Press Release

AQA welcomes Ofqual commitment

20 November 2009

Commenting on reports published today by Ofqual - Reaching the finishing line and GCSE sciences - Ofqual's monitoring in 2008 and 2009

Mike Cresswell, Director General AQA, said:

"We welcome the publication today of Ofqual's reports which clearly show that AQA set consistent GCSE Science standards between 2008 and 2009. This is what Ofqual, rightly, expected us to do and what we believe was right.

"Prior to deciding that the 2008 GCSE Science standards of all the awarding bodies were too low, Ofqual had asked AQA to lower its standards in 2008 to come more into line with the other Awarding Bodies.

"Even then, AQA remained slightly more severe in 2008 and it was therefore AQA’s 2008 standard which the other awarding bodies were expected to follow in 2009.

"The Ofqual report shows that the other awarding bodies were unable to meet the right standard and that their GCSE Science results were too lenient in 2009.

"We are very pleased to see Ofqual's commitment to bringing the other awarding bodies into line with AQA's standard in the future. We will continue to work closely with Ofqual and the other awarding bodies to help them achieve this.

"Consistency of standards across awarding bodies is essential so that teachers don’t feel that they have to compromise and make a choice between getting good examination results and the genuine development and achievement of their students."