Eduqas A-Level English Language (A700QS): The AS Is Being Withdrawn

Eduqas examines A-level English Language as A700QS, Ofqual qualification number 601/5043/9. Eduqas's own qualification page states, side by side, “A700QS A Level” and “B700QS AS Level” — two separately accredited qualifications, not two routes of one course. The AS qualification, B700QS, is being withdrawn, with a final certification date of 31 August 2027.

Ofqual's own register records an operational end date of 28 February 2027 and a final certification date of 31 August 2027 for the AS qualification, and Eduqas's own site confirms the final award will be in Summer 2027. This page sets out the code split, the withdrawal timeline, the full four-component structure and Eduqas's own assessment-objective weighting and grade-boundary documents — the board-specific detail the cross-board English Language comparison does not carry to this depth for any single board.

A700QS or B700QS: Which Code Is Actually the A-Level?

Eduqas's own qualification landing page settles this with a reference table rather than prose: its “Qual Code” row states, verbatim, “A700QS A Level” directly above “B700QS AS Level,” and its “QN” row states “601/5043/9 A Level” directly above “601/5044/0 AS Level.” That is two separately accredited qualifications, each with its own Ofqual qualification number, not an AS and an A2 half of one course. Eduqas's own A-level specification PDF confirms A700QS as its only entry code and never mentions B700QS anywhere in its text; the separate AS specification PDF confirms B700QS as its own entry code in the same way. Eduqas's own FAQ document does state that the two are “designed to allow for co-teachability” in the same classroom — a teaching convenience, not evidence they are one accredited qualification.

This matters to a family working from a queue of possible boards: a specification code split by a leading digit and letter (A700QS versus B700QS) looks, at a glance, like two tiers of the same award. Eduqas's own documents are explicit that it is not that. The AS qualification also has its own, entirely different two-component structure — Component 1, Analysis of Texts in Context, and Component 2, Using Language, each 50% — sharing no component name or content with any of the four components below. AS and A-level here are not the “first half” and “second half” of one course; they are two qualifications that happen to be teachable together.

Is the AS Qualification Being Withdrawn?

Yes, and the dates come from two independent sources that agree. Ofqual's own find-a-qualification register records, for B700QS (601/5044/0), an operational end date of 28 February 2027 and a final certification date of 31 August 2027, alongside 180 guided learning hours and a total qualification time of 250 — both figures distinct from the A-level's own 360 guided learning hours and 500 total qualification time. Eduqas's own qualification page carries a site-wide banner in less precise, series-based language: “The AS qualification has been withdrawn. There will be assessment opportunities for current learners in Summer 2026 and Summer 2027, with the final award in Summer 2027. Further information on the withdrawal can be found in Circular 118, which can be accessed via the Portal.” Circular 118 itself sits behind Eduqas's centre-only Portal login and is not published for public access, so its content is not repeated here.

The full A-level, A700QS, carries no withdrawal notice of any kind on either source. A school currently teaching AS English Language alongside the A-level should expect the AS to close on the dates above; a school teaching only the two-year A-level is unaffected.

What Do the Four Components Actually Assess?

A700QS's own specification sets out four components, three examined and one non-exam assessment, totalling 400 raw marks between them.

The two rules most likely to catch a student out are on Component 2 and Component 4. Component 2's Section A restricts its three set texts to nothing earlier than 1500 — a five-century floor, not a fixed reading list — and Component 4's non-exam folder must sit inside a single named topic area rather than ranging freely, unlike AQA's equivalent coursework on the parent comparison page, which sets no topic restriction at all.

How Are the Marks Weighted Across Assessment Objectives?

Eduqas's own specification publishes a full assessment-objective table for A700QS, both per component and as an overall qualification weighting.

That overall shape — AO1 27.5%, AO2 22.5%, AO3 25%, AO4 10%, AO5 15% — is a materially different balance from OCR's own published A-level English Language weighting (AO1 27%, AO2 22%, AO3 28%, AO4 12%, AO5 11%, per Leading Tuition's OCR English Language page): Eduqas puts more weight on AO5 (evaluation of different interpretations, carried entirely by Component 3) and less on AO4 (comparison across texts), while OCR's own table leans the opposite way. A tutor preparing a student for A700QS's Component 3 is preparing for the single most heavily weighted AO5 paper on the specification.

Does Eduqas Publish Grade Boundaries Below Whole-Qualification Level?

Yes. Eduqas's own June 2026 Grade Points document gives the overall A700QS boundary and then repeats the exercise per component, rather than stopping at one whole-qualification figure.

The overall A* boundary moved down year-on-year: Eduqas's June 2025 Grade Points document gives 339 out of 400 for the same A* grade, a fall of 9 marks to June 2026's 330. B700QS, the AS qualification, is graded separately on its own five-grade A-E scale with no A*: its June 2026 AS Grade Points document gives 131 out of 200 for a grade A overall, with its own two components, B700U10 and B700U20, individually boundaried at 64 and 67 out of 100.

Which Schools and Colleges Can Actually Enter Students?

Eduqas's own FAQ document for this qualification gives a more precise picture than a simple England/Wales split. It states plainly that A700QS and B700QS are available to: all schools and colleges in England; schools and colleges in Northern Ireland, the Isle of Man and the Channel Islands; and independent schools in Wales. The same document is equally direct about the exclusion: “These qualifications are not available for candidates in maintained schools and colleges in Wales.” Ofqual's own register corroborates this independently, recording national availability as England, Northern Ireland and International for 601/5043/9.

Is This the Same Qualification as English Language and Literature, or WJEC (Wales)?

No, to both, and Eduqas's own documents give each a different code. The combined qualification, English Language and Literature, is a separate specification entirely — A710QS, QAN 601/5022/1 — with its own set texts and prescribed prose, and is out of scope for this page. Separately, WJEC itself, the Welsh-Government-regulated brand rather than the Eduqas brand this page covers, uses its own “cash-in” codes for the same subject: 1700QS for the A-level and 2700QS for the AS, distinct again from the unit-level codes (2700U1, 1700U3) that identify its individual units. Three code families, three different things: A700QS/B700QS for Eduqas English Language, A710QS for Eduqas's own combined qualification, and 1700QS/2700QS for WJEC (Wales)'s equivalent subject. A family checking a past paper or an entry statement should match the code exactly rather than the qualification's plain-English name.

How Leading Tuition Supports Eduqas A-Level English Language

We start by confirming the exact code on a student's own past papers or specification — A700QS, not B700QS, A710QS or a WJEC (Wales) equivalent — because the component structure, the AO weighting and the NEA topic list all differ between them. From there, sessions are built around A700QS's own four components: the spoken-language analysis and essay choice in Component 1, the pre-1500-text restriction in Component 2, the stimulus-based writing and commentary in Component 3, and the single-topic investigation folder in Component 4. A student sitting the AS qualification, B700QS, before its 31 August 2027 final certification date works instead from its own two components, Analysis of Texts in Context and Using Language, which our tutors treat as their own course rather than an abridged A-level.

Frequently Asked Questions — Eduqas A-Level English Language

Primary sources for this page: Eduqas's own A700QS specification PDF, its separate B700QS AS specification PDF, its GCE English Language FAQ document, its June 2026 and June 2025 A-level Grade Points PDFs, its June 2026 AS Grade Points PDF, and Ofqual's find-a-qualification register.

A note on verification. eduqas.co.uk returns a genuine, distinguishable HTTP 404 for invented paths, unlike ocr.org.uk's generic 200 shell — confirmed this session with a control fetch of an invented qualification path, an invented /media/ document, and an invented /home/ administration path, all three returning the same 404 template. Every code, date and figure on this page was checked against the awarding body's own specification, FAQ or grade-boundary PDF, or against Ofqual's independent register, in September 2026.