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AQA Maths past papers and more: HIGHER TIER

Below you will find all the available past papers, mark schemes and grade boundaries for the AQA GCSE higher examination. Also included on this page are the course's specification and other useful information, including the dates of the next examination.

AQA
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The dates of the next AQA GCSE maths examinations 2024 & 2025.

In a 12 month window, there are two opportunities for students to sit their GCSE maths examination,  May/June and November. The majority of students sit their GCSE at school in the May/June of the Summer term at the end of Year 11. Those that fail this summer exam are able to resit their GCSE examination a  few months later, at college or sixth form in November during the Autumn term of Year 12.


AUTUMN 2024 Paper 1 Paper 2 Paper 3
Wed 6th November Friday 8th November Monday 11th November
SUMMER 2025 Paper 1 Paper 2 Paper 3
Thursday 15th May Wednesday 4th June Wednesday 11th June

AQA HIGHER GCSE grade boundaries (9 - 3)

This examination comprises of three test papers.

Paper 1 is a non-calculator test, duration 1.5 hours, and a maximum score 80.

Paper 2 uses a calculator, duration 1.5 hours, and a maximum score 80.

Paper 3 uses a calculator, duration 1.5 hours, and a 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 6.

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AQA HIGHER 9 8 7 6 5 4 3
June 2017 79.0% = 189 65.4% = 157 52.0% = 125 41.0% = 98 30.0% = 72 19.0% = 46 14.0% = 33
November 2017 81.0% = 194 66.3% = 159 51.7% = 124 40.0% = 96 28.3% = 68 16.7% = 40 11.0% = 26
June 2018 84.0% = 201 70.4% = 169 57.5% = 138 44.6% = 107 32.0% = 77 19.6% = 47 13.3% = 32
November 2018 81.0% = 194 66.7% = 160 52.5% = 126 40.0% = 96 27.5% = 66 15.4% = 37 9.0% = 22
June 2019 86.0% = 206 71.3% = 171 56.7% = 136 44.0% = 105 31.0% = 74 18.0% = 43 11.3% = 27
November 2019 83.0% = 199 70.0% = 168 57.0% = 137 44.6% = 107 32.5% = 78 20.4% = 49 14.0% = 34
COVID Nov 2020 81.0% = 194 66.3% = 159 51.7% = 124 39.6% = 95 28.0% = 67 16.3% = 39 10.4% = 25
COVID Nov 2021 80.0% = 192 64.6% = 155 49.6% = 119 37.5% = 90 26.0% = 62 14.0% = 34 8.3% = 20
June 2022 89.0% = 214 77.0% = 185 65% = 156 50.4% = 121 36.0% = 86 21.0% = 51 14.0% = 33
Nov 2022 84.0% = 201 71.7% = 172 59.6% = 143 46.3% = 111 32.9% = 79 20.0% = 48 13.0% = 32
June 2023 89.2% = 214 77.5% = 186 65.8% = 158 52.1% = 125 38.3% = 92 24.6% = 59 17.5% = 42
November 2023 85.6% = 206 74.2% = 178 62.5% = 150 47.5% = 114 32.9% = 79 18.3% = 44 10.8% = 26
June 2024 91.3% = 219 79.6% = 191 67.9% = 163 53.8% = 129 39.6% = 95 25.4% = 61 18.3% = 44

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 HIGHER
maths past papers & mark schemes


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.


  • Access and download a past paper.
  • Mark your answers using the mark scheme. 
  • Seek help to understand questions you are unable to answer, complete more revision on weak topic areas.


The impact of covid. 

Summer 2020 = no formal examinations took place.
Summer 2021 = no formal examinations took place.


Unavailable papers. The most recent past papers are not available for public to use, as schools typically use the latest papers for student mock exams. Hence, you will not find the November 2023 and June 2024 published papers on websites.

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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. AQA papers are the only examination series to contain multiple choice questions MCQ, approximately 10% of the paper. Initially spread throughout a paper, for 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 simply worded and easy to answer questions, purposed to settle a student into the paper and improve accessibility for students. Also, where previous AQA MCQ 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. 

Higher past papers from other exam boards

Edexcel: 1MA1  spec A

Edexcel higher

OCR: series J560

OCR higher
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