A-level Mathematics
Secure Key Materials
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To obtain an e-AQA account and access to Secure Key Materials, please register at e-AQA. For more information about the materials published on Secure Key Materials, please don't hesitate to contact the Subject team.
June 2010 exams
New-look question papers and how our examiners will mark long answers on screen
For exams with separate question papers and answer books, there will be:
- a new numbering system using two digits
- a new-look answer book with spaces for candidates to write the two-digit question numbers.
For guidance and help managing the change, AQA have produced the following support:- Teacher Guide (revised)
- Exams Officer and Invigilator Guide
- Exams Officer questionnaire feedback
- Student Guide.
- GCSE and A2 specimen papers and mark schemes are available for download from the relevant subject pages now. AS June 2009 papers have been reworked as specimens and are now available to view in the past question papers section of the key materials.
You need read no further if you teach components unaffected by these changes.
If you teach any components/units affected by these changes, read about the changes to question papers and how examiners will mark long answers.
A few question papers (mainly legacy GCSE in their last year of operation), are exempt from changes to question numbering but continue to work with the JCQ separate answer book.
These subjects that currently use separate question papers and answer books will become combined question paper answer books in June 2010.
From the June 2010 series, all AQA A-level Mathematics question papers will be combined question paper / answer books.
This allows these papers to move more easily to on-screen marking, details of which are in the booklet Examination of Long Answers. However, contrary to the information given on page 3 of the booklet, which states 'From June 2010, all of our question papers will be typeset in Arial font', these papers will remain in Times New Roman font.
The most obvious difference from other combined question paper / answer books that you may have seen is that a single, large space will be included after the end of each whole question, rather than small spaces after each part. In most cases, questions will start at the top of the left-hand (even numbered) page of a double page spread. Question papers that usually had a separate insert for candidates to complete will now have the diagrams / graphs etc incorporated into the main book.
Examples of question papers from June 2009 will be posted in e-AQA from the middle of January for you to use. There is one example paper for each of the 'strands'.
| Unit / Component | Example |
| Pure Core: MPC1, MPC2, MPC3, MPC4 | MPC2 |
| Decision: MD01, MD02 | MD01 |
| Mechanics: MM1A/W, MM1B, MM2B, MM03, MM04, MM05 | MM1B |
| Statistics: MS/SS1A/W, MS/SS1B, MS2B, MS03, MS04 | MS/SS1B |
| Further Pure: MFP1, MFP2, MFP3, MFP4 | MFP1 |
Please e-mail us or phone us 01483 477752 if you have any queries.
Support materials for teachers of AS and A2 Mathematics, Statistics and FSMQ
Information about Maths Pathways is available, if you are interested in joining the pilot or are already participating in it.
There will be changes to the aggregation and certification rules for A-level Mathematics subjects from summer 2008, please see the below for details.
Specifications for A-level Mathematics
The A-level Mathematics specifications changed in 2004 and for this reason did not change in September 2008. These specifications remain six module qualifications and are now unlikely to change until first teaching in 2012. From 2007 to 2010, AQA is piloting a four-module specification for A-level Mathematics. For further information on the pilot qualifications, see an overview of the projects within AQA to develop 14-19 Curriculum Pathways in Mathematics (Functional Skills, GCSE, A-level and FSMQs).
Revised version of the specification for 2009 onwards
(Examinations Update Issue 1)
Changes to the aggregation and certification rules for A-level mathematics subjects from summer 2008
Aggregation of unit results in mathematics subjects up to 2007 had the following two special features.
1. Candidates' total uniform marks for an award were calculated using a procedure known as 'least-best', whereby the best possible grades were determined using the fewest possible uniform marks. The aim was to leave the highest possible uniform marks unused so that they could potentially contribute to a second mathematics qualification. With unit grades now being reported to UCAS, this method is no longer in candidates' best interests, because it means that unit grade profiles are not always the best possible.
From the June 2008 series, the procedure is therefore being modified. Subject grades will initially be calculated in the same way as before, but units will then be re-distributed across subject titles as necessary to give the best possible total uniform mark(s) without changing the subject grades. For a candidate entered for Mathematics and Further Mathematics, units will be re-distributed to optimise the total uniform mark for Mathematics. For candidates who have taken an extra unit or units (eg a candidate entered for Mathematics who has taken seven units), the new procedure will avoid the situation where the best unit result is left unused.
2. Candidates who wished to certificate Further Mathematics having (against JCQ advice) certificated Mathematics in a previous series were encouraged to decline their Mathematics grade in order to enable the best possible grades to be issued by certificating both titles in the same series. However, with the withdrawal of the facility to decline, some candidates certificating Mathematics before Further Mathematics could find that their grades are not optimal.
Therefore, a new procedure is being introduced starting in the June 2008 series, for mathematics subjects only, whereby re-entering for a qualification will release all units previously used in certificating that qualification. For example, for a candidate who has previously certificated AS and A level Mathematics and now wishes to certificate AS and A level Further Mathematics, re-entering AS and A level Mathematics (at the same time as AS and A level Further Mathematics) will allow all units to be available for aggregation and will give candidates their best possible grade combination (in the sense that the Further Mathematics grade is always subject to the awarding of the highest possible grade for Mathematics, eg A + C is awarded in preference to B + B – this rule has not changed). Therefore, there is no longer any need to avoid certificating mathematics qualifications part-way through a candidate's course, provided that all qualifications are certificated (or re-certificated) at the end. In these circumstances, a candidate's best grade combination will always appear on the final certificate, as there is no possibility of a candidate receiving a worse grade combination than that previously achieved.
Further information regarding the latest rules may be found on the JCQ website in a document entitled Awarding A-level Mathematics grades, June 2008 onwards.
Revised 2009 specification
(Examinations Update Issue 35)
Aggregating A-level Mathematics and A-level Further Mathematics
(Examinations Update Issue 34)
Withdrawal of coursework option from two units from 2009
(Examinations Update Issue 31)
Formulae and statistical tables
(Examinations Update Issue 30)
Support material for units MS/SS1A/W, MS/SS1B, MS03 and MS04 is available on the Key Materials page.
Revision to MFP2 textbook
The MFP2 textbook has been updated to contain material now covered in MFP2 as a result of revisions to the 2007 specification. This is available on the Key Materials page.
Textbooks for Further Pure Mathematics
New textbooks, written by some of our Senior Examiners, to support Further Pure 2, 3, and 4, are now available on the Key Materials page.
Coursework standardisation meetings
- Dates for coursework standardisation meetings are generally published on the AQA Website in September.
- Meetings are usually held between October and January and are free of charge.
- Centres are also usually notified in writing.
- If you are teaching this specification for the first time, please contact us to ensure that you are invited.
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01483 477 752
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