It has been a challenging week for AQA, England’s largest exam board, as they have issued their second apology in just eight days regarding a mistake on a high-stakes exam. Following a previous issue with a GCSE maths paper, AQA has now confirmed that a mistake occurred in all versions of the GCSE Combined Science Trilogy higher paper 2, which was sat by students on June 15, 2026.
What Went Wrong?
The error specifically concerned question 7.4. While the question asked students to "calculate the mass of a system," the answer prompt mistakenly stated "mass of glider"—a term that would only represent a portion of the entire system.
AQA’s Response
In an email sent to exams officers, Michael Turner, the chief commercial officer at AQA, acknowledged the mistake and confirmed that the board has reported the issue to the regulator, Ofqual. Regarding the impact on students, the board has emphasized the following:
- No Disadvantage: AQA has explicitly promised that students will not be disadvantaged by this issue.
- Accurate Grading: The board assured that students will receive grades that accurately reflect what they know, understand, and can do when results are released this August.
- No Action Required: Students do not need to take any action themselves.
- Ongoing Investigation: AQA is conducting a thorough investigation to understand how this occurred and to reduce the likelihood of similar mistakes in the future.
The board intends to include any actions taken to address the error in an exam report, which is scheduled for publication on Wednesday, August 19.
Context of the Exam
The Combined Science GCSE is a massive undertaking, standing as the most entered GCSE again this summer with over 950,000 entrants. Last year, AQA managed more than 389,000 entries for this qualification alone, representing 42 percent of the total cohort. Given the scale of these exams, ensuring accuracy is paramount, and students and teachers alike will be looking for clear updates from the board in the coming months.
