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| Formation | 1997 (alliance) 2000 (merger) |
|---|---|
| Purpose | Awarding Body |
| Headquarters | Manchester, UK |
| Region served | England, Wales and Northern Ireland |
| Website | www.aqa.org.uk |
AQA (Assessment and Qualifications Alliance) is an Awarding Body in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. It compiles specifications and holds examinations in various subjects at GCSE, AS and A Level and offers vocational qualifications. AQA is a registered charity and independent of the Government. It is regulated by Ofqual, which is the regulator for the public examinations system in England and Wales.
AQA is one of five Awarding Bodies which are 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 the AQA Baccalaureate, a qualification also intended for students in Year 12 and 13.
AQA began as an alliance of the the Associated Examining Board/Southern Examining Group (AEB/SEG), Northern Examinations and Assessment Board (NEAB) and City & Guilds' GNVQ qualification in November 1997. In September 1998, it was registered as an educational charity. AEB/SEG and NEAB agreed to formally merge in October 1999, with this happening in April 2000.
The organisation has several regional offices, the two largest being in Guildford and Manchester. The current Director-General of AQA is Dr. Mike Cresswell.
Biology A-Level controversy
The exam board has attracted heavy criticism of its Biology Unit 4 exam sat on the 25th of January 2010, due to the fact that many students felt that it did not test what they had learnt, but rather included questions on irrelevant material. Further controversy was caused by the fact that although the accredited textbook stated: "You will not be required to know tests of significance, such as the Spearman rank correlation...for theory examination purposes", a question featuring Spearman rank correlation nevertheless featured in the examination. More than 14,000 people joined a Facebook group, protesting about the exam. However, not all students agreed that the exam was unfair and 70 people joined a facebook group in support of the exam, claiming that it was just as expected. Furthermore, AQA issued a statement January 26th 2010 via their website explaining that they would take account of students' concerns when marking the examination. Subsequently, it was found that the grade boundary for an A grade was a mere 41/75; a record low. However, a subsequent investigation by Ofqual later concluded that the papers were fair, and that the grades awarded were a fair and accurate measure of the candidates' performances
References
- Company details. AQA.
- http://www.aqa.org.uk/qual/bacc.php
- Coughlan, Sean (January 27, 2010). A-level Facebook protest widens. BBC News.
- http://www.facebook.com/group.php?v=wall&ref=search&gid=453647705494#/group.php?gid=453647705494
- http://web.aqa.org.uk/news/messages.php
- http://www.ofqual.gov.uk/news-and-announcements/130/256
External links
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