When do GCSE exams start in 2027?

Monday 10 May 2027 is the first day of the JCQ common timetable, with the last GCSE paper on Friday 18 June. A Levels run in the same window and finish a few days later.

What is the contingency day?

Wednesday 23 June 2027. It is held in reserve across the country in case a paper has to be moved. Candidates must be available for it even though most will never sit anything.

Are these dates the same for every exam board?

The window is. AQA, Edexcel, OCR and the others all sit their written papers inside the JCQ common timetable, so the start, the end and the contingency day are shared. The individual paper dates within it are set by each board.

Key dates

Exam dates, summer 2027.

The written exams run from May into June, and the awarding bodies work to one shared timetable. These are the fixed points. Your child's own paper dates come from the school.

JCQ common timetableUCAS 2027 entry

The exam window

Monday 10 May 2027
A Level written exams begin (JCQ common timetable)Source
Monday 10 May 2027
GCSE written exams begin (JCQ common timetable)Source
Friday 18 June 2027
Last GCSE exam (JCQ common timetable)Source
Tuesday 22 June 2027
Last A Level exam (JCQ common timetable)Source
Wednesday 23 June 2027
JCQ contingency day (keep free)Source

Applying to university

UCAS runs one cycle for the whole UK, so these dates are the same wherever you are reading from.

Thursday 15 October 202618:00 UK time
UCAS deadline: Oxford, Cambridge, medicine, dentistry, veterinarySource
Wednesday 13 January 202718:00 UK time
UCAS equal consideration deadline (all other courses)Source
Thursday 25 February 2027
UCAS Extra opensSource
Wednesday 30 June 202718:00 UK time
UCAS final application deadline (then Clearing)Source
Friday 2 July 2027
UCAS Clearing opensSource

The dates below are the national ones. Every awarding body in England sits its written papers inside the same window, which is why a family with one child taking AQA papers and another taking Edexcel sees the same few weeks blocked out.

The contingency day matters more than it looks. It is a normal school day held in reserve in case a paper cannot be sat nationally, and candidates are required to be available for it. Booking the family holiday the week before results in the one call the school cannot make an exception for.

What the national timetable will not tell you is which paper falls on which morning for your child. That comes from the school's own entry list, usually in the spring term. Fincho keeps that list beside the national dates once it has been uploaded, so revision is planned against the real order rather than the subject order.

Results land in August. Results day 2027, and what to do on it.

Common questions

When do GCSE exams start in 2027?: Monday 10 May 2027 is the first day of the JCQ common timetable, with the last GCSE paper on Friday 18 June. A Levels run in the same window and finish a few days later.
What is the contingency day?: Wednesday 23 June 2027. It is held in reserve across the country in case a paper has to be moved. Candidates must be available for it even though most will never sit anything.
Are these dates the same for every exam board?: The window is. AQA, Edexcel, OCR and the others all sit their written papers inside the JCQ common timetable, so the start, the end and the contingency day are shared. The individual paper dates within it are set by each board.

Where these dates come from

Dates change every year. We re-check them each September and January, and every row above links to the page it came from.

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