GCSE exam dates 2027: when the exams start and finish, the contingency day, results day, how the timetable is built, what happens if two exams clash, the key dates for Year 11 from October to August, and how to register for GCSE exams as a private candidate

The GCSE exam dates for 2027 follow the same shape as every recent year: a six-week written series in May and June, a contingency day a few days after the last paper, and results in the third week of August. This guide gives the dates, explains how the timetable is built and where to find the paper-by-paper version for each board, sets out what happens when two exams clash, lists the key dates of Year 11 from the autumn mocks to results day, and explains how a student who is not at a school (home-educated, re-sitting, or living abroad) registers for GCSEs as a private candidate.

The 2027 dates

Language speaking tests are conducted by the school's own teachers in a window before the written series, usually April to early May, and some practical assessments (art and design's 10-hour supervised assessment, drama performances) also fall earlier in the spring.

The dates above are from the boards' provisional timetables and the JCQ commentary; the boards confirm final timetables in the autumn before the series, so check your own board's PDF for any paper that moves.

How the timetable is built

The five boards (AQA, Pearson Edexcel, OCR, WJEC Eduqas and CCEA) agree a common timetable through the Joint Council for Qualifications so that the same subject is examined on the same day everywhere; that is what stops a student sitting the same paper on a different day from a friend at another school and what makes the contingency day workable. Within the window the boards try to space the biggest subjects (maths, English, the sciences) across the weeks and avoid two large papers on one day. The timetable for a summer is published provisionally about 18 months ahead and finalised the autumn before.

Where to find yours: each board publishes a timetable PDF listing every paper with its date, session (morning 9 am or afternoon 1:30 pm) and length. Your school's exams office turns that into a personal timetable for each student, usually issued in March, with the room and seat number. Our guide to how long each GCSE exam lasts has the paper lengths by subject.

When two exams clash

Clashes happen (a student taking an unusual combination, or two boards' papers in the same session). The rules are JCQ's and the school applies them:

• Two papers in the same session: the student sits one after the other with a short supervised break, in the same morning or afternoon.
• More than three hours of exams in one session, or a clash across sessions: one paper is moved to the other session the same day, and the student is kept under supervision between them (no phone, no contact with other students, usually in a room with a staff member), sometimes including lunch.
• A paper cannot be moved to a different day except under the contingency arrangements.

Tell the exams officer about a clash as soon as the personal timetable arrives; the school makes the arrangements and informs the board.

The Year 11 key dates, October to August

Registering as a private candidate

Students who are not entered by a school (home-educated students, adults re-sitting English or maths, students who have moved abroad or whose school does not offer a subject) enter through an exam centre:

1. Find a centre that accepts private candidates. Many state and independent schools do, as do further-education colleges and dedicated private exam centres; the boards publish lists, and the exams officer of a local school will say yes or no in one email. Start in September or October for the summer series.
2. Agree the subjects, boards and specifications. The centre registers you with the board it uses for that subject. You study the specification that board publishes.
3. Pay the fee. The board's entry fee plus the centre's administration charge, typically £100 to £250 per subject for a written-only subject; more where the centre has to assess coursework or practical work.
4. Meet the entry deadline, around 21 February for the summer series (centres set their own earlier internal deadlines); late entries cost more and very late ones may be refused.
5. Subjects with non-exam assessment need planning. GCSE English language requires the spoken language endorsement to be assessed and recorded; the sciences require the required practicals to be covered (a declaration, not an assessed component, for most boards); art, drama, music and DT have substantial coursework. Choose a centre that will assess these, or choose written-only subjects (maths, English literature, history, geography, RS, many languages' written papers alongside a centre-run speaking test).
6. Results and certificates go to the centre, which passes them to you; reviews of marking are requested through the centre.

For families abroad, International GCSEs (Pearson Edexcel and Cambridge IGCSE) are sat at approved schools and British Council centres in most countries on a similar May to June timetable, and are accepted by UK sixth forms and universities in the same way; our guide to IGCSE tuition online covers them.

Using the dates to plan the revision

Count back from 10 May. A student who starts systematic past-paper work in the first week of January has about 18 weeks; one paper per subject per week, marked to the mark scheme, covers every paper the boards have published since the specifications began. Our GCSE classes are built around that calendar: a master's-qualified teacher, 1-on-1 on the student's own board, past papers marked and gone through together, from about £8 to £10 an hour, every class recorded. The GCSE tutors page has the subjects and the UK class times, and the first class is free.

Questions parents ask

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