Summer 2026 Exam contingency days
The awarding bodies have collectively agreed a contingency day for several years now which is always scheduled at the end of the GCSE exam timetables.
The contingency day is in the event of national or significant local disruption to exams in the United Kingdom, being part of the awarding bodies’ standard contingency planning for exams.
Following the Covid-19 pandemic, further resilience was needed within the exam timetables. A single contingency day was not felt to be sufficient if a national event or incident had a significant effect on the exam timetable. For example, summer exams could be affected by extremely high temperatures.
For the Summer 2026 exams, the contingency sessions are on Wednesday 24 June 2026 (all day).
Candidates must remain available up to and including Wednesday 24 June 2026 should examinations need to be rescheduled.
