Fiducia TogetherOrdnance Survey map skills
Grid references, contours, scale and direction. Guaranteed marks, and easily practised.
Please note: This page explains a word or a process in education. It is general information about the system, the law and the guidance in England — not advice about your child, your school or your exam. If a decision is going against you, get advice from one of the free services we link to before you agree to anything or miss a deadline. If you are revising, check your own exam board's specification: boards word things differently and yours is the one that marks you.
What it is
OS map skills include four and six-figure grid references, scale and distance measurement, contour interpretation, relief, direction, and reading symbols from the key.
Where it applies
GCSE geography, in every paper with a map insert.
How it works
Six-figure references locate to 100 metres: read along the corridor then up the stairs, adding the tenths.
Contours show height and shape: close together means steep, far apart means gentle, and a pattern of Vs pointing uphill marks a valley.
How to use it in your work
Practise grid references until they are automatic. They are free marks and they are lost every year.
Use the scale bar and a piece of paper for distances along a winding route.
When describing a landscape, use the map evidence — grid squares, spot heights, symbols — rather than general impressions.
Where to get help
Your teacher and your board's specification. Bitesize for worked examples, and the subject song for the topic list.
Revise this with a song
These are ours. We write revision songs because a lot of people remember a tune when they cannot remember a page, and because revising out loud in the kitchen beats staring at a highlighter.
- The Geography Song The GCSE geography topics, set to music.
Where to read more
Last reviewed 2026-08-28 by Fiducia Together · Next review due 2027-08-28
Please note: This page explains a word or a process in education. It is general information about the system, the law and the guidance in England — not advice about your child, your school or your exam. If a decision is going against you, get advice from one of the free services we link to before you agree to anything or miss a deadline. If you are revising, check your own exam board's specification: boards word things differently and yours is the one that marks you.