Using AQA’s improved GCSE Maths papers to build student confidence and gain stronger results

By Joel Hofman
Published 04 August 2023

Based in West Sussex, the College of Richard Collyer (Collyer's) is based on the values of creating opportunity and delivering social mobility through the power of education.

Joel Hofman, Head of Maths at the College of Richard Collyer says:

I studied maths at university and have always enjoyed how everything fits together and the sense of satisfaction from reaching a correct answer. I wanted to share this enjoyment with others which led me into teaching.”

Here, he talks through the experience and results of switching to AQA for post-16 GCSE Maths.

The starting point – the learners

At Collyer's, we find a high level of 'maths anxiety' and stress when students arrive to us. As teachers, we see the positive and students often know more maths than they realise, but their confidence has been impacted by the feeling of having not achieved in the past. That can create a mental barrier to what is being taught. It is key for us to find the best way to rebuild that confidence, and finding assessment papers that help create self-belief and support the knowledge students have is so important to changing the outcome for our learners.

Why we chose to switch

We want to give our students the best chance of making their way through papers, enabling them to complete as many questions as they can. We’ve found the AQA papers friendlier in terms of layout. For those who’ve had a negative experience with maths, simple things like space and fonts can make a big difference and help learners feel they can approach the question positively. AQA’s questions are clear and supportive of different literacy levels, making them accessible for more students.

The context setting of questions is also more realistic. Students are less familiar with some of the older question contexts, such as decks of cards. AQA papers use familiar situations which are more likely to be engaging, in turn helping learners access the maths more easily.

Question phasing boost confidence

One of the best changes for the students was the ramping of questions throughout the paper. The pacing meant they could access and transition through the exam more smoothly, enabling them to get further into the paper feeling confident they could progress. Many students will stop at the first question they can’t do and lose faith, but how far they can progress can often influence their outcome. If they hit one or two really tough questions, they can think ‘that’s my limit.’ It’s nice if that limit can be as far down the paper as possible.

Keeping teaching consistent

Changing exam boards can be challenging for teachers, particularly regarding the impact on workload. One of the things we thought we would have to deal with, multiple choice, was used more sparingly in the papers. This simplified things, which was good for us and the students.

It works for the students

The feedback from students tells us they’re able to get further through the papers and that’s a big confidence boost. After Paper 1, they felt more confident about moving on to the other papers. Learners find Paper 1 a challenge, so if that’s gone well, they tend to feel motivated for the others and feel more enabled to tackle them.

Making the switch

We really liked the structure of the papers and that was one of the key points that swayed us to change. Plus, when we found out we could get easy, free access to the scripts post-exam, that was a real bonus to our teaching.

AQA has everything we need – it’s been a smooth and easy process and the relationship we’ve built with their Account Managers has made such a big difference in switching over.

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Author

Joel Hofman

About the author

Joel Hofman is Head of Maths at the College of Richard Collyer and has been teaching maths for 12 years.

The College of Richard Collyer

Based in West Sussex, the college is one of the top co-educational colleges in the UK. The college prides itself on fostering inclusivity, individualism, and aspiration.

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