Parents and Year 10-11 students
GCSE Exam Dates 2027: Timetable for the Summer Series
GCSE written exams in 2027 run from Monday 10 May to Friday 18 June 2027, with Wednesday 23 June 2027 held in reserve as the contingency day. Exams start at either 9.00am or 1.30pm, and the main subjects sit in common slots agreed by all the exam boards through the Joint Council for Qualifications (JCQ), so English and maths fall on the same days whichever board a school uses.
The dates below are from the boards' published provisional timetables for summer 2027. Boards finalise timetables closer to the series, so check your own school's or centre's copy before booking anything around an exact day.
Core subject dates (provisional)
| Date | Exam |
|---|---|
| Wednesday 12 May 2027 | English literature paper 1 |
| Friday 14 May 2027 | Maths paper 1 (non-calculator) |
| Monday 17 May 2027 | Chemistry paper 1 and combined science chemistry 1 |
| Wednesday 19 May 2027 | English literature paper 2 |
| Monday 24 May 2027 | English language paper 1 |
| Tuesday 25 May 2027 | Physics paper 1 and combined science physics 1 |
| Thursday 27 May 2027 | Maths paper 2 (calculator) |
| Tuesday 8 June 2027 | English language paper 2 |
| Thursday 10 June 2027 | Biology paper 2 and combined science biology 2 |
| Monday 14 June 2027 | Maths paper 3 (calculator) |
| Tuesday 15 June 2027 | Chemistry paper 2 and combined science chemistry 2 |
| Friday 18 June 2027 | Physics paper 2 and combined science physics 2 |
Biology paper 1 and combined science biology 1 sit on Tuesday 11 May 2027, the second day of the series. Subjects outside this table, and any board-specific papers, are in each board's own timetable: AQA, Pearson Edexcel and OCR all publish theirs as free PDFs.
Three practical facts
- The contingency day, Wednesday 23 June 2027, exists in case a national incident forces exams to move. Students are expected to stay available until it has passed.
- Entries close months earlier: the JCQ deadline for summer 2027 entries is 21 February 2027. Schools handle this for their students; home-educated students enter through an exam centre as a private candidate, and centres set earlier internal deadlines.
- Results day for the summer 2027 series is Thursday 19 August 2027.
If you are entering from home education, our page on taking GCSEs as a private candidate in 2027 walks through the deadlines and how to find a centre. For revision, the free Year 10 maths and Year 10 English topic pages need no account.
GCSE dates 2028
The 2028 timetable has not been published yet. The shape repeats each year: written exams from mid-May to mid-June, with a contingency day in late June. Boards usually publish provisional timetables around eighteen months ahead, and this page will list the confirmed 2028 dates when JCQ and the boards release them.
Sources, verification and updates
Primary sources: the JCQ key dates and timetables for the series envelope and entries deadline, and the Pearson Edexcel GCSE summer 2027 provisional examination timetable for the subject dates above.
- Last verified: 28 August 2026, against the JCQ June 2027 key dates and the Pearson Edexcel provisional timetable PDF.
- Next review: when the boards publish their final summer 2027 timetables, and again in April 2027.
- Change log: 28 August 2026, page first published; envelope dates checked against JCQ and subject dates against the Pearson Edexcel provisional timetable.
Frequently asked questions
What time do GCSE exams start in 2027?
The published start time of every exam is either 9.00am or 1.30pm. Centres may start slightly earlier or later within JCQ's rules, so treat your school's own timetable as final.
Are these dates the same for AQA, Edexcel and OCR?
For the core subjects, yes. English, maths and the sciences sit in common timetable slots agreed through JCQ, so the date is the same across boards. Smaller subjects can differ, which is why each board publishes its own full timetable.
When is the last GCSE exam in 2027?
The final written papers of the main series are on Friday 18 June 2027. Wednesday 23 June 2027 is the contingency day, so exams could in principle run as late as that if a national disruption forced a paper to move.
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