Copyright and intellectual property policy

All AQA materials are protected by copyright, and may only be reproduced with written permission.

  • AQA materials must not be reproduced on third party websites – in any format.
  • We don't grant permission for AQA materials to appear on any type of social media or in YouTube videos (or similar sites or apps).
  • We grant a limited number of print and eBook permissions to authors and publishers.
  • You may link to documents on the AQA public website from your own website.

Use of materials by registered centres

AQA-registered schools and colleges can use our materials if the following conditions are met:

  • materials can be downloaded and printed or photocopied for exam preparation within the school or college only
  • materials can be made available through an intranet or internal website only – which can’t be accessed publicly
  • music files and listening files for modern foreign languages must not be copied or stored electronically.

Downloading copyrighted material from the AQA website implies that you accept these conditions.

Secure documents and exam materials

Secure documents for teachers and examiners are stored on Centre Services. Secure documents may be used within registered schools and colleges only on their intranet or virtual learning environment (VLE).

You must not reproduce secure documents on any public website or any type of social media or in YouTube videos.

You must not reproduce – or discuss – any non-exam assessment (NEA) tasks or preliminary materials that relate to future exams on any public website or any type of social media platform. Doing so may lead to a malpractice investigation.

Read our copyright policy for centres for more information.

Publishers

If you’d like to reproduce our material, read our policy on the use of AQA materials, then complete our application form.

Past question papers

Exam papers are available on our website one year after an exam series, so that teachers can use them as mock papers in the year after the first exam. Schools and colleges registered with Centre Services can access past papers.

Exam papers, mark schemes and reports will be available for a period of three years.

Where we haven’t received copyright clearance for third party items, some papers will have specific content removed.

See what’s available when

Copyright acknowledgement booklets

Third-party copyright acknowledgements used in question papers and assessment materials are published in a separate booklet – one for each series. Acknowledgements are not included in exam papers.

View booklets

Copyright guidelines for the press and broadcast media

Find out more about our copyright guidelines for the press.

Archive requests

The archive request service provides a limited number of copies of archive material (ie over 3 years old) for the following purposes.

Academic research

The researcher must provide evidence of their research and their affiliated research institution, archive materials cannot be provided for private research purposes. Subject to availability AQA will provide past question papers, mark schemes, specifications and examiners reports at a cost of £25 per item – question papers are £25 per paper, not per subject.

Evidence of study for college/university applications or employers

To request material, email us with the course and specification you completed and we will contact you to discuss your requirements. The school/college where you took your course may be able to help you with this information.

We hold records covering the JMB, NEA, NEAB, SEG, AEB and AQA, as well as the constituent CSE boards. We have aimed to collect as much material as possible, but inevitably there are gaps, particularly in the case of CSEs, and some material may not be available due to copyright restrictions.

Contact us

Please email our copyright team if you have any queries or to make an archive request at: copyright@aqa.org.uk