AQA Maths past papers and more: HIGHER
Practicing past papers should rank highly on any students list of prioritys. But practice alone, is not enough to ensure improvement and success. It is vital that the student also marks their answers and then seeks help/support to "plug" those gaps in their knowledge and understanding. This support can come from a teacher, friend, family member 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
- Access and download an AQA higher 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 importantly the 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.
The dates of the next
AQA GCSE maths examinations 2025.
| Autumn Retake 2025 | |
|---|---|
| Paper 1 | Wednesday 5th November |
| Paper 2 | Friday 7th November |
| Paper 3 | Monday 10th November |
| Summer exams 2026 | |
|---|---|
| Paper 1 | Thursday 14th May |
| Paper 2 | Wednesday 3rd June |
| Paper 3 | Wednesday 10th June |
Each year, there are two opportunities for a student to sit their maths GCSE. The first is in May/June. The second is the November resit. A student will complete their first attempt of the maths GCSE examinations, when they are leaving school, in the summer term of school Year 11. A grade level of 4 or higher is deemed a pass grade. On completing school education, students transisition to either college or sixth-form education. During their time at sixth form or college, those students with a maths grade of 1, 2 or 3 are expected to resit their maths GCSE until they do achive a pass grade. They will have a maximum of two attempts in Year 12 and then two attempts in Year 13.
AQA HIGHER available past papers and mark schemes (9 - 3)
This examination comprises of three test papers, called papers 1, 2 and 3.
Paper 1 is a non-calculator examination
Paper 2 uses a calculator
Paper 3 uses a calculator
Some past papers are unavailable
The two most recent sets 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.
Also, the impact of Covid-19 resulted in the cancellation of two sets of examinations. In the summer of 2020 and the summer of 2021 no formal examinations took place.
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.
AQA grade boundaries: Higher (9 - 3)
| Duration | Number marks | |
|---|---|---|
| Paper 1 | 1.5 hours | 80 |
| Paper 2 | 1.5 hours | 80 |
| Paper 3 | 1.5 hours | 80 |
| MAX SCORE | 240 |
The scores from the three papers are added producing the pupils total score. This score will then slot into a grade boundary. The maximum score is 240.
For example,
using the table below, a student with a combined total score of 120 out of 240 = 50% in the summer of June 2017 was awarded a grade 6.
| 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 |
| November 2024 | 88.3% = 212 | 76.7% = 184 | 65.4% = 157 | 52.1% = 125 | 38.8% = 93 | 25.4% = 61 | 18.6% = 45 |
| June 2025 | 91.3% = 219 | 79.6% = 191 | 68.3% = 164 | 54.1% = 130 | 40.0% = 96 | 26.3% = 63 | 19.1% = 46 |
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.
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.
