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 International GCSE English as a Second Language Listening tests

Conducting and returning International GCSE English as a Second Language speaking tests

Exam times and exam material availability for May/June 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.

Instructions for conducting exams within your school, including invigilation 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. We ask our colleagues at the British Council offices to carry out annual re-approval inspections on behalf of OxfordAQA. 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 [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

We’ll send you exam materials throughout the year. There are three types of exam materials we’ll send to you:

1. Exam stationery and forms, which we’ll send based on your entries.
2. Early question papers that we send or make available to you before exam day (sometimes called preliminary or pre-release).
3. Exam day materials including question papers, answer booklets, attendance register 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.

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 closing dates 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 is non-confidential materials. Exams stationery dispatch includes:

• S1 plastic sack to return the scripts in
• Blank labels, to print the address to where the scripts will be returned to

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

• Graph paper
• S3 plastic sack for returning coursework

Attendance records will be provided to your centre for written exams, and are used by centres to record attendance of students on the day of exam. The centre returns a copy of the attendance record with the return of the scripts. Please keep a copy for your own records.

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.

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.

Instructions for students:

To help avoid delays with issuing results, it is important that student details on the front of question papers or answer booklets are correct. Students must make sure they:

• clearly print their name, as it appears on their entry and the attendance register, on the front of any question paper or separate answer booklet
• fill out their candidate number, centre number and, for answer booklets, the component code, accurately.

Instructions for invigilators:

After the exam, invigilators must check that the student has followed the above instructions correctly. If the student has made a mistake on the front cover, or has not used the name that appears on their entry, invigilators or exam staff should correct the mistake, and the correction should be counter-signed. Only the centre number, candidate number, candidate name or component/unit code can be corrected.

Guidance on the use of additional answer booklets:

• students should use the additional lined pages at the end of the paper before they are given additional booklets
• if students use the additional lined pages at the end of the paper, they must label their responses clearly with the corresponding question numbers to make sure the additional material is marked alongside the rest of their answer
• if students still require an additional answer booklet, they must include their name, candidate number, centre number, component code and label their response with the corresponding question numbers
• any additional answer booklets used must be placed inside the original answer booklet at the end of the exam
• blank pages must not be removed from any standard or modified papers.

Word-processed scripts

Word processors (such as a computer, laptop or tablet), with the spelling and grammar check/predictive text functions disabled, can be provided to a student when it is their normal way of working, unless the subject specification says otherwise.

If you have any students using word processors for exams, please remind them:

• that their centre number, candidate number and component code must show on each page as a header or footer: eg 12345/8001 – 6391/01
• to clearly label the start of each response with the corresponding question number to ensure it is marked correctly
• to number each page of their typed script: eg page 1 of 6
• a separate document is created for each component.

If a student has used a word processor and an answer booklet, the front cover of the answer booklet must be completed correctly, and the word-processed script should be placed inside of the answer booklet. Blank answer booklets should not be returned when the entire student response is on a word-processed script.

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 your dispatch sack;
• count the number of scripts and record the number in the designated box on the front of the sack;
• print and attach the right address label to the package;
• 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.

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.

Please refer to our Non-exam assessment (NEA) page to see information about stationery requirements to return NEA.

Please refer to the Conducting OxfordAQA International GCSE English as a Second Language Listening tests guidance document for information about conducting OxfordAQA International GCSE ESL listening tests.

Please refer to the International GCSE English as a Second Language Speaking test guidance document for information about stationery requirements, returning speaking tests and how to use the stationery provided. 

From the November 2023 series onwards, we have a new portal which should be used to upload all GCSE International GCSE English as a Second Language speaking tests. We have produced some guidance and FAQs to support you 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.

If you need additional question papers, they will be available for you to download and print from Centre Services on the day of the exam, 90 minutes before the start time of 7:00am UK time.

This handy guide will provide your local time. Please note this is for guidance only and it is the exam scheduler’s responsibility to check calculations and ensure all exam timings and guidance are adhered to.

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.