AQA A-Level Further Maths (7367): Three Booklet Pairs, Three Boundary Sets

AQA A-Level Further Mathematics (specification 7367) is a separate A-level examined across three two-hour papers worth 100 marks each. Papers 1 and 2 test AQA’s ten compulsory sections, A to J, with no fixed split between them; Paper 3 differs, because a centre studies exactly two of three optional applications, sat as one of three fixed booklet pairs. AQA therefore publishes three separate grade boundaries each series, one per Paper 3 pair, not one boundary for everyone.

Why AQA publishes three separate grade boundaries for Further Maths, not one

AQA's own scheme of assessment states the reason plainly: a student's Paper 3 mark depends on which two optional applications they sat, so “at qualification level different grade boundaries will be published to reflect the different routes through the qualification”. That sentence is the single most under-reported fact about 7367, because most comparison pages describe Further Maths as though it produces one boundary table like a single-option A-level.

The mechanic is specific: a route is defined by the pair of optional applications a centre enters, not by a single chosen option. The three legal pairs are discrete and statistics (code 7367DS), mechanics and discrete (7367MD), and statistics and mechanics (7367SM), and AQA published a separate subject-level grade boundary set for each of the three in the June 2026 series.

The same June 2026 document also carries five further rows, one per individual component — Paper 1, Paper 2, Paper 3 Discrete, Paper 3 Mechanics and Paper 3 Statistics — each with its own notional boundary. Those are not what a certificate is graded from; they exist so a centre can see how a student performed on one paper in isolation. The grade a student actually receives comes from the combined mark against the three-row table above, matched to the booklet pair they sat, never from a single-component figure treated on its own.

Which edition of the specification is this, and does AQA's own document agree with itself?

Everything on this page describes AQA's A-Level Further Mathematics specification, 7367, for teaching from September 2017 onwards and first examined in June 2019. AQA's own title page states the version precisely: Version 1.1, dated 20 October 2017.

That date does not survive onto the rest of the same PDF. The version footer that recurs through the specification's content pages states 19 October 2017 for the same Version 1.1 — one day earlier than the title page gives. Neither date changes any content, marks or assessment rule; it is a proofing inconsistency inside AQA's own document, worth one line so a family checking the specification directly does not mistake it for two different editions in circulation.

Ofqual's own regulatory register, independent of AQA's document, confirms the accreditation: qualification number 603/1841/7, 360 guided learning hours, a regulation start date of 2 June 2017 and an operational start date of 31 July 2017 — both a few weeks ahead of the September 2017 first-teaching date on AQA's title page, which is the normal order: regulatory approval precedes the teaching year it approves.

Papers 1 and 2 fix no section-to-paper split at all

AQA states, in identical wording for both papers, that Paper 1 and Paper 2 each “may assess content from any of sections A to J”. Neither paper is pinned to a defined subset of the compulsory core: a question on proof (section A) can appear on Paper 1 in one series and Paper 2 in the next, and the same is true of every other compulsory section. A revision plan built on “Paper 1 covers proof and complex numbers, Paper 2 covers the rest” is not describing AQA's specification — it is describing a guess, because AQA deliberately declines to fix that split.

The ten compulsory sections, confirmed directly from AQA's own subject-content pages, are: A Proof, B Complex numbers, C Matrices, D Further algebra and functions, E Further calculus, F Further vectors, G Polar coordinates, H Hyperbolic functions, I Differential equations, and J Numerical methods. Every one of those ten can land on either paper, in any series — and several of them, complex numbers and hyperbolic functions and polar coordinates among them, have no GCSE ancestor at all, so a student cannot assume familiarity from earlier study.

The two-of-three rule: what's actually inside mechanics, statistics and discrete

Paper 3 is where AQA draws its hard line. A centre studies exactly two of AQA's three optional applications, sat as one of three fixed answer-booklet pairs: discrete and statistics, statistics and mechanics, or mechanics and discrete. There is no route through AQA Further Maths that examines all three applications, and no route that examines only one. Whichever pair a school enters, the named subsections inside each application are fixed by AQA's own subject-content pages, not chosen individually by a student.

This is the level of detail the parent board-comparison page does not carry — it names the three applications and their letter-code ranges (MA–ME, SA–SH, DA–DG) but not what sits inside each one. Knowing the named subsections matters for planning: a student sitting the mechanics and discrete pair, for instance, never opens a statistics textbook for Paper 3 at all, and a tutor or school choosing between the three legal pairs is choosing between these specific topic lists, not abstract labels.

How the assessment objectives shift once you reach Paper 3

Assessment objectives are set by the regulator, not the exam board. AQA states plainly, in its scheme of assessment, that “assessment objectives (AOs) are set by Ofqual and are the same across all A-level Further Mathematics specifications and all exam boards”. What is specific to AQA is how the weighting moves paper to paper, and on Paper 3 it moves more than a student revising “the same skills, different topic” would expect.

AO1 falls fifteen percentage points on Paper 3 relative to Papers 1 and 2, from 55% to 40%, while AO3 rises the same fifteen points, from 20% to 35%. AO2 does not move at all. In practical terms: proportionally less of Paper 3 rewards applying a remembered method correctly, and proportionally more rewards solving a problem in an unfamiliar context inside the chosen options. The three papers scale to a combined total of 300 marks, 100 from each.

What's in the exam room: calculators, and the formulae you must already know

AQA's general administration section sets a calculator requirement specific to Further Maths: as a required minimum, a calculator must have an iterative function, the ability to perform calculations with matrices up to order 3×3, and the ability to compute summary statistics and access probabilities from standard statistical distributions. The matrix requirement is the one that does not apply to plain A-Level Maths, because matrices (compulsory section C) sit inside Further Maths only.

No formulae booklet is issued in the exam room. AQA's Appendix B states that students “must be able to use” the listed formulae and identities for AS and A-level Further Mathematics “without these formulae and identities being provided, either in these forms or in equivalent forms”. AQA allows a formula to appear on the question paper only where it is the explicit starting point for, or the result of, a proof question — not as a reference a student can look up mid-answer. The practical consequence is concrete: Appendix B should be worked through as a memorisation list across Year 12 and Year 13, the same way a language student learns vocabulary, rather than treated as a formula sheet to consult under exam conditions.

Is AQA A-Level Further Maths available in Wales?

Ofqual's register states the national availability for this qualification directly: England, Northern Ireland and International, with a separate confirmation that it is available in Northern Ireland schools. Wales is not among the nations listed. AQA's own specification document, by contrast, makes no country-availability statement at all in either direction — so the honest answer to this question comes from the regulator's register, not from AQA's own document, which simply does not address it.

June 2027 exam dates — and why all three Paper 3 codes share one sitting

AQA's own key-dates page lists 20 May 2027 for Paper 1 (7367/1) and 25 May 2027 for Paper 2 (7367/2), both afternoon sittings of two hours. Paper 3 is different again: all three booklet codes — 7367/3D, 7367/3M and 7367/3S — are timetabled on the identical date, 10 June 2027, also an afternoon two-hour sitting. That single shared date is the practical reason a school cannot enter one student for two different Paper 3 booklet pairs in the same series: whichever pair they sit, it happens in the same two-hour window as every other pair.

How Leading Tuition teaches AQA A-Level Further Maths

The first session establishes the specification and the booklet pair, not the student's confidence level. Board, paper structure and which two of mechanics, statistics and discrete a school has entered the student for: those facts decide what the next thirty weeks of tuition look like, and a surprising number of students do not know all three when they start. From there our expert AQA Further Maths tutors work through the compulsory core, sections A to J, and the school's chosen booklet pair using past papers from AQA specifically, matched to the assessment-objective shift on Paper 3 set out above.

Our tutors also cover the standard AQA A-Level Maths specification most Further Maths students are sitting alongside this one, and for students applying to STEP-requiring or TMUA-requiring courses, we run STEP preparation and TMUA preparation alongside the school course. Background on how AQA's structure compares with the other Further Maths specifications sits on our A-Level Further Maths board comparison page; if what you want is simply a tutor for the subject, our Further Maths tutor page explains how our programmes are built.

Frequently asked questions about AQA A-Level Further Maths