AQA GCSE Past Papers 2026
Browse all 39 AQA GCSE subjects below. Download question papers, mark schemes, and specimen papers from 2017–2024 — always free.
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About AQA GCSE
AQA GCSE (General Certificate of Secondary Education) is the most widely taken qualification in England for 14-16 year olds. AQA provides over 40 GCSE subjects, covering sciences, humanities, languages, arts, and technology. All AQA GCSEs use the 9-1 grading scale introduced in 2017, where grade 9 is the highest and grade 1 is the lowest.
Many AQA GCSE subjects offer tiered papers: Foundation tier (targeting grades 5 to 1) and Higher tier (targeting grades 9 to 4). Students are entered for one tier only. Subjects like English Literature, History, and Geography are untiered — all students sit the same papers and can achieve any grade from 9 to 1.
AQA GCSE exams are held in May and June each year, with results released in August. November resits are available for GCSE English Language and Mathematics only. Past papers from the current specification (first examined from 2017 or 2018 depending on subject) are the most useful for revision.
Questions, answered.
PapersDaddy has past papers for 39 AQA GCSE subjects, with 3,480+ papers from 2017–2024. This includes question papers, mark schemes, and specimen papers — all free to download.
We have AQA GCSE past papers from 2017–2024. Papers from the current specification (first examined 2017-2018) are the most relevant for revision. Older papers may be from previous specifications with different content or format.
Foundation tier targets grades 5 to 1, while Higher tier targets grades 9 to 4. Foundation covers core content, Higher includes additional challenging material. If a Higher tier student scores below grade 4, they receive Unclassified (U). Not all subjects are tiered — English Literature, History, and Geography are untiered.
Start with the most recent paper and work backwards. Attempt each paper under timed exam conditions without notes. After completing it, use the mark scheme to self-assess — note exactly where marks were lost and why. Focus revision on weak topics, then repeat with another paper. Most students find 3-5 years of past papers sufficient for thorough preparation.