What WJEC and Eduqas are
WJEC — the Welsh Joint Education Committee — is the awarding body for Wales. It's a Welsh educational charity, established to serve Welsh schools and indigenous Welsh qualifications. Eduqas is the English-market brand of the same organisation: same question writers, same operational team, but separately regulated and separately specified to comply with English assessment requirements.
In practice: a school in England sits Eduqas papers (regulated by Ofqual). A school in Wales sits WJEC papers (regulated by Qualifications Wales). The same body is behind both, and the two sets of specifications mirror each other closely with localised differences.
What Eduqas (England) is known for
English Literature
Eduqas English Literature is the most-used non-AQA Lit spec in English schools. Set texts and paper structure differ from AQA — Eduqas pairs a Shakespeare text with a 18th/19th century novel, a poetry anthology, and unseen poetry analysis. Some schools actively prefer the Eduqas literary range (which leans towards a slightly different canon) over AQA's choices.
Film Studies and Media Studies
Eduqas dominates both. GCSE Film Studies is almost entirely Eduqas; GCSE Media Studies is split between AQA and Eduqas with Eduqas being the larger of the two. At A-level, Eduqas is similarly strong. The set-film and set-media-text rotations matter a lot — tutors specialising in these subjects need to know the current syllabus rotation.
Drama
Eduqas Drama is widely used at GCSE and A-level, particularly in schools with strong drama departments. Component structure typically combines a written exam, a devised performance piece (assessed by external moderation), and a scripted performance.
What WJEC (Wales) is known for
Welsh and Welsh Second Language
WJEC is the sole provider. Welsh-medium schools use WJEC for almost all subjects; English-medium Welsh schools use WJEC for Welsh Second Language at minimum.
The Welsh Baccalaureate
A wraparound qualification combining academic study with a Skills Challenge Certificate (individual project, group project, community challenge). Sat by most students at Welsh secondary schools alongside their GCSE / A-level subjects.
Most other subjects in Welsh schools
Welsh schools often use WJEC for Maths, Sciences, English, History, Geography — the full curriculum. Sometimes they use a different board for a specific subject (often Edexcel for IGCSE Maths, or AQA for English in some bilingual schools), but WJEC is the default.
How tutoring differs by brand
A tutor familiar with Eduqas English Literature is not automatically familiar with WJEC English Literature, and vice versa — the set texts and assessment objectives differ. When you're messaging tutors, specify which brand you need:
- "Eduqas GCSE English Literature" if you're in an English school
- "WJEC GCSE English Literature" if you're in a Welsh school
For Welsh-medium subjects, WJEC is functionally the only option; finding a Welsh-language tutor matters more than board specialisation.
Past papers and resources
Two parallel sites:
- eduqas.co.uk — English-market specs, past papers, mark schemes, examiner reports.
- wjec.co.uk — Welsh-market specs (English and Welsh-medium versions), Welsh-language qualifications, Welsh Baccalaureate.
Both sites are well-maintained; the Eduqas site is slightly newer and has cleaner navigation.