Welcome to our Exams page. Here you can find information about exams, including timetables and policies, along with lots of resources to support exam preparation.
Exams play an important role in our assessment processes in school. They assess the knowledge, understanding and skills that students have developed. These start with internal exams towards the end of years 7, 8 and 9 with exams for external GCSE, vocational and A level qualifications taking place through years 10 to 13. We stress the importance of good preparation for all exams, from Year 7 upwards. This helps to build strong habits and success.
KS3 Exams
Our Y7-9 exams are important assessments of the knowledge, understanding and skills that students have developed over the past year. Teachers will support students to prepare for the exams by providing information on what to revise and tasks to support revision at home. This will be put on Show My Homework. Thank you in advance for supporting your child’s preparation by talking to them about the exams and encouraging them with the revision that they are set.
KS3 Exam Dates for 2026:
Y8 exams: week beginning 1 June – to take place in lessons
Y7 exams: week beginning 8 June – to take place in lessons
Y9 exams: week beginning 22 June – to take place in lessons for most subjects (English, Maths and Science in the Sports Hall on 22 June)
Key Stages 4 and 5 (Years 10-13): GCSEs, A Levels and equivalent qualifications
In Year 10 students begin their GCSE/vocational courses. GCSE courses are linear with all written exams taking place at the end of Year 11. Some subjects also have NEA (Non-Examination Assessment) components which are completed at different points during the course. Students prepare for the NEA under the guidance of their subject teachers. This preparation time might extend to several lessons. The actual NEA will usually be completed on a fixed day and will be done under examination conditions. Students will be informed of the dates for their NEA in advance and should be aware that they may be disadvantaged if they do not attend school on that date.
Students studying a vocational course (BTEC Tech Award, Cambridge National, WJEC Vocational Award) will take an external examination at the end of Year 11 in addition to completing various assessed units throughout the course.
In both Year 10 and 11, internal assessments are administered at least 3 times per year and are used to inform the grades that students are currently working at. Year 10 exams take place in late April/early May. In Year 11, two sets of mock GCSE examinations take place, in late November/early December and late February/early March.
A level and Level 3 vocational (BTEC National and Cambridge Technical) exams in Years 12 and 13 follow similar patterns to KS4 exams outlined above. Year 12 exams take place in June. In Year 13, two sets of mock examinations take place, in late November/early December and late February/early March.
