UK exam boards explained

Different schools use different exam boards for different subjects, and each board has its own paper format, mark scheme, and quirks. A tutor who knows the specific board your child sits is more useful than a generic subject specialist.

England

AQA AQA is England's largest GCSE awarding body (about a third of all GCSE entries) with particular strength in English, History, Sociology, Psychology, and Religious Studies. Find a tutor familiar with the specific AQA specification your child is sitting.Pearson Edexcel Pearson Edexcel is the for-profit awarding body within the Pearson Group, dominant in GCSE Maths, Statistics, and Business, and the major UK provider of IGCSE alongside Cambridge International.OCR OCR sits within Cambridge Assessment and dominates Computer Science, Latin, Classical Greek, Ancient History, and Music at GCSE. Schools that take a technically-rigorous or classical curriculum approach typically default to OCR.

International

Cambridge International Cambridge International is the international awarding body within Cambridge University Press & Assessment, used in 10,000+ schools across 160+ countries, including many UK independents that prefer Cambridge IGCSE Maths and Sciences over the UK domestic GCSE.

Northern Ireland

CCEA CCEA is Northern Ireland's indigenous awarding body, sitting under the NI Department of Education. It writes the NI curriculum, sets and grades NI GCSEs and A-levels, and runs distinct specifications for Irish, Religious Education, Home Economics, and Moving Image Arts.

Scotland

SQA SQA, now Qualifications Scotland (renamed 1 February 2026 under the Education (Scotland) Act 2025), is Scotland's sole national awarding body. It awards every Scottish school qualification (National 5, Higher, Advanced Higher) and the Scottish Baccalaureate. Scottish education runs on its own timeline and structure, separate from England's GCSE and A-level pathway.

WJEC Eduqas WJEC is the Welsh awarding body, Eduqas is its English-market brand: same organisation, different markets. Eduqas is widely used in English schools for English Literature, Film Studies, Media Studies, and Drama; WJEC is the sole provider for Welsh-medium qualifications.

Why the exam board matters

An exam board (an "awarding body") writes the syllabus for a qualification, sets the papers, marks them, and awards the grades. Schools pick which board to use for each subject, so a child can sit one board for English and a different one for Maths in the same year. Each board has its own paper format and its own mark scheme conventions, and those differences are exactly where a tutor earns their keep. A tutor who has prepared students for the specific board your child sits is more useful than a subject specialist working from a generic syllabus, because they know what the examiners reward and how the marks are actually awarded.

Finding out which board your child sits

Board choice is the school's decision, not a parental one, and it varies by subject. The quickest way to check is to ask the class teacher or look at the school's curriculum pages. Past homework and textbooks usually name the board on the cover, and exam papers carry a specification code (for example AQA GCSE Maths 8300) that pins down the exact spec. Once you know the board and the spec code, you can ask any tutor whether they have taught it recently, which turns a vague "do you do GCSE Maths" into a question that tells you something useful.

What the board pages cover

The pages below are grouped by where each board operates across the UK. Each one explains what the board is known for, which subjects it tends to be strong on, and where to find its past papers and mark schemes for free. Use them to work out what "AQA English" or "Edexcel Maths" actually means before you start messaging tutors, then bring the spec code with you so the tutors you contact can tell you straight away whether they can help.

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