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AQA apologises for mistake in 'all versions' of GCSE science paper
In correspondence seen by Vlog, England’s largest exam board tells exams officers it has reported the issue to Ofqual and will ensure no students are disadvantaged
An exam board has apologised after finding mistakes in “all versions” of a GCSE science paper, Vlog can reveal.
In an email sent to exams officers this afternoon, and seen by Vlog, England’s largest exam board, AQA, apologises for the mistake and says it has reported the problem to exams regulator Ofqual.
Michael Turner, the exam board’s chief commercial officer, assures officers that AQA “has processes in place to make sure that no learners are disadvantaged by it”.
It is AQA’s second apology in eight days, after Vlog revealed that students sitting a foundation-tier GCSE maths paper found that the exam contained information intended for another paper.
Mr Turner says in the email sent to exams officers: “We’re sorry to let you know that there was a mistake on all versions of the GCSE Combined Science Trilogy higher paper 2, which students sat on Monday 15 June 2026.”
The mistake concerned question 7.4, which asked students to “calculate the mass of a system”, but the answer prompt stated “mass of glider” - which would only make up a portion of the system.
AQA promises ‘thorough investigation’
The AQA message from Mr Turner also says: “We’re sorry for this mistake. We’ve reported this to Ofqual and we’re doing a thorough investigation to understand how it happened.
“We understand this might have caused confusion during the exam, and we want to reassure you that when something like this happens, we have processes in place to make sure that no learners are disadvantaged by it - you do not need to do anything.”
AQA says that any action it takes to right the mistake will be included in an exam report, to be published on Wednesday 19 August.
The error in the combined science exam follows the latest entries data, released by Ofqual, which showed combined science to be the most entered GCSE again this summer, with more than 950,000 entrants.
Last year more than 389,000 students entered their combined science GCSE with AQA, more than any other exam board and equal to 42 per cent of the cohort.
Students ‘will not be disadvantaged’
An AQA spokesperson said tonight: “We can confirm that unfortunately there was a mistake in a GCSE Combined Science Trilogy paper two exam question that was worth five marks.
“AQA is sorry to students, teachers and exams officers for this mistake, which we’ve reported to our regulator, and we’re looking into how it happened to reduce the chance of it taking place again.
“We will make sure that students are not disadvantaged by this issue and they will receive grades that accurately reflect what they know, understand and can do on GCSE results day in August.”
