Information for examiners and moderators

How we pay you

If you're a new associate, you'll receive a welcome email from iTrent, our payroll system, once you've returned your contract.

You'll need to log in to the iTrent Associate Payments Portal to confirm your personal and bank details before we can pay you.

Please make sure you've registered for the Associate Extranet first, as you'll need the email address and password you use to log in to the Associate Extranet to access the iTrent portal.

Please contact the AQA helpdesk by emailing help@aqa.org.uk or telephone 0800 197 7163 if you haven’t received an invitation to set up your Associate Extranet account, or have lost your login details.

Payments

We'll pay you via bank transfer to a UK bank account. As part of your contract you are required to have both a UK bank account and a permanent UK National Insurance number. We are unable to pay you without this information, and your contract may be rescinded if this is not provided before you commence any work.

Each time we pay you, we'll add an electronic pay statement to the iTrent portal and send you an email letting you know it's there. These notices can be used as evidence for self-assessment tax returns.

We aim to pay you within 30 days of any activity having taken place. Any expense claims will be paid within 30 days of the successful submission of the claim.

Please check your contract to see which fees will be paid.

Marking payments

Examined components

If you are marking on an examined component, we will pay you automatically.

The first payment will be triggered:

• within 30 days of you completing 70% of your allocation of live marking (E2)
• within 30 days of you completing 75% of your allocation of live marking (CMI+)
• within 30 days of you completing 90% of your allocation (paper marking).

We will keep making further payments until you have completed all your marking. You will only be paid for scripts you complete.

If you are due to receive enhanced marking fees or payments for reaching a set quota by a specific date these will be calculated at the end of the marking series and paid around results day.

Our pay runs take place weekly which means payments can be spread over multiple weeks owing to cut off points at which payment files are generated.

If you don't reach the percentages, we'll pay you after results day.

Moderated components

Payments will be made automatically within 30 days of the last date for marks (as shown on your contract).

Visiting examined and moderated components

If you are marking the French, German or Spanish visiting components payment will be automatic, and you won’t need to submit a claim.

For all other visiting subjects to claim you will need to complete a survey which will be sent to you via email.

Monitoring and mentoring fees

These fees are paid following the release of results. They are calculated based on the number of associates you supervise. If an associate moves team, a pro rata fee will be paid. 50% of the fee will be paid for associates who only complete standardisation and do not progress into live marking. A fee is not payable for associates who do not undertake standardisation. Please see your contract for more details.

Expenses

To claim expenses, you'll need to enter a claim via the iTrent portal. Guidance on how to do this can be found on the iTrent Associate Payments Portal User Guide, which is in the Resources section of the Associate Extranet under the ‘payments’ category. There are also videos and quick guides available on Learning Space.

To speed up our authorisation process, please provide as much information as possible on your claim. All expenses claimed must be supported by genuine scanned or photos of receipts as proof of expenditure and uploaded to your online claim. Expenses not supported by appropriate receipts will not be reimbursed. Please do not group your receipts together, each receipt should be on a separate line.

For prompt payment, claims should be submitted into the correct authorisation group. You can check the correct authorisation group, as well as relevant activity codes, on the Activity Code list which is available on the Associate Extranet. Please note from summer 2026 the authorisation groups have changed so please double-check before submitting any claims.

Please check the latest Travel and Expenses policy for details of what you can claim. If you believe you have a valid reason for requesting an exception to this policy, please email your AQA contact or the business area that invited you to attend an event/meeting which required you to travel and/or incur expenses.

Teacher Release Vouchers

Teacher Release Vouchers (TRVs) are available to compensate a school when they have to provide cover for a teacher attending a meeting/other appropriate activity for AQA. Payment will be made in accordance with the Memorandum for Agreement for the Release of Teachers.

The process for claiming Teacher Release Vouchers (TRV) operates outside of iTrent. TRV forms will need to be downloaded from the Resources section of the Associate Extranet under ‘Payments and accommodation' and 'Claims and expenses'. A new version of the form was made available from 20 April 2026 so please download this version before submitting. If you don’t use the latest version your claim may be delayed.

You should complete section one of the form with your details and information of the activity being claimed for. Your centre will then need to complete section two in full (this will include their bank account details for payment to be made to) before it is submitted to AQA. Completed forms should be emailed as a Word document to trv@aqa.org.uk.

TRV can be claimed for the actual time spent at meetings or other applicable activities in multiples of full or half day (3.5 hours). TRV cannot be claimed for travelling time except in exceptional circumstances and must be authorised in advance by the team for whom you are completing work. This authorisation should be included when emailing your TRV form to AQA.

TRV can only be claimed once the activity has taken place. We are unable to authorise any claims ahead of the date being claimed for.

We aim to make payment within 30 days of the successful submission of the form or the date of the activity, whichever is the later.

Tax and National Insurance

We operate standard PAYE in agreement with HMRC when paying fees. This means that when we pay you, we must deduct tax from your fees at the applicable rate. Although your fees will be classed as taxable income, this doesn't mean you're an employee of AQA.

If you are a new associate, you will automatically be placed on a 0T W1 tax code to make sure you pay the right amount of tax. You will also be placed on a 0T W1 tax code if you have been made a leaver and are then reinstated onto our systems.

Once you have received your first payment, you will be able to contact HMRC who can supply an updated tax code depending on your financial circumstances. You can contact them on 0300 200 3300 and quote AQA PAYE reference: 080/A3519.

Due to specific arrangements with HMRC associates do not pay National Insurance contributions because they are classed as self-employed earners. However, it is a requirement of your contract that you supply AQA with a permanent UK National Insurance number. Failure to enter this on iTrent may result in your contract being rescinded before you commence any work.

Holiday Pay

If you are contracted as a Worker, you have a statutory entitlement to receive holiday pay. Entitlement is proportionate and calculated depending on the length of the contract and an average week. We will automatically calculate this holiday payment at a rate of 12.07% on top of the fee payment received: i.e. if the payment is £300, you will receive a holiday payment of £36.21.

Pension

Any associate contracted as a Worker will have access to a pension scheme through our pension provider The People’s Pension. If you meet the following criteria, after 13 weeks of commencing your Worker contract with AQA you will be enrolled into the pension scheme automatically:

• Earn over £192 per week (or £833 per month)
• Are aged 22 or over and
• Are under state pension age

If you don’t meet the criteria, you won’t become a member of the scheme automatically but if, in the future, you earn more than £192 per week (or £833 per month) and meet the other two criteria above, we will enrol you into the scheme.

If you don’t meet the above criteria or you want to join the scheme before the end of the 13 week period you can request to join (opt in) by sending the following opt in statement to AQAClaims@aqa.org.uk:

I confirm I personally submitted this notice to join a workplace pension scheme, Full Name: ... Date: ... and Examiner PIN number: ...

Maternity Pay

‘Self-employed work’ has no effect on statutory maternity pay entitlement, therefore any work an associate undertakes for AQA whether it be a ‘worker’ or a ‘contractor’ contract will not impact maternity pay. If you have other employment you will need to discuss your potential entitlement with them.

Changing your details

If any of your personal details change, including your bank details, you'll need to update them on the iTrent portal.