. Each data question has a 4-mark part (a) and a 6-mark part (b).

Question	Option	Topic	Marks
1	Tropical environments (compulsory in option)	Climate graphs for Medan, Indonesia and Tidele, Senegal; reasons for the rainfall differences	10
2	Tropical environments (choice)	How far weathering shapes tropical limestone landforms	20
3	Tropical environments (choice)	Whether human activity mainly drives the development of tropical plant communities	20
4	Coastal environments (compulsory in option)	Wave direction and height at Marina di Pisa, Italy; wave direction and marine processes	10
5	Coastal environments (choice)	The relative importance of the conditions for coral growth	20
6	Coastal environments (choice)	Whether the problems of sustainably managing a coastline can be solved (case study)	20
7	Hazardous environments (compulsory in option)	Changes in the factor of safety on a slope; two hazards from slope instability	10
8	Hazardous environments (choice)	Whether lava flows are the most significant volcanic hazard	20
9	Hazardous environments (choice)	Primary versus secondary impacts of atmospheric disturbances	20
10	Hot arid and semi-arid (compulsory in option)	Photograph of semi-arid vegetation in Texas, USA; reasons for its features	10
11	Hot arid and semi-arid (choice)	Whether latitude largely decides where hot arid and semi-arid areas are	20
12	Hot arid and semi-arid (choice)	Erosion versus deposition in the landforms of these environments	20
		Total answered (two options × [data question + one essay])	60

Question-by-question walkthrough

How every option is marked

• Part (a), 4 marks, is point-marked: 1 mark per descriptive point. Most part (a) questions carried a “max. 3 without data” rule, so quote values from the figure.
• Part (b), 6 marks, uses three levels: Level 3 (5–6) clearly explains with detailed knowledge; Level 2 (3–4) explains on a largely secure base; Level 1 (1–2) is largely descriptive or only suggests reasons.
• The essays, 20 marks, use four levels: Level 4 (16–20) thoroughly discusses the question with an effective and sustained evaluation and a sound conclusion, built on detailed examples; Level 3 (11–15) is broadly evaluative, with some narrative and a conclusion; Level 2 (6–10) is mainly descriptive with a thin evaluation; Level 1 (1–5) makes a few general points. An essay without examples cannot go above 8. Any evaluation is valid if it is argued and based on evidence.

Tropical environments

• 1(a) Main differences between the two climates (4 marks): both temperature and precipitation were needed, the differences had to be explicit, and numerical data was needed for more than 3. Medan has a more even climate, with temperatures of 25–26°C all year (a 1°C range), while Tidele ranges from 26 to 28°C. Medan’s annual rainfall is much higher, about 3225 mm against about 1180 mm (some tolerance was allowed). Medan is wet all year, from about 150 mm in February to 400 mm in October, while Tidele is almost dry from about November or December to May and wet from June to October, peaking at about 400 mm in August. The maximum monthly rainfall is the same in both, in different months.
• 1(b) Suggest reasons for the differences in precipitation (6 marks, levels): Medan is nearer the Equator, so the sun is high all year, giving steady convectional uplift and rain in every month. Tidele is further from the Equator: the sun is highest mid-year, when the ITCZ brings convection and rain, while at the turn of the year it lies under the descending limb of the Hadley cell, with high pressure and clear skies. Seasonal wind reversal could also be argued. Because the command word is “suggest”, any potentially valid reason was credited, no further place knowledge was needed, and good diagrams earned credit.
• Question 2, weathering and tropical limestone landforms (20 marks): the focus is on formation. Characteristic landforms are cockpit, cone and tower karst (often in that sequence), and caverns, stalactites and stalagmites, solution hollows, collapsed caverns and blue holes could also be used. Influences to weigh: limestone geology (jointing, bedding planes, chemistry), solution and carbonation, biological weathering and salt crystal growth on coasts, vertical fluvial erosion at the base of cones, tectonic uplift, cavern collapse, slope retreat and time. A likely judgement: geology is essential and solution is the key process, speeded up by the hot, wet climate, with other influences less significant.
• Question 3, human activity and tropical plant communities (20 marks): answers had to be about how plant communities develop (seres, primary and secondary succession, climax, subclimax and plagioclimax), linked to climate, soils, relief, natural hazards such as fire and lava, and human activity (farming, population pressure, deforestation, climate change). A strong conclusion might rank climate first at the global scale, while local factors and people matter more locally. Both rainforest and savanna were expected; one ecosystem only capped the answer at the top of Level 3 (15).

Coastal environments

• 4(a) Variations in wave direction and height (4 marks): both direction and height were needed (max. 3 for only one), and max. 3 without data. Waves came from W through S to E; the most frequent direction was WSW/SW, about 30% of the time, with W about 18%; S, SE and E were under 10%; there were no waves from the directions between NNW and NE. Most waves (about 70%) were under 1.0 m; the highest (3.0 m and above) came only from WSW–SW, about 2% of the time; 2.0–2.9 m waves came from only two directions; higher waves were less frequent.
• 4(b) How wave direction influences marine processes (6 marks, levels): waves approaching head-on (perpendicular to the coast) are refracted around headlands, concentrating erosion on the headlands and depositing in bays to form swash-aligned beaches; oblique waves drive longshore drift by swash and backwash, and a change of direction can reshape features such as the hooks on spits; direction also affects fetch, wave height and so wave energy. Level 3 needed explicit links to at least two processes.
• Question 5, the conditions for coral growth (20 marks): water warmer than 20°C (23–25°C optimum), depth under 25 m, salinity above 32 psu, plenty of light for photosynthesis, clear water, wave action to oxygenate and clean, little exposure to air, and a firm seabed. The answer had to show how each condition affects growth. Arguing for one condition needs strong evidence; the mark scheme suggested it is the combination that matters, with temperature and light more important at the broad scale and others deciding things locally.
• Question 6, sustainable coastal management (20 marks, case study): the problems should be the focus, linked to the strategies used. Problems: rising sea level, storms and flooding, erosion, tourism pressure, pollution, energy, ports and fishing, housing development. Solutions: hard and soft engineering, planning policy, land and marine zoning, marine protected areas, fishing limits, visitor limits and pollution laws. Judge success by social, economic and environmental balance, cost-benefit and how long it lasts, and note that stakeholders may disagree. Answers without place-specific case study detail were capped at 8.

Hazardous environments

• 7(a) The pattern of changes in the factor of safety (4 marks): max. 3 without data. Overall it fell, from about 2.9 to around 1.05; it stayed above equilibrium (1.0) most of the time apart from dips below 1.0 near the end, with a minimum of about 0.85; the decline was irregular, with a sharp dip to about 2.1 followed by a recovery to about 2.7, then the biggest drop, from about 2.6 to 1.7, then a steadier fall to about 1.25, before the slope became unstable and fluctuated either side of 1.0.
• 7(b) Two hazards from slope instability (6 marks, levels): the hazards are mass movements (slides, slumps, flows, heave, creep, rockfalls and avalanches). Because the question is about hazards, answers that never mentioned the risk to people or property were held to Level 2. Faster movements such as slides and wetter ones such as flows tend to be more hazardous.
• Question 8, are lava flows the most significant volcanic hazard? (20 marks): compare lava flows with tephra and bombs, pyroclastic flows, gases and acid rain, lahars, volcanic landslides, jökulhlaups and tsunamis. Judge significance by frequency, magnitude, area affected, how long it lasts, impact on lives and property, and how manageable it is. A sound conclusion is that it depends on the type of volcano and eruption, the setting and how prepared people are.
• Question 9, primary versus secondary impacts of atmospheric disturbances (20 marks): primary impacts include wind damage and building collapse, deaths and injuries, flood damage and drowning from rivers and storm surges, and mass movement. Secondary impacts include homelessness, pressure on hospitals, disease from contaminated water, food shortages and soil salinisation, transport disruption and rebuilding costs. Judge by people affected, cost, duration, area, frequency and level of development. Both large-scale disturbances (cyclones, hurricanes, typhoons) and tornadoes were expected; one type only capped the answer at 15.

Hot arid and semi-arid environments

• 10(a) Main features of the vegetation (4 marks): sparse, scattered cover with bare ground between, denser towards the top of the hill in the background; mostly small shrubs and bushes with a few taller plants; a large prickly pear cactus in the right foreground; limited variety; mostly green, with some pale green or grey plants; many small leaves. Explicit locations on the photograph were needed for full marks.
• 10(b) Suggest reasons for those features (6 marks, levels): low, unreliable rainfall and high temperatures limit water, explaining slow growth, low height and sparse cover; wide root systems gather water from a large area; succulents store water; pale colours reflect radiation; small leaves and low height reduce water loss; thin, dry, sometimes saline soils limit growth; wind and natural fires restrict plants too. Reasons had to be linked to the features.
• Question 11, does latitude largely determine where hot arid and semi-arid areas are? (20 marks): the key link is pressure and winds, with hot arid areas around 30°N and S under the descending limb of the Hadley cell; semi-arid areas often lie on their poleward side or between them and the savanna. Other factors (cold ocean currents, rain shadow, continentality) are more local and tend to enhance aridity rather than create it. Factors had to be linked to distribution, not just listed as causes of aridity. Covering only hot arid or only semi-arid areas capped the answer at 15.
• Question 12, erosion versus deposition (20 marks): erosional landforms include yardangs, zeugens and pedestal rocks, wadis and arroyos, inselbergs, mesas and buttes, pediments, ventifacts and deflation hollows; depositional landforms include dunes, alluvial fans and bajadas, and playas. A likely judgement is that both matter and often act together (pediments), that weathering matters more than erosion for inselbergs, and that deposition depends on erosion happening first.

Where the marks are on 9696/32

Split by marking style, for a candidate answering two options:

Part of the paper	Marking	Marks
Part (a) data descriptions (two)	Point-marked, usually max. 3 without data	8
Part (b) explanations (two)	Three levels	12
Essays (two)	Four levels, max. 8 without examples	40
Total		60

• Two-thirds of the paper is essay writing. Sustained evaluation and a clear conclusion separate Level 4 from Level 3.
• Range matters in three essays. Questions 3, 9 and 11 each named two environments or disturbance types to cover.
• The data questions are reliable marks if you quote values and units from the figure in every part (a).

How to self-mark 9696/32 with the mark scheme

1. Mark part (a) one point at a time, then apply the caps: max. 3 without data, max. 3 in 4(a) if you covered only direction or only height, and full marks in 10(a) only with locations on the photograph.
2. Level part (b). Did you explain, linking cause to feature or process? In 4(b), did you cover two processes? In 7(b), did you mention people or property?
3. Level each essay. Ask first whether your evaluation runs through the whole answer and ends in a supported conclusion (Level 4), or appears only at the end (Level 3).
4. Apply the essay caps: no examples, max. 8; Question 6 without a real case study, max. 8; one environment only in Questions 3, 9 or 11, max. 15.
5. Log each lost mark as missing data, weak links, missing range or a weak conclusion, and practise that skill next.

Sit 9696/32 as a timed mock

The paper allows 90 minutes for 60 marks, a minute and a half per mark. Treat it as two 45-minute halves:

Block	Marks	Time
First option: part (a)	4	6 minutes
First option: part (b)	6	9 minutes
First option: essay, including a plan	20	28 minutes
Second option: part (a)	4	6 minutes
Second option: part (b)	6	9 minutes
Second option: essay, including a plan	20	28 minutes
Check data values and conclusions	–	4 minutes

Spend the first 3 minutes of each essay on a plan that lists your examples and your final judgement, so the evaluation runs through the answer rather than appearing only in the last paragraph.

Other May/June 2026 9696 papers

• 9696 Paper 12 (Core Physical Geography)
• 9696 Paper 22 (Core Human Geography)
• 9696 Paper 42 (Advanced Human Geography Options)

Practise and download

• Download 9696/32 and its mark scheme on the Learning Portal →
• All 9696 May/June 2026 papers: overview and marking patterns
• Try a free A Level Geography quiz

Need help with a 9696 topic? Book a free trial lesson with an A Level Geography tutor →

Frequently asked questions

What options were on 9696 Paper 32 May/June 2026? +

Four: tropical environments, coastal environments, hazardous environments, and hot arid and semi-arid environments. You answer two different options, and in each one the compulsory 10-mark data question plus one of two 20-mark essays.

How many marks is 9696/32 and how long is it? +

It is out of 60 marks and lasts 1 hour 30 minutes. Each option you answer is worth 30 marks: 10 for the data question and 20 for the essay.

Do I need data in the 9696/32 part (a) answers? +

Yes. Questions 1(a), 4(a) and 7(a) were each capped at 3 out of 4 without numerical data. Question 4(a) also needed both wave direction and wave height, and Question 10(a) needed explicit locations on the photograph for full marks.

How are the 20-mark essays on 9696/32 marked? +

With four levels: 16 to 20, 11 to 15, 6 to 10 and 1 to 5. Level 4 needs an effective and sustained evaluation with a sound conclusion. An essay without examples cannot go above 8 marks.

Which 9696/32 essays had extra caps? +

Questions 3, 9 and 11 were capped at the top of Level 3 (15 marks) if they covered only one environment or one type of disturbance. Question 6 was capped at 8 without a real coastal case study with place-specific detail.

Where can I download 9696/32 May/June 2026 and its mark scheme? +

The question paper, insert and mark scheme are free to download and print on the Tutopiya Learning Portal, on the Cambridge AS & A Level Geography 9696 past papers page.

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