Parents and students

OxfordAQA is a partnership between two giants of the education and assessment world:

• Oxford University Press – a department of the University of Oxford, and
• AQA, by far the UK’s largest provider of GCSEs and A-levels.

This means OxfordAQA is built on unrivalled knowledge, experience and expertise in education and high-quality assessment. As a result, we offer high-quality British curriculum International GCSEs and A-levels to students around the world.

OxfordAQA qualifications are designed especially for international students, and are designed to equip them with the skills they need to succeed in the future, both at university and beyond. Browse our ever-growing list of top universities around the world that have confirmed that they value our qualifications.

There are lots of reasons – but perhaps the most important is that OxfordAQA is unique because we test ONLY our students’ subject knowledge, not their English language skills.

We do this using our unique student-focused approach to assessment design, which makes sure that all our qualifications give students the best chance to show what they can do.

Many international schools prefer OxfordAQA International GCSEs and A-levels because the content is specially designed to be better suited to students studying outside the UK. Quite simply, OxfordAQA International GCSEs and A-levels enable students to go further.

Learn more in our Parents’ Guide.

The fairness of an assessment – whether that be an exam or coursework – can make the difference between a student getting the grade they deserve and a grade that does not reflect their knowledge and skills.

That difference can be life-changing.

OxfordAQA was founded on the belief that all students deserve a fair opportunity to demonstrate what they have learned and that their language level shouldn’t be a barrier to this. With validity, reliability and comparability at the heart of assessment design, we only use clear language and internationally relevant cultural contexts to test subject knowledge.

The Oxford 3000™ is a collection of the most important words in the English language. OxfordAQA exams use only Oxford 3000™ words (and words in the subject specification) to ensure that the phrasing of our questions is as clear as possible for students for whom English is their second language. When we develop our exam papers, we review all the questions using the Oxford 3000. If we identify any word that is not in the Oxford 3000 vocabulary list or subject vocabulary of the specification, we aim to replace it or define it within the question where appropriate.

By using the 9-1 GCSE grading system, you can be confident that OxfordAQA qualifications are recognised as being comparable to UK examinations.

Ofqual, the UK’s examinations regulator, has defined grades 7, 8, and 9 as the equivalent of A and A* in the old system. Grade 9 is awarded only to the strongest candidates, and helps to ensure that the very best students stand out from the crowd and receive the recognition that they deserve.

This helps universities to better identify the truly exceptional candidates.

Our assessments are closely aligned with the reformed GCSEs taken by students in England, and are always informed by the latest in assessment research.

Our qualifications help students to develop important critical thinking skills, such as analysis and evaluation – essential for ensuring a smooth progression to undergraduate study.

OxfordAQA also offer innovative project-based learning qualifications, such as our International EPQ and International GCSE Global Skills Projects, which develop students’ independent learning skills and help them to stand out from the crowd when applying to top global universities.