Examinations
Find out everything you need to know about examinations at our school, from contact details to exam boards.
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Find out everything you need to know about examinations at our school, from contact details to exam boards.
GCSE Revision
Students are encouraged to start revision as soon as possible, with the summer holidays between Year 10 and 11 being the ideal starting point. After school booster sessions for core and non core subjects commence in the Autumn Term. The schedule for these boosters can be found under our Intervention's Page. We also recommend purchasing subject specific revision guides - your teacher will advise you as to the most suitable.
Lift Beacon High publishes a Knowledge Organiser each term, which can be viewed and downloaded from our website under the Teaching and Learning page. This document contains key facts and information related to each subject that learners need to have a basic knowledge and understanding of a topic. We also have Pre-Public Examinations (PPE) that take place in December and March each academic year and students should take these extremely seriously because their outcomes help to:
- Determine the tier at which you are entered (only applicable to Maths, Science and Spanish)
- Enable us and you to ensure we focus on the right areas for revision
Exam entries are submitted in early Spring. Depending on the exam, the fees per student per exam range from £15.00 to £30.00. Our assumption will always be that a child will complete all the work necessary to get the best possible outcomes for the exam and so all students are always entered for all, or almost all, the exams for the subjects they are studying. If a child fails to attend the exam or fails to fulfil the pre-exam criteria, therefore, we will ask for payment of the exam fee.
Students should take time to check their GCSE statement of entry. Please note that most morning examinations begin at 9:00am and afternoon examinations begin at 1:30pm. Students arriving late may not be allowed to sit the exam, due to exam regulations, and parents/carers will therefore be charged the exam fee. If there are clashes (and it is likely there will be), please confirm with the Exams Manager immediately to ensure she is aware. If a student is unable to attend an examination it is important to telephone the school to inform the Exams Manager by 8:30am and to obtain a doctor’s medical note, which should be passed on to the Exams Manager within 24 hours. This will allow us to ask the Exam Board for dispensation and your child may not fail the exam.
Contingency Day 2026
The awarding bodies have collectively agreed a contingency day for several years now which is always scheduled at the end of the GCSE, GCE AS and A-level exam timetables. The contingency days are 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.
The Joint Council for Qualifications (JCQ) has announced a contingency day for the Summer 2026 examination series. The designated contingency day is: Wednesday 24th June 2026.
This contingency day applies to all external examinations and has been established in case of widespread, sustained national or local disruption affecting the June 2026 exam series. In the event of significant disruption, JCQ and/or the relevant awarding bodies may decide to reschedule an examination to another date within the June 2026 exam timetable.
Personalised Timetables
Individual exam timetables will be distributed prior to the Easter break. Students and parents/guardians are advised to carefully check personal details, including:
Any discrepancies or queries should be raised with the Exams Officer as soon as possible. Please note that any changes to personal details submitted after certificates have been prepared by the exam boards may result in charges for replacement certificates.
Students who have exam clashes exceeding three hours within the same session will be contacted by the Exams Officer (Ms Kaur), as adjustments to their timetable may be required. Students whose exam clashes total three hours or less will sit their exams within the same session. For any questions regarding exam arrangements, please contact the Exams Office.
Exams Regulations Information - Please click on the links below:
This notice has been produced on behalf of :
AQA, City & Guilds, CCEA, OCR, Pearson and WJEC Information for candidates:
GCE, ELC and Project qualifications - coursework assessments
This tells you about some things that you must and must not do when you are completing coursework.
When you submit any coursework for marking, you will be asked to sign an authentication statement confirming that you have read and followed these regulations.
If there is anything that you do not understand, you must ask your teacher.
Coursework provides you with an opportunity to do some independent research into a topic. The research you do will involve looking for information in published sources such as textbooks, encyclopaedias, journals, TV, radio and on the Internet.
Using information from published sources (including the internet) as the basis for your coursework is a good way to demonstrate your knowledge and understanding of a subject. You must take care how you use this material though - you cannot copy it and claim it as your own work.
The regulations state that:
“you must not copy from someone else or allow another candidate to copy from you”.
If you use the same wording as a published source, you must place quotation marks around the passage and state where it came from. This is called “referencing”. You must make sure that you give detailed references for everything in your work which is not in your own words. A reference from a printed book or journal should show the name of the author, the year of publication and the page number, for example: (Morrison, 2000, pg.29).For material taken from the internet, your reference should show the date when the material was downloaded and must show the precise web page, not the search engine used to locate it. This can be copied from the address line. For example: (https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/guides/zw3wxnb/revision/1), downloaded 5 February 2022.
You must also include a bibliography at the end of your work. This must list the full details of publications you have used in your research, even where these are not directly referred to, for example: Morrison, A. (2000) “Mary, Queen of Scots”, London: Weston Press. If you copy the words or ideas of others and do not show your sources in references and a bibliography, this will be considered as cheating.
Your parent/carer may provide you with access to resource materials and discuss your coursework with you. However, they must not give you direct advice on what should and should not be included.
If you worked as part of a group on an assignment, for example undertaking field research, you must each write up your own account of the assignment. Even if the data you have is the same, the description of how that data was obtained and the conclusions you draw from it should be in your own words.
You must meet the deadlines that your teacher gives you. Remember - your teachers are there to guide you. Although they cannot give you direct assistance, they can help you to sort out any problems before it is too late.
If you receive help and guidance from someone other than your teacher, you must tell your teacher who will then record the nature of the assistance given to you.
Take care of your work and keep it safe. Don’t leave it lying around where your classmates can find it. You must always keep your coursework secure and confidential whilst you are preparing it; do not share it with your classmates. If it is stored on the computer network, keep your password secure. Collect all copies from the printer and destroy those you do not need.
Don’t be tempted to use essays from on-line essay banks - this is cheating. Electronic tools used by awarding bodies can detect this sort of copying. You must not write inappropriate, offensive or obscene material.
Plagiarism involves taking someone else’s words, thoughts or ideas and trying to pass them off as your own. It is a form of cheating which is taken very seriously.
If your work is submitted and it is discovered that you have broken the regulations, one of the following penalties will be applied:
The awarding body will decide which penalty is appropriate.
Issuing of Digital Education Records – GCSE Results Summer 2026
We are pleased to inform you that digital education records will be issued to Year 11 pupils this summer. This new service, provided by the Department for Education (DfE), represents a modern way of reporting GCSE results and keeping pupils’ education information safely recorded for the future.
Each education record contains unique information for the pupil, including:
How to Access Your Education Record
Education records will be issued via the DfE Education Record app. Pupils must download the app onto their phone from the Apple App Store or Google Play Store. Please note:
Once issued, pupils will have their education information securely on their phones. After GCSE results are released in Summer 2026, the app will automatically update with their qualifications. Pupils will receive a notification when their results are added.
Next Steps for Pupils
The information shown on your education record comes from official data held by the Department for Education (DfE).
If any of this information is wrong it has to be corrected at your school as it comes from the last school you attended. Your school will then inform the DfE and your education record will be updated.
Your schools attended is worked out from which schools have provided information about you to the DfE from Years 9, 10 and 11. You may have multiple records shown if you have moved school within that time.
If you think the grades shown on your record are wrong, then you can ask your school to raise a 'data challenge' on your behalf through the LRS organisational portal. Your qualifications come directly from the awarding organisations.
This new digital method ensures that GCSE results and other important education information are recorded securely and can be easily shared when needed. A visual example of the record is attached overleaf. Please contact the school if you have any questions about the issuing process or using the app.
GCSE English Language - 2026 cohort
Mathematics - GCSE Higher Tier
English Language - GCSE - 2027 cohort onwards
English Literature - GCSE
Science - GCSE Combined and Triple/ Higher and Foundation Tiers
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