GCE AS and A level Subject Criteria for Mathematics (2002)

This set of subject criteria were produced by the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority (QCA) in 2002 for Awarding Bodies to produce Mathematics specifications for first teaching in England, Wales and Northern Ireland in 2004 as a result of perceived problems with Mathematics specifications introduced in 2000.

Advanced subsidiary (AS) and advanced (A) level subject criteria set out the knowledge, understanding, skills and assessment objectives common to all AS and A level specifications in a given subject. They provide the framework within which the awarding body creates the detail of the specification.

Subject criteria are intended to:
• help ensure consistent and comparable standards in the same subject across the awarding bodies

• define the relationship between the AS and A level specifications, with the AS as a subset of the A level

• ensure that the rigour of A level is maintained

• help higher education institutions and employers know what has been studied and assessed.

Any specification which contains significant elements of mathematics must be consistent with the relevant parts of these subject criteria.