Welcome to our Examinations page.
Here, you’ll find all the essential information you need regarding upcoming exams, including key dates, examination contingency days, and details about mock exams. It’s important to stay informed about these dates and the procedures to ensure you are fully prepared for your exams. Please check back regularly for any updates or additional information. If you have any questions or need further clarification, don’t hesitate to contact us.
Examination Contingency Days 2025
The Joint Council for Qualifications (JCQ) have designated Wednesday 11th June (PM) and Wednesday 25th June (all day) as contingency days for examinations in summer 2025.
This is consistent with the qualifications regulator’s document Exam System Contingency Plan: England, Wales and Northern Ireland – https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/exam-system-contingency-plan-england-wales-and-northern-ireland
The designation of contingency days within the exam timetable is in the event of national or significant local disruption to examinations in the UK. Centres must remind candidates that they must be available up to and including Wednesday 25th June 2025 should a contingency plan need to be implemented.
If a contingency session is used and a student is not available they will not be able to take the missed examination at another time.
Key Dates
Please see the schedule for the examinations at the bottom of this page
Key Contact
Mrs K Regan:
kregan@lighthall.co.uk
Important Exam Reminders
Here are the key points to remember during the exam, along with important comments from the examiners. It’s crucial to follow all instructions carefully and be mindful of key details, such as the mark allocation for each question. Adhering to these guidelines will help ensure a smooth and successful exam experience.
Please take the time to review these points before your exam to stay focused and prepared.
1. Read the questions
“Some candidates disadvantaged themselves by failing to read the questions properly.”
“Often candidates simply recited their knowledge… without applying it to the questions.”
2. Take note of the number of marks available
“Candidates should be encouraged to pay attention to the mark allocation. Questions worth two, three or four marks often elicited only short answers containing just one point. … some candidates supplied lengthy responses to questions where only one mark was available.”
3. Keep answers concise and detailed
“Candidates often gave answers that were too imprecise to be awarded credit.”
“Not surprisingly, many of those candidates who included superfluous information in their answers found themselves short of time at the end of the examination.”
4. Show your working out
“Only steps for which clear working is given score marks.”
“Candidates can answer by any valid method with clear working.”
5. Include units where necessary
“Questions requiring numerical responses should have units given (when appropriate).”
6. Do not repeat the question
“A substantial number of weaker candidates simply restated the question and so failed to gain any credit.”
“…candidates were required to give an explanation … rather than simply to repeat information already given in the question…”
7. Be careful with spelling and punctuation
“…there are some situations where the examiners accepted only the correct spelling.”
8. Take care with illustrations
“Some lost credit by not labeling… diagrams.”
“…the absence of labels or clarity often made this impossible to credit.”
9. Check your answers
“Make sure the answer is reasonable.”
“…some did not seem to have taken the trouble to check what they had written. If they had done so, and then made appropriate corrections, they might well have secured some more marks.”
Examination Boards
