How AQA Actually Writes Exam Questions: Universal Design and 5 Ways to Make Your Assessments More Accessible

What if a student got an exam question wrong not because they didn't understand the biology, but because of one ambiguous word buried in the sentence?

It's something worth thinking about.

As teachers, we spend hours writing worksheets, homework tasks, retrieval quizzes and assessments. We want our questions to challenge students, identify gaps in their knowledge and prepare them for their exams. But how often do we stop and consider whether the way we've written a question is creating an unnecessary barrier to answering it?

At the AQA Summer Conference 2026, I attended a keynote called Accessible Assessment via Universal Design, delivered by Tor Thompson, AQA's Assessment Design Manager.

What struck me was how directly the principles discussed could be applied to everyday classroom practice.

AQA has a formal approach to identifying and removing unnecessary barriers in assessment questions. Although most of us haven't had specific training in assessment design, we're writing questions every single week.

So, what can we learn from their approach?

In this episode of Miss Estruch Teach & Tell, I'm breaking down the five areas of universal design discussed at the conference and showing you how to use them to make your own resources clearer, fairer and more accessible — without making them any less challenging.

1. The Core Idea: Construct-Irrelevant Variance

Before we get into the practical checklist, there's one concept worth understanding: construct-irrelevant variance (CIV).

It sounds technical, but the idea is relatively straightforward.

When we write an assessment question, we usually have a specific thing we want to measure. In a Biology exam, for example, we might want to assess whether a student understands diffusion, can explain an immune response or can interpret data from an investigation.

This is the construct: the knowledge, skill or ability the question is intended to assess.

Construct-irrelevant variance occurs when factors unrelated to that intended construct influence a student's performance.

Imagine two students who understand the biology equally well. One reads a question, understands exactly what's being asked and gets straight to work. The other spends several minutes trying to untangle a long sentence containing unfamiliar vocabulary and multiple instructions.

If the second student loses marks because they couldn't decode the wording, rather than because they lacked the biology knowledge, the question may be introducing an unnecessary barrier.

The same principle applies to visual resources, formatting, context and the way information is organised.

Inaccessible language can create additional barriers for some students with dyslexia, students learning English as an additional language (EAL), and students who find complex written information difficult to process. Poorly designed diagrams can create barriers for students with visual impairments or colour vision deficiencies.

Of course, students have different strengths and needs, and accessibility is not a one-size-fits-all solution. The important point is that the assessment should measure what it is intended to measure as accurately as possible.

Does making questions more accessible mean making them easier?

Absolutely not.

This is the distinction I want teachers to take away.

The aim is to remove unnecessary barriers, not reduce the intellectual demand of the question.

If you're assessing whether a student can explain osmosis, they should still need to understand water potential, partially permeable membranes and the direction of water movement where relevant.

What they shouldn't have to do is decipher an unnecessarily complicated sentence before they can demonstrate that understanding.

AQA's approach, as discussed at the conference, can be considered through five areas:

1. Language

2. Style, formatting and layout

3. Visuals

4. Diversity and inclusion

5. Context

Let's look at each one and how you can apply it to your own teaching resources.

2. Language: Are Your Questions Clear and Unambiguous?

Language is one of the biggest opportunities to improve assessment accessibility.

When writing a question, every word should have a purpose. If a word or phrase adds complexity without contributing to what you're assessing, it's worth questioning whether you need it.

At the conference, the language checks covered several areas:

• Rare or unfamiliar words that aren't necessary to the assessment.

• Words with multiple possible meanings.

• Inconsistent terminology for the same concept.

• Unnecessary proper nouns.

• Abstract nouns that make sentences harder to process.

• Figurative or colloquial language.

• Acronyms that students may not recognise.

• Long sentences containing multiple clauses.

The point isn't to remove subject-specific vocabulary. In a Biology exam, students absolutely need to understand terms such as diffusion, transcription and homeostasis when those concepts are being assessed.

Instead, the question is whether the surrounding language makes the task harder than it needs to be.

The power of a shorter sentence

One of the examples discussed at the conference involved a passage about Doctor Who.

The original passage included expressions such as "regarded as", "aired", "telly" and "gogglebox", alongside long sentences with several clauses.

The redesigned version used shorter sentences and more direct, literal language.

The underlying information remained the same, but the reader had less unnecessary language to process.

This is a useful lesson for teachers. We sometimes assume that a question sounds more sophisticated if it contains more words. In reality, a long sentence can obscure a perfectly straightforward task.

A Biology example: The ambiguous question

Consider this question:

"There are three main carbohydrate groups. Sugar is one of these. Name the two other groups."

What does "these" refer to?

A student could reasonably interpret the sentence in different ways. The intended meaning may be obvious to the person who wrote it, but that doesn't mean it's obvious to everyone reading it.

A better approach is to make the relationship between the statements explicit.

For example:

"There are three main groups of carbohydrates: monosaccharides, disaccharides and polysaccharides. Name the two groups other than monosaccharides."

This version removes the ambiguity, assuming monosaccharides are the group you intend to exclude.

The science hasn't been made easier. The question has simply become clearer.

My language checklist

Before you give students a question, ask yourself:

• Is every word necessary?

• Could a student interpret this sentence in more than one way?

• Have I used the same term consistently throughout?

• Does the question contain several instructions hidden in one sentence?

• Am I testing subject knowledge, or am I accidentally testing how well students understand unnecessarily complicated prose?

Quick win: If a sentence contains several clauses, try splitting it into two or three shorter sentences. Then check that the meaning and level of challenge remain unchanged.

3. Style, Formatting and Layout: Consistency Matters

The second area is the visual presentation of the assessment.

This is something we can easily overlook because we're often more concerned with getting the content right. However, how information appears on the page can affect how easily students navigate and process it.

AQA uses a consistent visual style across its assessments deliberately. Familiarity with the layout means students don't have to spend additional effort working out how the paper is organised.

The same principle applies to your own resources.

If every worksheet has a different font, heading structure, command-word style and layout, students must repeatedly adjust to a new presentation.

A consistent format can help make the task more predictable.

What does accessible formatting look like?

The conference highlighted several practical considerations.

Use a clear, readable font.

A consistent sans-serif font is one option. The priority is legibility and avoiding unnecessary visual complexity.

Keep text left-aligned.

Fully justified text can create uneven spaces between words, which may make it harder for some readers to track the text across a line. Left alignment provides a consistent starting point.

Use italics sparingly.

Too much italicised text can make passages harder to read. Use emphasis deliberately rather than styling large sections of a question.

Keep structural cues consistent.

Use headings, question numbers, sub-question labels and command words consistently. Students should be able to recognise the structure of your assessment without having to relearn it every time.

Make multi-part questions easy to navigate.

If a question contains several distinct tasks, organise them clearly. Avoid hiding separate instructions within a dense paragraph.

Why this matters in the classroom

Think about your own department's worksheets.

Do students know immediately where the questions begin? Can they distinguish the information they need to read from the task they need to complete? Are numbered instructions easy to follow?

These are small design decisions, but they can make resources easier to navigate.

The aim is not to make every worksheet look identical for the sake of it. It's to establish enough consistency that the layout supports learning rather than becoming another thing students need to work out.

4. Visuals: Only Include Them When They Serve a Purpose

Diagrams, graphs, photographs and illustrations are essential in science education. But a visual should have a clear purpose.

The principle discussed at the conference was that visuals should be used when they are relevant to the assessment, rather than simply to make a page look more attractive.

If students need to interpret a graph, identify a structure or analyse an experimental setup, the visual is central to the task.

If an image adds no meaningful information, it may simply increase the amount of material students have to process.

Make sure your diagrams and graphs are accessible

When a visual is necessary, check that it is clear and accurate.

Ask yourself:

• Are all relevant features labelled?

• Is the image unnecessarily complicated?

• Are labels large enough to read?

• Do any labels, titles or keys overlap?

• Is the diagram potentially misleading?

• Can the information be interpreted without relying on colour alone?

At the conference, an example showed a graph with overlapping axis information and a key, alongside text that was too small.

None of these issues was particularly difficult to fix. However, they could make it harder for a student to access the information needed to answer the question.

Think carefully about colour

Colour choices can also create barriers.

Red and green combinations can be particularly difficult for some people with colour vision deficiencies to distinguish. Pale colours and low-contrast combinations can make labels and lines difficult to see.

Where possible, use additional visual cues, such as different line styles, symbols, direct labels or patterns, rather than relying entirely on colour.

This is especially important when creating graphs for practical investigations.

For example, if students need to compare two lines, don't rely solely on one being red and the other green. Different line styles or clearly labelled data series can make the graph easier to interpret.

My advice: Before sharing a worksheet, view it as if you were a student seeing it for the first time. Zoom out, check the printed version if relevant, and look for anything that might be difficult to read or interpret.

5. Diversity and Inclusion: Check the Human Content Too

The fourth area concerns diversity and inclusion.

It's easy to focus on the technical details of a question and forget to consider the people represented in it.

Assessment materials should use inclusive language and avoid stereotypes or assumptions that imply certain groups are more or less capable than others.

This includes thinking about the names, roles, activities and scenarios used in questions.

For example, if every question involving engineering features boys, while every question involving caring professions features girls, those repeated patterns can reinforce stereotypes unnecessarily.

Similarly, examples should not assume that every student shares the same family circumstances, cultural background or experiences.

This doesn't mean every question needs to include a detailed discussion of diversity. It simply means that the people and scenarios we choose should be considered thoughtfully.

A quick inclusion check

When reviewing a question, ask:

• Have I made any unnecessary assumptions about the student's background or experiences?

• Does the context rely on a stereotype?

• Is the language respectful and inclusive?

• Could the same scientific concept be assessed without introducing an irrelevant personal or cultural barrier?

This is a useful final check, particularly when you're creating a bank of questions that students will use repeatedly.

6. Context: Does the Story Help, or Just Make the Question Longer?

Of all five areas, this is probably the one I would encourage teachers to review first.

We often try to make questions more engaging by adding a real-world scenario. In science, that might mean introducing an athlete, an experiment involving caffeine, a hospital situation or an environmental problem.

Context can be valuable. It can help students apply their knowledge to unfamiliar situations and understand how scientific concepts are used beyond the classroom.

However, context can also introduce unnecessary complexity.

AQA's approach, as discussed at the conference, was that context should be included when it is central to the purpose of the assessment, rather than simply to make a task seem more interesting.

Example: The caffeine and reaction-time question

At the conference, an example involved an investigation into caffeine and reaction time.

The original method was written as flowing prose. It described one student drinking coffee, another student holding a ruler above the first student's hand, and the ruler then being dropped so that the first student could catch it.

The scientific task was relatively straightforward, but the student had to hold several pieces of information in their working memory while extracting the sequence of actions from the paragraph.

The redesigned version labelled the participants Student A and Student B and presented the method as five short, numbered steps.

Nothing about the underlying science needed to change.

What changed was the way the information was presented.

Instead of having to untangle the method from a block of text, the student could follow one instruction at a time.

How to apply this to your own resources

Imagine you're writing a question about an enzyme investigation.

You could introduce the experiment with a long paragraph explaining the background, describing the students involved, setting the scene and then explaining the method.

Or you could provide a short introduction followed by numbered instructions.

For example:

A student investigates the effect of temperature on enzyme activity.

1. Add a measured volume of enzyme solution to a test tube.

2. Place the test tube in a water bath at the required temperature.

3. Add a measured volume of substrate.

4. Measure the reaction rate using the specified method.

5. Repeat at different temperatures.

This is an illustrative example rather than a complete experimental protocol, but it shows the principle: when students need to follow a sequence, make the sequence visible.

If the assessment is testing students' ability to design a method, you may deliberately need to leave some decisions open. Accessibility doesn't mean providing information that the student is supposed to work out for themselves.

The key is to distinguish between complexity that belongs to the science and complexity introduced by the way you have written the question.

Three rules for using context effectively

Keep it brief. If reading comprehension isn't the skill you're assessing, avoid lengthy introductions that add little to the task.

Include only relevant information. A real-world scenario should contribute to the assessment rather than simply decorate it.

Structure information logically. Use clear topic sentences, headings, bullet points or numbered steps where appropriate.

A useful question to ask yourself is: If I removed this sentence, would the student lose information they actually need to answer the question?

If the answer is no, consider removing it.

7. The Universal Design Checklist: Apply It to Your Next Worksheet

You don't need to be an assessment design specialist to start using these principles.

The next time you write a worksheet, homework task, retrieval quiz or internal assessment, take a few minutes to review it using this checklist.

Language

• Are the sentences clear and unambiguous?
• Have I removed unnecessary words and complex sentence structures?
• Is the terminology consistent?
• Am I testing the intended subject knowledge rather than unnecessary reading complexity?

Style and formatting

• Is the font clear and readable?
• Is the text consistently aligned?
• Are headings, question numbers and command words used consistently?
• Are multi-part questions easy to navigate?

Visuals

• Does every visual serve a clear purpose?
• Are labels and text legible?
• Are there any overlapping elements?
• Can students interpret the information without relying on colour alone?

Diversity and inclusion

• Is the language inclusive and respectful?
• Have I avoided unnecessary assumptions and stereotypes?
• Is the context appropriate for the students who will use the resource?

Context

• Is the context necessary for the assessment?
• Could I shorten the introduction without losing important information?
• Would numbered steps make a method easier to follow?
• Have I preserved the scientific demand of the question?

You don't have to achieve perfection with every resource. The point is to develop a habit of reviewing your questions from the student's perspective, not just the writer's.

8. Why This Matters for Teacher Workload Too

There is another benefit to this approach: clearer questions can make assessment writing more efficient.

When a question is ambiguous, students may misunderstand what is required, ask for clarification or produce answers that are difficult to interpret. Teachers then spend time explaining the question, reviewing unexpected responses and deciding whether the problem was a knowledge gap or a wording issue.

A quick review before a resource is shared can help reduce some of these problems.

It can also make departmental collaboration easier. If colleagues use a shared checklist when creating assessments, the department can establish more consistent expectations for question wording, formatting and presentation.

This is particularly useful when several teachers contribute questions to a common assessment or when resources are shared across classes.

Most importantly, it encourages us to think more carefully about what our assessments are actually measuring.

We want students to struggle with challenging Biology, Chemistry and Physics concepts when that challenge is appropriate. We don't want them struggling unnecessarily with an ambiguous pronoun, an unreadable graph or a paragraph that could have been three numbered steps.

Final Thoughts: Better Questions, Fairer Assessments

The biggest lesson I took from the AQA Summer Conference 2026 was that accessible assessment is not about lowering standards.

It's about making sure that the question gives students a fair opportunity to demonstrate the knowledge and skills we're trying to assess.

Construct-irrelevant variance reminds us that the way we write and present a question can influence a student's performance for reasons unrelated to the intended learning.

The five areas discussed at the conference — language, style and formatting, visuals, diversity and inclusion, and context — give us a practical framework for identifying those unnecessary barriers.

And the best part? You can start applying these principles straight away.

Next time you're writing a worksheet, look first at the context and formatting. They're often the quickest things to improve and don't necessarily require a complete rewrite.

Then look more closely at your language. Could a sentence be shorter? Could a word be misinterpreted? Are you assessing scientific understanding, or are you accidentally asking students to navigate unnecessary complexity?

Small changes can make a meaningful difference to how accessible your resources are.

If you write assessments regularly, share this blog with a colleague who does the same. A few minutes spent reviewing how we write questions could change the way our whole department approaches assessment design.

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Based on the session “Accessible Assessment via Universal Design”, delivered by Tor Thompson, AQA Assessment Design Manager, at the AQA Summer Conference 2026. The examples and checklist in this article are practical applications of the principles discussed and are intended to support teachers in reviewing their own classroom resources.