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Copyright policy for centres

All AQA publications are copyright to AQA and are, therefore, not in the public domain.

General

  • This note concerns the reproduction, by approved examination centres; of material held in copyright by AQA (including material produced by its predecessors the Associated Examining Board, Southern Examining Group, the Northern Examinations and Assessment Board, Joint Matriculation Board and the Northern Examining Association).
  • All AQA publications, including past question papers, mark schemes and specifications, are subject to copyright and may not normally be reproduced in whole or in part without the prior written permission of AQA. Specific permission must be obtained from AQA in respect of past questions or other materials which it is proposed to include in text books, journals or other publications (see separate Policy on the Use of AQA Material).
  • This document covers all material published by AQA in print; on CD-ROM; on Centre Services and on the AQA website unless otherwise stated.

Question papers and mark schemes

  • It will not be necessary for centres to apply for permission to reproduce question papers or parts of them, subject to the following conditions.
    • The photocopies; print-outs from website downloads or CD-ROM are for use in internal examinations or for teaching purposes within the centre.
    • No charge is made to students or others for the copies.
    • Where question papers contain third party material (eg maps, photographs, tables, diagrams, prose extracts, quotations) the copyright of which isn't held by AQA but has been released for AQA use, the centre must obtain prior permission direct from the copyright holder (this will be indicated on the question paper or in a separate Acknowledgements Booklet).

Other publications

  • Centres are welcome to reproduce extracts from other AQA printed and electronic publications on the understanding that the material is for internal use within the centre only and not sold for commercial gain and on the condition that the extracts do not contain material held in copyright by another body. Where these publications contain third party material the copyright of which is not held by AQA but has been released for AQA use, centres must obtain prior permission direct from the copyright holder.

Specifications

  • Centres are recommended to link to the AQA specifications on the website to ensure that they are using the most recent version of the specification. It is the responsibility of the centre to ensure that they are using the correct version. Specifications are subject to change. Specifications may be made available within the centre by downloading copies from the website.

Electronic use

  • Centres may use AQA material on their internal intranets, Moodles or VLEs as long as the material is:
    • restricted to access within the centre only and cannot be accessed publicly
    • materials are used for teaching purposes only
    • materials are not copied or offered for sale in any format
    • past question papers and mark schemes should not be retained on intranets for longer than 5 years after the examination series
    • the integrity of the material must be retained – no alterations or abridgments can be made.

There are serious legal consequences for the unauthorised use of third party material and centres are advised, wherever possible, not to use material subject to copyright. Where this is essential centres must assume responsibility for clearing copyright permission from external sources. Any permissions that AQA has received cannot be passed on to third parties.

Please be aware that centres may be asked to provide samples of this material to AQA.

  • Centres may not reproduce AQA material on their public websites.
  • Music and MFL CDs and files must not be copied or digitised.

Centre Services

Centres must not pass on, upload onto school websites or discuss on any forums/social media platforms (such as Twitter, YouTube, TikTok, Google Drive etc.) any AQA publications and particularly any material which is marked as confidential and only available from Centre Services, eg pre-release materials/NEAs for live examinations, the most recent series of past papers, which are kept confidential for one year for the purposes of mock examinations, second or third sets of specimen papers.

Access to Centre Services is for teachers at AQA-registered centres only.

Acknowledgement booklet

  • For confidentiality purposes, acknowledgements of third party copyright materials within question papers are published in a separate Acknowledgement Booklet. This booklet is produced after each examination series and is available for free download on Centre Services and at www.aqa.org.uk when the examination papers are made available. Please assume that any examination papers or items within examination papers which are not listed in the relevant booklet are purely the copyright of AQA.

AQA Logo

  • As a registered trademark there are strict rules concerning the use of the AQA logo. The current policy of AQA is not to allow registered centres (schools and colleges) to reproduce it either in printed format in brochures and prospectuses or in an electronic format on any website or social media platform.

You can contact the AQA Copyright team with any queries or feedback at copyright@aqa.org.uk