Having written a comparison of the draft GCSE specification and materials from AQA, Edexcel and OCR (see here), Ben Stafford from AQA has been in touch with the following extra information:

Hi Craig,

Just seen your blog post on the GCSE new specs. Glad you found Andrew’s session useful. I know you’ve referenced the new grading structure, but thought this video (see below) might be of interest. In particular, it highlights that whilst Grade 4 is likely to equate to a Grade C, it will be the more demanding  Grade 5 that will constitute a “good pass” moving forwards. That’s all based on the Ofqual consultation, which is still live and available here.

Thanks Ben!

And following on from a discussion I had on Twitter last night, I do agree that on first glance the Edexcel paper look the most challenging. But of course,  we need to bare in mind that these are just draft specifications and materials, and need to be approved by Ofqual.