AQA welcomes support for new maths qualification
AQA, an education charity and leading provider of qualifications, welcomed the announcement by the Department for Education for a new 'mid-level' maths exam as an important opportunity to ensure more young people develop the maths skills they need to succeed in life.
The Department has confirmed plans for a new maths qualification to be taken after GCSEs.
AQA sets the papers for around half of all GCSEs and A-levels. Every year, nearly 2 million students sit AQA A-levels and GCSEsand we mark more than 7 million exam scripts.
Andrew Hall, Chief Executive of AQA, said: "We've been really worried that students who have been turned off maths at a young age never get the higher level skills they need to succeed in life.
"While AQA has had a similar qualification for a while, this important announcement means we can build on it to ensure many more young people have the chance to get stuck into maths in an engaging and stimulating way.
"We look forward to working with employers and higher education to make the most of this opportunity to develop a world class mid-level maths qualification that really equips young people to succeed in life, and the UK to compete internationally."
Andrew Taylor, AQA Head of Maths, said: “AQA fully supports the aims of core maths. For many years we have sought to widen participation in maths for 16 - 19 year olds through our level 3 Advanced Free-Standing Maths Qualifications. This proven and popular qualification continues to be available to schools and colleges, and we will draw on our wide experience of designing these qualifications to provide more high quality core maths qualifications and support materials. Our Free-Standing Maths Qualifications are supported by The Nuffield Foundation who provide online resources, including schemes of work, student sheets and teachers' notes.
We look forward to working with teachers, the Department for Education, higher education, employers and Ofqual to develop core maths qualifications that meet students' needs for further study, employment and life.”
