What is AQA?
5 min read · updated 2026-09-02
If your child's school teaches GCSEs or A-Levels in England, there is a good chance AQA sets the papers: it is the largest awarding body in the country by entries. Knowing which board your child sits matters, because past papers, mark schemes and question styles are board-specific.
What the letters mean
AQA stands for the Assessment and Qualifications Alliance, formed in 2000 from the merger of two older boards: the Associated Examining Board (AEB) and the Northern Examinations and Assessment Board (NEAB). If you ever see an old certificate stamped AEB, it is AQA's ancestry, not a body that still exists. AQA is a registered charity, based in Manchester, and regulated by Ofqual like every board offering English qualifications.
What AQA offers
The full English range: GCSEs (including the separate sciences, English language and literature, maths and the humanities), A-Levels in dozens of subjects, and a smaller set of level 1/2 and level 3 certificates. Its GCSE sciences follow the combined or trilogy route plus separate biology, chemistry and physics; its A-Levels in sciences include the well-documented required practicals that carry the practical endorsement on the certificate.
How to prepare for AQA exams
Board specificity is the whole game. AQA's question stems, command words and mark schemes have their own habits, so revision should run on AQA past papers, not a generic workbook. The freely downloadable specifications and mark schemes on AQA's site tell you exactly what examiners reward, and working through papers with the mark scheme in hand is the single most efficient use of revision time.
FAQs
Is AQA harder than Edexcel or OCR?＋
No board is systematically harder; Ofqual regulates comparability. They differ in style: question phrasing, how mark schemes split credit and topic emphases. A child should always practise with their school's board rather than a mix.
Can a private candidate take AQA exams?＋
Yes, at exam centres that accept external candidates, though a few AQA subjects with coursework or practical requirements need extra arrangement. Sciences can be sat as written papers, with the practical endorsement arranged separately where needed.
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