1. New Specimen Papers

2. Ofqual’s Research 4 strands of research
Results published May 21
PhD students judging expected difficulty
Year 11 Testing of non- calculator papers
Problem solving comparison (2 parts)

3. 12/6/2018
Actions for AQA
We expect AQA to continue to ensure that their assessments will function well in 2017 whilst also lifting, to some extent, the expected difficulty of the Foundation tier
They will review AO3 items in light of the evidence in the research report and in line with Ofqual’s proposed revision to statutory guidance
We submitted a further set of specimen papers to Ofqual on 27 May
Ofqual responded on 4 June to say these new papers met their requirements on expected difficulty but asked AQA to review some AO3 questions
Ofqual approved our new specimen papers on June 30

4. Trials with students (Ofqual)
12/6/2018
Trials with students (Ofqual)
Facility is the mean mark for all students as a percentage of the item total
1F facility by section
AQA
1st quarter
61.46
2nd quarter
52.22
3rd quarter
39.46
4th quarter
13.14
Overall
40.16
1H facility by section
AQA
1st quarter
60.51
2nd quarter
42.88
3rd quarter
18.62
4th quarter
15.70
Overall
33.92

5. Assessment Objective 3
Solve problems within mathematics in other contexts
Students should be able to:
translate problems in mathematical or non-mathematical contexts into a process or a series of mathematical processes
make and use connections between different parts of mathematics
interpret results in the context of the given problem
evaluate methods used and results obtained
evaluate solutions to identify how they may have been affected by assumptions made
Weighting: F 25% H 30%

6. 12/6/2018
Changes to AO3 guidance
Across the three papers in both tiers, some questions assessing problem solving must cover more than one of the problem solving strands (20 tier F marks, 24 tier H marks)
So, some questions must ask students to translate a problem into mathematical processes and make and use connections between different parts of mathematics
Some questions must ask students to translate a problem into mathematical processes and interpret results, evaluate methods and results or consider assumptions
Problem solving marks can only be allocated within questions where the task is a problem

7. New Sample Assessment Material
We want to reassure you that these updates to the sample assessments won’t affect the features of our papers that teachers love:
Fewer words
Gradual ramp in demand
Multiple Choice questions to settle students
Better, clearer lay out.

8. AQA All About Maths http://aqamaths.aqa.org.uk
Our free website dedicated to Maths teaching resources

9. Teaching guidance What does it do? a teaching guide
a comprehensive breakdown of the subject content
explains what “students should be able to do” against each spec reference
illustrates the types of questions which would be asked on a question paper, against each spec reference

10. Route Maps
AQA Route Maps are flexible planning tools designed to help you:
Organise teaching of the whole specification around your timetable
Find the resources you need to help teach each topic
Topics are broken down to sub-topics for you
Fully customisable
Available now for 2 and 3 year teaching

11. E-library the best of the web hosted on All About Maths
looking for something different?
ever growing list of free resources across the web
search by topic/tier/resource type etc
web resources recommended and used by teachers

12. Lesson plans and further resources
under “Plan” “Teach” “Assess” find further support resources for every topic
lesson plans
activities
worksheets
homework
topic tests

13. Topic tests written for every topic in our Route Map at both tiers
exemplify the type and style of questions students can expect to see in the live exams
hundreds of tests
thousands of questions
all questions will be available on Exampro

14. Mock Exam Analyser (MEA) – for current specifications
students complete a past exam as a mock exam
helps students identify their strengths, weaknesses (topics and AOs) and how they would have performed in that live exam
links to the question, mark scheme, a fully correct solution and brief guidance on how to answer the question

15. Exemplar responses resources
Annotated practice papers.
Includes exemplar responses from students.
These are all taken from the recent research project.
All 6 papers will be available to Schools teaching AQA

16. Textbooks – all available now
We’re endorsing textbooks from:
Collins
1 foundation
1 higher
Oxford University Press
Cambridge University Press
Electronic resources are also available from these Publishers

17. KS3 Resources – Bridging the Gap
KS3/4 Resource available now to address gaps in the KS3 POS
Teacher guide – including minor changes
9 Resource Pockets – to address major changes
Topic
Content Outline
New KS3 PoS reference
New GCSE specification reference
Pocket 4: Iterative methods for solving equations numerically
Only trial and improvement is mentioned as a numerical approach and no other iterative methods are referred to in current PoS. Students progressing to the higher tier would benefit from being aware of the idea of a numerical approach to solving equations and having a basic awareness of an iterative formula
Not listed
A20, R16
Pocket 5: Using set notation and number lines to represent solution to an inequality.
Venn diagrams
Set notation not listed in current PoS and students are unlikely to be familiar with it. Number lines are likely to be a familiar concept and it is likely they could easily adapt prior knowledge to representing the solution of an inequality.
Awareness of Venn diagrams and basic usage is essential prior to commencing a GCSE course and this sits naturally with an the introduction to set notation. Tree diagrams might be introduced at a basic level too.
Set notation Not listed
Venn diagrams in Probability
A22, P6

18. KS3 Tests - Coming soon
Y6 Baseline Test and tests for each term of Y7, Y8 and Y9
Core and Extension Tests available
Consolidation Tests also available
Available to all Schools teaching AQA

19. Other resources
Teach-it
ExamPro
Alfiecloud