AQA Education | |
 AQA Education | |
| Formation | 7 November 1997 (alliance) 1 April 2000 (merger) |
|---|---|
| Merger of | NEAB andAEB/SEG |
| Type | Examination board |
| Registration no. | 1073334[2] |
| Headquarters | Devas Street Manchester M15 6EX United Kingdom[1] |
Region served | |
CEO | Colin Hughes |
| Website | www |
Formerly called |
|
AQA Education,[1]trading asAQA (formerly theAssessment and Qualifications Alliance), is an awarding body inEngland,Wales andNorthern Ireland. It compiles specifications and holdsexaminations in various subjects atGCSE and theA Levels and offers vocational qualifications. AQA is a registered charity and independent of the government. However, its qualifications and exam syllabi are regulated by the Government of the United Kingdom, which is the regulator for the public examinations system in England and Wales.
AQA is one of five awarding bodies which are recognised by schools across the country. AQA is also recognised by the regulators of the public exams systems for England, Wales and Northern Ireland to offer GCSE, AS and A Levels in the United Kingdom. AQA also offers theAQA Baccalaureate, a qualification also intended for students in Year 12 and 13 and which includes the study of three A-Levels, an extended project and extra-curricular enrichment activities.[3] AQA is the largest examination board for GCSEs and GCE A Levels in England.[4]
The organisation has several regional offices, the largest being inMilton Keynes,Guildford andManchester.[5]
AQA was originally formed on 7 November 1997 as an alliance ofNEAB andAEB/SEG exam boards andCity & Guilds vocational awarding body.[6][7] NEAB and AEB/SEG formally merged on 1 April 2000.[6][8] City & Guilds chose to remain independent of the new organisation, but transferred itsGNVQ provision to AQA.[6]
AQA holds the candidate records and awards for the following historic exam boards:
TheConservative Party underPrime MinisterDavid Cameron initiated reforms for A Levels to change from a modular structure to a linear one.[9] British examination boards (Edexcel, AQA,OCR andWJEC) regulated and accredited by the Government of the United Kingdom responded to the government's reform announcements by modifyingsyllabi of several A Level subjects.[10] However, theLabour Party and in particular themember of parliamentTristram Hunt announced that it would seek to halt and reverse the reforms and maintain the modular A-Level system.[11] Labour's policy, and the modular AS- and A-Level system, are supported and promoted by theUniversity of Cambridge and by theUniversity of Oxford.[12][13]
The organisation announced that it will begin offering courses for which all assessment is carried out through examinations at the end of the course. This is commonly referred to as a linear course. Beforehand, they offered modular courses in England with several exams.[14]
During the summer 2022 exam series, AQA came under heavy criticism after several of its exam papers contained topics not included in the subject specific 'advance information'.[15][16] Following an announcement from the exams regulatorOfqual in December 2021, exam boards were required to produce advance information, covering the 'focus' of exams, to alleviate the disruption experienced by pupils during theCOVID-19 pandemic.[17] Ofqual criticised AQA and other exam boards for the 'distress' which mistakes on the advance information had caused pupils.[18]
Shortly following the AQA A-Level Chemistry paper 2 (sat on the morning of 20 June 2022) photographs surfaced on social media, namely Twitter, showing the paper had been leaked potentially up to seven days before it took place.[19]
In 2024, it was reported that the AQA's Chinese-languageGCSE textbook removed all references toTaiwan under pressure from theEmbassy of China, London.[20]
The Chief Executive of AQA runs the organisation on a day-to-day basis, while being accountable to the AQA Council. The role was known as the Director General from its introduction in April 1998 until July 2010.[21]
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