About us

Helping students and teachers to realise their potential

Everyone has the potential to achieve, so we make sure that our qualifications give all students the opportunity to show what they can do and progress to the next stage of their lives.

Our UK qualifications are highly valued by employers and universities around the world. They are taught mainly in schools and colleges and include GCSEs, AS and A-levels, the Extended Project Qualification and Technical Awards.

We set and mark over half of all GCSEs and A-levels taken in the UK every year. As an independent education charity, our income is reinvested back into AQA’s charitable activities. It also funds our cutting-edge research, which sits at the heart of our assessments and supports our initiatives to help young people facing challenges in life realise their potential.

We also provide support and services that enable learning. These include a comprehensive support and training package for teachers, opportunities for professional development (CPD) and online resources to help teachers in the classroom.

We also offer a range of qualifications specifically designed for international schools through OxfordAQA, our partnership with Oxford University Press.

120 years history

AQA is an independent non-profit charity

1m+

students

1 million+ students sat our qualifications last year

92%

UK schools

92% of UK schools take AQA qualifications

50%

UK exam papers

We set more than half of all GCSE and A-levels papers

What we do

We provide academic qualifications taught in schools and colleges. We work with around 27,000 teachers, lecturers, subject experts and academics, who help design our qualifications and set and mark our exams. We also work collaboratively with teachers to create resources that are designed around their day-to-day needs.

Our income from providing qualifications gets invested back into education. For example, we fund research led by our Assessment Research and Innovation teams, and our AQA Unlocking Potential programme helps develop and inspire young people facing challenges in life.

Our Assessment Research and Innovation teams aim to put research at the heart of education policy and practice. Our assessment expertise provides the foundation for everything we do at AQA. It ensures that we are able to continuously improve the quality and reliability of our assessments.

Who we are

We’re an independent education charity, providing high quality assessments that are fair, reliable, and support students in their educational journey.

Our qualifications expertise dates back to 1903, when our predecessor boards were founded by five leading universities. Today, we’re the largest provider of academic qualifications taught in schools and colleges.

We set and mark the papers for over half of all GCSEs and A-levels taken every year. But exams are only part of the story – we also make sure the content of our qualifications support great teaching.

Our qualifications are designed to suit a range of abilities and include GCSEs, AS and A-levels, the Extended Project Qualification and Technical Awards. Our qualifications are internationally recognised and taught in more than 40 countries around the world and they’re highly valued by employers and universities.

We’re led by our Executive Team and governed by a Board of trustees drawn from schools, colleges, higher education, children’s services and the business community.

Our Leadership

Our Board of Trustees

Values and behaviours

At AQA, we aim never to let a learner down.

Our values have been designed to create a culture that puts our students first and enables us to achieve our current strategic goals.

Our values

Customers front and centre

Our customers are teachers: we want them always to choose us. Whatever our role, we all go the extra mile to meet their needs.

Step up

We think for ourselves. We use sound judgement and hold ourselves to account. We listen to understand, and speak our mind with courtesy and care.

Shape tomorrow

We look up, out and ahead. We use our independent voice to influence. We question what we do and take considered risks to improve and innovate.

Work and learn together

We build supportive, diverse teams. We enjoy working and learning together. We delight in our shared purpose, and celebrate success.

Results matter

We decide and deliver at pace. We make courageous decisions about what we will and won’t do. We know when to aim for perfection, and when good is good enough.