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Evening Standard
Evening Standard
World
Beril Naz Hassan and Rachael Davies

When did the 2023 GCSEs begin and when do they end?

General Certificate of Secondary Education (GCSE) exams are already under way for 14 to 16-year-olds in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. They began on Friday, May 12.

While various subjects and exam boards will have their examinations at different times, they will all take place within the same period.

GCSE pupils will sit exams in maths, English language, English literature, and other subjects until Wednesday, June 21.

Non-exam assessments, such as practical science experiments and foreign-language speaking tests, are also likely to be held in this period. However, every school gets to set its own calendar for these.

Here is a comprehensive look at the core GCSE exam schedule.

When are the GCSE maths exams in 2023?

While the Welsh Joint Education Committee (WJEC) maths unit 1 (non-calculator) exam for all tier students will take place on the morning of Tuesday, May 23, the remaining GCSE maths exams will take place across three dates:

Friday, May 19 (morning)

AQA maths paper 1 (non-calculator) — higher and foundation

CCEA Mathematics units 1 and 2 (calculator) — foundation

CCEA Mathematics units 3 and 4 (calculator) — higher

Edexcel maths paper 1 (non-calculator) — higher and foundation

Eduqas maths paper 1 (non-calculator) — higher and foundation

OCR maths paper 1 (non-calculator) — higher and foundation

Wednesday, June 7 (morning)

AQA maths paper 2 (calculator) — higher and foundation

CCEA maths units 5 and 6 (calculator and non-calculator) — foundation

CCEA maths units 7 and 8 (calculator and non-calculator) — higher

Edexcel maths paper 2 (calculator) — higher and foundation

Eduqas maths paper 2 (calculator) — higher and foundation

OCR maths paper 2 (calculator) — higher and foundation

Wednesday, June 14 (morning)

AQA maths paper 3 (calculator) — higher and foundation

Edexcel maths paper 3 (calculator) — higher and foundation

OCR maths paper 3 (calculator) — higher and foundation

WJEC maths unit 2 (calculator) — all tiers

When are the GCSE English language exams in 2023?

AQA, Edexcel, Edquas, OCR, and WJEC English language paper one exams will take place on the morning of Monday, June 5.

CCEA English language unit 1 took place on the morning of Friday, May 12.

AQA, Edexcel, Eduqas, and OCR English language paper 2 exams will take place on the morning of Monday, June 12.

CCEA English language unit 4 will take place on the morning of Wednesday, May 31.

WJEC English language unit 3 will take place on the morning of Monday, June 12.

When are the GCSE English literature exams in 2023?

AQA, CCEA, Edquas, OCR, and WJEC English literature paper 1 exams took place on the morning of Wednesday, May 17.

Edexcel English literature unit 1 will take place on the morning of Thursday, May 18.

AQA, CCEA, Edquas, OCR, and WJEC English literature paper 2 exams will take place on the morning of Wednesday, May 24.

Edexcel English literature unit 2 will take place on the morning of Friday, May 26.

When are the GCSE science exams in 2023?

Biology exams

AQA, CCEA, Edexcel, OCR, and WJEC biology paper 1 for both higher and foundation, combined and single-science pupils took place on the morning of Tuesday, May 16.

AQA, CCEA, Edexcel, and OCR biology paper 2 for both higher and foundation, combined and single-science pupils will take place on the afternoon of Friday, June 9.

WJEC biology paper 2 will take place on the morning of Tuesday, June 13.

Chemistry exams

AQA, CCEA, OCR, and WJEC chemistry paper 1 for both higher and foundation, combined and single-science pupils, will take place on the morning of Monday, May 22.

Edexcel chemistry paper 1 will take place on the morning of Tuesday, May 23.

AQA, CCEA, Edexcel, and OCR chemistry paper 2 for both higher and foundation, combined and single-science pupils, will take place on the morning of Tuesday, June 13.

WJEC chemistry paper 2 will take place on the morning of Friday, June 16.

Physics exams

AQA, CCEA, Edexcel, WJEC, and OCR physics paper 1 for both higher and foundation, combined and single-science pupils, will take place on the morning of Thursday, May 25.

AQA, CCEA, Edexcel, and OCR physics paper 2 for both higher and foundation, combined and single-science pupils, will take place on the morning of Friday, June 16.

WJEC physics paper 2 will take place on the morning of Monday, June 19.

Where can I check GCSE exam board timetables?

For AQA’s GCSE exam timetable, click here.

For CCEA’s GCSE exam timetable, click here.

For Edexcel’s GCSE exam timetable, click here.

For Eduqas’s GCSE exam timetable, click here.

For OCR’s GCSE exam timetable, click here.

For WJEC’s GCSE exam timetable, click here.

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