AQA maths past papers and more: FOUNDATION
Practicing past papers should rank highly on any students list of prioritys. But practice alone, is not enough to ensure improvement and success. It vital is that the student also marks their answers and then seeks help/support to "plug" the gaps in their knowledge and understanding . This support can come from teachers/friends/family or a private tutor. Just be aware, that seeking help from too many different people, can become a hinderence to the learner. Since, different people may have differerent teaching styles and different ways of solving problems which could potentially become confusing for the learner.
I recommend that students
- Download and complete a past paper.
- Mark their answers using the mark scheme.
- Seek help to understand questions you are unable to answer
- Complete more revision on weak topic areas
Below you will find all the available past papers, mark schemes and grade boundaries for the AQA GCSE foundation examination. Also included on this page are the course's specification and other useful information, including the dates of the next examination.
Unavailable papers
The impact of covid
Summer 2020 = no formal examinations took place.
Summer 2021 = no formal examinations took place.
The two most recent set of past papers are not available for public viewing, so you will not find them listed on the internet. This is because typically, schools will use the most recent past papers for their year 11 mock examinations.
The dates of the next AQA GCSE maths examinations 2025.
In a 12 month window, there are two opportunities for a student to sit their GCSE maths examination. First in May/June and then in November. A student will complete their first set of maths GCSE examinations in the summer term of school Year 11. If a student fails to obtain a grade 4 or higher in the summer exam, they are expected to resit the maths GCSE during their two years at a sixth fom/college. With this first retake typically being in November during the Autumn term of college Year 12.
| 2025 | Autumn paper 1 | Autumn paper 2 | Autumn paper 3 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Wednesday 5th November | Friday 7th November | Monday 10th November |
| 2026 | Summer paper 1 | Summer paper 2 | Summer paper 3 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Thursday 14th May | Wednesday 3rd June | Wednesday 10th June |
AQA FOUNDATION
grade boundaries
(5 - 1)
This examination comprises of three test papers, sat on different days.
Paper 1 is a non-calculator exam
= duration 1.5 hours, and maximum score 80.
Paper 2 uses a calculator
= duration 1.5 hours, and maximum score 80.
Paper 3 uses a calculator
= duration 1.5 hours, and maximum score 80.
The scores from each paper are combined to give the students examination total score.
A maximum of 240 marks is possible. So for example in June 2017, a student with a total score of 120 which equates to 120/240 = 50%, would have been awarded a grade 3.
| AQA foundation | 5 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 1 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| June 2017 | 65.0% = 156 | 52.0% = 124 | 38.0% = 91 | 24.6% = 59 | 11.3% = 27 |
| November 2017 | 65.4% = 157 | 53.0% = 127 | 39.0% = 93 | 24.6% = 59 | 10.4% = 25 |
| June 2018 | 67.0% = 161 | 52.0% = 125 | 38.3% = 92 | 24.6% = 59 | 11.3% = 27 |
| November 2018 | 64.0% = 153 | 50.4% = 121 | 36.7% = 88 | 23.3% = 56 | 10.0% = 24 |
| June 2019 | 65.4% = 157 | 51.0% = 122 | 37.0% = 89 | 24.0% = 57 | 10.4% = 25 |
| November 2019 | 67.5% = 162 | 56.0% = 134 | 41.0% = 98 | 26.0% = 62 | 11.3% = 27 |
| covid = NOV 2020 | 61.0% = 146 | 48.0% = 116 | 36.0% = 86 | 23.3% = 56 | 11.0% = 26 |
| covid = NOV 2021 | 60.4% = 145 | 45.0% = 108 | 33.0% = 79 | 21.5% = 51 | 09.6% = 23 |
| June 2022 | 72.0% = 172 | 57.0% = 135 | 42.0% = 101 | 28.0% = 67 | 13.8% = 33 |
| November 2022 | 69.6% = 167 | 54.0% = 130 | 40.4% = 97 | 26.7% = 64 | 13.0% = 31 |
| June 2023 | 78.8% = 189 | 65.8% = 158 | 48.8% = 117 | 31.7% = 76 | 14.6% = 35 |
| November 2023 | 69.2% = 166 | 56.3% = 135 | 42.1% = 101 | 27.9% = 67 | 13.8% = 33 |
| June 2024 | 77.5% = 186 | 65.4% = 157 | 48.8% = 117 | 32.1% = 77 | 15.4% = 37 |
| November 2024 | 77.5% = 186 | 65.4% = 157 | 48.8% = 117 | 32.1% = 77 | 15.4% = 37 |
| June 2025 |
NOTE: percentages are rounded to nearest 1 d.p.
Grade boundaries can change a little from year to year, as you will see in the table above. Although AQA work hard to produce exam papers that are of the same level of difficulty each year, small variations do occur. To compensate for this the exam board adjusts the grade boundaries.
AQA FOUNDATION past papers & mark schemes
Summer 2021 = no examinations took place.
Instead, the summer 2021 papers were transfered to/used for the November 2021 examinations in Autumn.
Summer 2020 = no examinations took place.
Instead, the summer 2020 papers were transfered to/used for the November 2020 examinations in Autumn.
More about AQA GCSE maths series 8300
AQA is an independent education charity, so their income is reinvested back into charitable activities and funds research. Their principle aim is to support young people facing challenges in life realise their potential. The AQA GCSE series 8300 maths exams are less wordy than Edexcel but can feel more abstract in nature. These AQA papers are the only examination series to contain multiple choice questions (MCQ), worth approximately 10% of the paper. Initially spread throughout a paper, for the summer of 2023 and beyond, AQA decided to remove multi-choice questions from the start of their papers, as such questions can be poorly answered. And instead replace them with simply worded and easy to answer questions, purposed to settle a student into the paper and improve accessibility for students. Also, where previous MCQs might require multiple steps of working out, in 2023 this changed to ensure the working out needed, would only warrent 1 mark.
Learners/parents may find useful to download the course specification and AQA's maths formula sheet from the links provided.
