Exams guidance

Quick links:

Preparation

Conducting exams

Centre inspection

Question papers and stationery

Day of exam guidance

After the exam

Stationery requirements for returning NEA

Conducting OxfordAQA Listening tests 

Conducting and returning OxfordAQA Speaking tests

Exam times and exam material availability for all series

Cyber attacks

Prepare for exams season with our video walkthrough on planning and conducting exams, including invigilation and what to do if the unexpected happens.

Exam room posters and information are available to download and print here.

View OxfordAQA’s invigilation guidance.

Further instructions for conducting exams within your school, including conflicts of interest and use of calculators, can be found in JCQ’s ICE document (external link).

You can use bilingual dictionaries in all our exams except:

• International GCSE English as a Second Language 9280  
• International GCSE English Language 9270 
• International GCSE English Literature 9275
• International AS and A-level English Language 9670 
• International AS and A-level English Literature 9675

We administer a Centre Inspection Service. In some regions we ask our colleagues at the British Council offices to carry out in-person annual re-approval inspections on behalf of OxfordAQA. Inspections may also take place remotely during exam series’. These inspections may take place without prior appointment. Please contact us as early as possible if you need to conduct your exams at a different site – email to [email protected].

Information for schools about what we’ll send you, what you need to provide, and how to order extra exam stationery.

What your students will need

You’ll need to provide certain stationery to students on exam day in addition to what we’ll send you. The details are in the stationery summary lists on Centre Services. It’s also important that you check the instructions in your question paper pack to make sure you’re providing everything students need.

What we will send you

There are three types of exam materials we will send to you: 

1. Exam stationery and forms, which will be based on your entries processed by the time of dispatch. 
2. Early question papers that we send or make available to you before exam day (sometimes called preliminary or pre-release). We release a guide to indicate which resources are available for certain subjects.
3. Strictly confidential exam day materials including question papers, answer booklets, attendance registers and return sacks.

We will send the confidential materials for each series at outlined in the table below. Non-confidential items will be sent around the same time, but not in the same packages.

If you do not receive question papers from us, or need to download additional papers due to late entries, follow our guidance on downloading question papers. 

Dispatch notifications

Email notifications of exam material and results dispatches, including tracking information, will now come from [email protected]. Please add this email to your ‘safe sender’ list to make sure you receive these notifications.

As this email address is not monitored, please send any questions around your materials to [email protected].

It is important to note that if centres make entries later than one working week prior to the exam date it may not be possible to send you hard copy question papers in time for the exam.

Please be aware of the published entry and dispatch deadlines to ensure smooth delivery of materials to your centre.

If you have not received your question papers, please contact us immediately on [email protected]

Exams stationery material is non-confidential. Exams stationery dispatch includes: 

• S1 plastic sacks to return the scripts in
• Blank labels, to print the barcoded address labels for the return of scripts. 

Depending on the subjects centres make entries for, additional stationery may be sent if required. This may include:

• Graph paper

If your entries are very late, please order any additional stationery at the same time as making your late entry. We will endeavour to deliver this to you as soon as possible.

You will be able to download an attendance register from Centre Services.

Find out more about ordering additional exam stationery and creating an attendance register.

Question papers will always be in green bags. We use colour-coded labels on the packets of question papers we send you, to help you on exam day.

If you do not receive question papers from us, or need to download additional papers due to late entries, follow our guidance on downloading questions papers.

The details of all materials your students will need for the exams is in the stationery summary lists on Centre Services. It’s also important that you check the instructions in your question paper pack to make sure you’re providing everything students need.

You can also download and print our exam room posters and information.

• Warning to candidates (PDF)
• No unauthorised items (PDF)
• Information for students (written exams) (PDF)
• Information for students (on-screen tests) (PDF)

Completing question papers and answer booklets

Using question papers and answer booklets correctly reduces the risk of lost work and helps to ensure students get the results they deserve on results day. The below guidance covers:

• how students should use and complete question papers
• what invigilators should check for and which details they can correct
• how additional materials should be handled.

Visit our dedicated page on completing question papers and answer booklets, including instructions to students, invigilators, word processed script and guidance on additional answer booklets.

Late arrival to an exam

A student who arrives after the start of the examination may be allowed to enter the examination room and sit the examination. This is entirely at the discretion of the school. A student who arrives late and is permitted by the school to sit the examination, must be allowed the full time for the examination.

A student will be considered very late if they arrive:

• more than one hour after the published starting time for an examination which lasts one hour or more,
• after the published finishing time for an examination that lasts less than one hour.

Where a student arrives very late for an examination, you must:

• send the script for marking in the normal way,
• complete and return the Very Late Arrival Form within seven days of the examination having taken place.

Contacting OxfordAQA on exam days

If you have any urgent queries on exam days, please telephone us on +44 (0)161 696 5995. Calling us will ensure an immediate response to your issue.

OxfordAQA offers extended customer service hours on exam days. Our Customer Services team will be available between 06:00 – 17:00 UK time Monday-Friday, 90 minutes before the scheduled exam start time. Please see below on time conversions, or search for your time zone.

Sending complete question papers (scripts) for marking

For each package of scripts, you will need to:

• put the scripts and a copy of the attendance register in a grey OxfordAQA S1 bag;
• print and attach the right component label to the grey bag;
• make sure the delivery address on the DHL or courier packet is the same as the information provided on the address label;
• add a line to your consignment tracker;
• send your package for marking.

You can download a consignment tracker (XLS) here. If you would like to inform us of the returns you have made, please email the completed tracker to [email protected].

Do send:

• Completed attendance records for each component
• Materials used by students in the exams including completed question papers, answer booklets and word-processed scripts

Do not send:

• Unused question papers or answer booklets
• Inserts or formula booklets
• Seating plans
• Any material not related to the examination

At the end of the exam series, please make sure you have checked your secure storage for any exam papers, additional pages or word-processed exam materials that you need to send. If we’re missing any exam materials, it can cause delays to marking and problems with us being able to issue your students’ results in time.

Visit our Detailed instructions for returning scripts page for further information.

All Non-Exam Assessments will be returned digitally through Centre Services from November 2024 onwards. Please refer to our Non-Exam Assessment (NEA) page to see information on administering NEA.

IMPORTANT: From September 2024, we will no longer send CDs. Instead, you must download the audio file from Centre Services before the exam. 

Please refer to the OxfordAQA Listening test conduct document for all the information you need to successfully conduct listening tests for International GCSE English as a Second Language. From May/June 2025, we will assess International GCSEs French and Spanish in the same way. 

Please refer to the OxfordAQA Speaking test instruction document for everything you need to know to successfully conduct our speaking tests for International GCSE English as a Second Language and, from May/June 2025, assessments in International GCSE French and Spanish.  Speaking tests will be uploaded to us though our online portal, through Centre Services.  

In response to your feedback, we have produced a checklist to be used in conjunction with these instructions, as well as a log to help Exams Officers and teacher-examiners to keep track of these confidential Speaking test materials.

We have produced some guidance and FAQs to support you when using the Digital Media Portal to send speaking tests for marking.  

For more information download the Digital Media Portal Centre Guidance and the Digital Media Portal FAQs.  

Alternatively, you can watch our guidance video to using the Digital Media Portal here. 

The published starting time of exams is given in UK time. This varies depending on UK daylight saving time. Daylight saving time is observed in the UK from the last Sunday of March at 00:01 until the last Saturday of October at 23:59.

The precise timings that the exams commence and materials can be accessed in your region are available here, including a time zone calculator. You are able to filter this guide to your country.

If you suspect that your school or centre has been the victim of a cyber attack, it’s really important that you contact us as soon as possible. This way we can take action to make sure that any confidential material is kept secure.

You can return to Exams Administration home and try again, or search here.

If you have a specific query that could not be answered by the information provided on our support pages, please contact us via our Exam Administration query form.