The Advanced Extension Awards are a type of school-leaving qualification in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, usually taken in the final year of schooling (age 17/18), and designed to allow students to ''"demonstrate their knowledge, understanding and skills to the full"''. Currently, it is only available for Mathematics and offered by the exam board

Edexcel Edexcel (also known since 2013 as Pearson Edexcel) is a British multinational education and examination body formed in 1996 and wholly owned by Pearson plc since 2005. It is the only privately owned examination board in the United Kingdom. Its ...

. They were introduced in 2002, in response to the

UK Government ga, Rialtas a Shoilse gd, Riaghaltas a Mhòrachd , image = HM Government logo.svg , image_size = 220px , image2 = Royal Coat of Arms of the United Kingdom (HM Government).svg , image_size2 = 180px , caption = Royal Arms , date_est ...

's '' Excellence in Cities'' report, as a successor to the S-level examination, and aimed at the top 10% of students in

A level The A-Level (Advanced Level) is a subject-based qualification conferred as part of the General Certificate of Education, as well as a school leaving qualification offered by the educational bodies in the United Kingdom and the educational au ...

tests. They are assessed entirely by external examinations. Due to introduction of the A* grade for A level courses starting September 2008 (first certification 2010), they have since been phased out, with the exception of the Advanced Extension Award in Mathematics which continues to be available to students.

Results

According to EducationGuardian.co.uk, in 2004, 50.4% of the 7246 entrants failed to achieve a grade at all (fail), indicating that the awards are fulfilling their role in separating the elite. Only 18.3% of students attained the top of the two grades available, the Distinction, with the next 31.3% of students receiving the grade of Merit. Given that only the top students in the country sat these examinations, these results indicate that the AEAs were successful in rewarding only the 50-100 students that were most able in a particular subject. It was possible to obtain an AEA distinction in more than one subject; however, given the rarity of AEA distinctions, this was uncommon.

Available subjects

Due to the small numbers of candidates for each subject, the exam boards divided the subjects offered amongst themselves, so that – unlike A-levels – each AEA was only offered by one board. *

Biology Biology is the scientific study of life. It is a natural science with a broad scope but has several unifying themes that tie it together as a single, coherent field. For instance, all organisms are made up of cells that process hereditar ...

(including

Human Biology Human biology is an interdisciplinary area of academic study that examines humans through the influences and interplay of many diverse fields such as genetics, evolution, physiology, anatomy, epidemiology, anthropology, ecology, nutrition, populat ...

) ( AQA) * Business ( OCR) * Chemistry (AQA) *

Critical Thinking Critical thinking is the analysis of available facts, evidence, observations, and arguments to form a judgement. The subject is complex; several different definitions exist, which generally include the rational, skeptical, and unbiased an ...

(OCR) *

Economics Economics () is the social science that studies the production, distribution, and consumption of goods and services. Economics focuses on the behaviour and interactions of economic agents and how economies work. Microeconomics analy ...

(AQA) *

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national id ...

(OCR) * French (OCR) *

Geography Geography (from Greek: , ''geographia''. Combination of Greek words ‘Geo’ (The Earth) and ‘Graphien’ (to describe), literally "earth description") is a field of science devoted to the study of the lands, features, inhabitants, a ...

( WJEC) *

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ger ...

(

CCEA The Council for the Curriculum, Examinations & Assessment (CCEA) is a Non-departmental public body (NDPB) of the Department of Education (Northern Ireland). Its function and purpose is described in Part VIII of the Education (NI) Order 1998. CCE ...

) *

History History (derived ) is the systematic study and the documentation of the human activity. The time period of event before the History of writing#Inventions of writing, invention of writing systems is considered prehistory. "History" is an umbr ...

(

) * Irish (CCEA) *

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power ...

(OCR) * Mathematics (Edexcel) *

Physics Physics is the natural science that studies matter, its fundamental constituents, its motion and behavior through space and time, and the related entities of energy and force. "Physical science is that department of knowledge which rel ...

(CCEA) *

Psychology Psychology is the scientific study of mind and behavior. Psychology includes the study of conscious and unconscious phenomena, including feelings and thoughts. It is an academic discipline of immense scope, crossing the boundaries betwe ...

(AQA) * Religious Studies (Edexcel) *

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: ** Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries **Spanish cuisine Other places * Spanish, Ontario, Ca ...

(Edexcel) *

Welsh Welsh may refer to: Related to Wales * Welsh, referring or related to Wales * Welsh language, a Brittonic Celtic language spoken in Wales * Welsh people People * Welsh (surname) * Sometimes used as a synonym for the ancient Britons (Celtic peopl ...

(WJEC) *

as a second language (WJEC)

Partial withdrawal

The last AEA examinations across the full range of subjects took place in June 2009, with results issued in August 2009. The Advanced Extension Award was then withdrawn for all subjects except mathematics. This came after the Joint Council for Qualifications (JCQ) decided that the new A* grade being offered at A level would overlap with the purpose of the AEA, rendering them unnecessary. However, the AEA in mathematics was extended until June 2012, as confirmed by

and the QCA. This was because it met a "definite need", since the A* grade was still not viewed as being challenging enough. In June 2011 Edexcel announced that the AEA was being extended further for mathematics, until June 2015, which was later extended until 2018. In 2018, Edexcel introduced a new specification, meaning the Advanced Extension Award in mathematics would continue to be available to students in 2019 and beyond, as a qualification aimed at the top 10% of students at A level. All other subjects remain withdrawn, though opportunity exists for examination boards to offer AEAs in other subjects should they choose to in the future, subject to certain expectations.

Effect of 2020 pandemic

In response to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identified ...

, in summer 2020 AEA (mathematics) grades were awarded according to assessments made by teachers.

References

External links