Ben Stafford, Qualifications Manager “Solving for X” Simplifying what’s happening with GCSE and A level mathematics Ben Stafford, Qualifications Manager July 2015 aqamaths maths@aqa.org.uk 0161 957 3852 Copyright © AQA and its licensors. All rights reserved.

What has stayed the same in the GCSE? Written papers only Linear assessment – all exams must be taken in the same series Summer exams for all November opportunity for students who were 16 on 31 August in that year Minimum assessment time of 4 1 2 hours 33 1 3 - 50% non-calculator assessment Foundation and Higher tiers New grading structure 1-9, with 9 being the highest Foundation tier 1 – 5 Higher tier 4 – 9 Will carry a double weighting in the new accountability measures Copyright © AQA and its licensors. All rights reserved.

What has changed? Ofqual research into difficulty and demand of specimen papers led to actions for each exam board. New guidance on Assessment Objective 3 (problem solving) means more questions that assess multiple elements of problem solving in the same question New guidance on “good pass” from DfE Copyright © AQA and its licensors. All rights reserved.

Ofqual research into GCSE Mathematics Specifications were accredited in September 2014 4 strands of research PhD students judging expected difficulty Year 11 Testing of non- calculator papers Problem solving comparison (2 parts) Regulatory summary from Ofqual: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/429122/2015-05-21-regulatory-summary-gcse-maths-sample-assessment-materials.pdf

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 and await their views

Expected Difficulty of items Copyright © AQA and its licensors. All rights reserved.

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 Copyright © AQA and its licensors. All rights reserved.

Trials with students (AQA) Practice Paper set 1 published before Christmas Not reviewed by Ofqual and not written to meet expectations of difficulty and latest AO3 guidance Small scale trial with Y11 students Limited data but we can learn from it Copyright © AQA and its licensors. All rights reserved.

Assessment Objective 1 Use and apply standard techniques Students should be able to: accurately recall facts, terminology and definitions use and interpret notation correctly accurately carry out routine procedures or set tasks requiring multi-step solutions Weighting: F 50% H 40% Slide 15 Copyright © AQA and its licensors. All rights reserved.

Assessment Objective 2 Reason, interpret and communicate mathematically Students should be able to: make deductions and inferences and draw conclusions from mathematical information construct chains of reasoning to achieve a given result interpret and communicate information accurately present arguments and proofs assess the validity of an argument and critically evaluate a given way of processing information Weighting: F 25% H 30% Slide 16 Copyright © AQA and its licensors. All rights reserved.

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% Slide 17 Copyright © AQA and its licensors. All rights reserved.

New grading structure: after Ofqual consultation 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 A* A “Good”?? “Good” B C D,E,F G Slide 8 Copyright © AQA and its licensors. All rights reserved.

A level Update Copyright © AQA and its licensors. All rights reserved.

Introduction The current A-level Mathematics specification and Further Mathematics has been running since 2004 and the current structure of Mathematics and Further Mathematics is built on two sets of six units, with some units interchangeable between the Mathematics and Further Mathematics specifications. In June 2012, reform of A-levels Consultation went out, this included the announcement that AS and A-level would be decoupled and Qualifications would be linear A-level Mathematics and A-level Further Mathematics reform was originally proposed for first teaching in 2015, but has been postponed twice and is now first teach in 2017 This has meant that some reform activity has been running since the end of 2012, and in that time we have engaged with many stakeholders, particularly teachers, allowing us to gain a good understanding of the concerns teachers face with regard to A-level Mathematics and Further Mathematics reform Copyright © AQA and its licensors. All rights reserved.

Future development Summer 2015 Clarification of Assessment Objectives and timeline (two Ofqual meetings planned confirming Assessment Objectives) Autumn 2015 Market testing Spring 2016 Submission to Ofqual Summer 2016 Free of charge launch meetings for teachers Spring 2017 Free of charge prepare to teach meetings for teachers September 2017 First teach Summer 2018 First AS exam Summer 2019 First A-level exam Copyright © AQA and its licensors. All rights reserved.

What should the new A-levels look like? High level of teacher and university engagement Allow students to use their mathematical knowledge to make decisions in solving problems within both pure mathematics and in a variety of contexts Allow students to communicate their decisions using mathematical rationale and logical reasoning Teaches students to decide and recognise the mathematics required to solve problems Prepare students for university and for work Have integrity, fit with our status as a charity and what we aim to do Copyright © AQA and its licensors. All rights reserved.

A-level Mathematics overview A-level Mathematics content is 100% prescribed by the DfE and common to all awarding organisations: - 2/3rds pure content - 1/6th statistics - 1/6th mechanics Students taking AS only will sit exams after 1 year of study Students taking the full A-level will sit exams after 2 years of study AS and A-level are to be co-teachable A large data set is stipulated (awaiting clarification on how this is set and how it is to be used) Copyright © AQA and its licensors. All rights reserved.

AS Mathematics – DfE ALCAB content Purpose: Can be co-taught with the A-level as a separate Qualification Consolidates and develops GCSE level Mathematics and supports transition to higher education or employment in any of the many disciplines that make use of quantitative analysis, including those involving calculus Copyright © AQA and its licensors. All rights reserved.

A-level Further Mathematics overview Further Mathematics content is only 50% prescribed by the DfE and it is all pure content The other 50% is defined by the awarding organisations Students taking AS only will sit exams after 1 year of study Students taking the full A-level will sit exams after 2 years of study AS and A-level are to be co-teachable Copyright © AQA and its licensors. All rights reserved.

AS Further Mathematics overview – DfE ALCAB content AS Further Mathematics can be co-taught with A-level Mathematics as a separate Qualification, which can be taught alongside AS or A-level Mathematics It broadens and reinforces the content of AS and A-level Mathematics, introduces complex numbers and matrices, and gives students the opportunity to extend their knowledge in applied mathematics and logical reasoning This breadth and depth of study is very valuable for supporting the transition to degree level work and employment in mathematical disciplines Copyright © AQA and its licensors. All rights reserved.

Key changes from the existing A-level Mathematics & Further Mathematics specifications Moving to linear Further Mathematics co-teaching with A-level Mathematics Large data set (AS and A-level Mathematics) Decoupling of AS and A-level Problem solving questions New Assessment Objectives New content Copyright © AQA and its licensors. All rights reserved.

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