AQA GCSE November 2026 Exam Timetable: English Language and Mathematics

The confirmed AQA GCSE November 2026 exam timetable schedules English Language papers on Tuesday, November 3, and Thursday, November 5. Mathematics papers follow on Wednesday, November 4, Friday, November 6, and Monday, November 9. All five written papers are morning exams with a published 9:00 a.m. start. English papers last 1 hour 45 minutes; each math paper lasts 1 hour 30 minutes.

These are UK timetable times: the United Kingdom is on Greenwich Mean Time (GMT, UTC+00:00) on these dates, so 9:00 a.m. GMT is 09:00 UTC. The clocks go back on October 25, 2026, before this exam week. If you are taking an exam at an international center, follow the time printed on your center’s personal timetable.

This guide covers AQA’s November 2026 GCSE papers. It is not a complete timetable for every exam board or every GCSE subject. AQA says other awarding organizations publish their own dates; confirm your board and personal schedule with your school, college, or exam center.

AQA GCSE November 2026 exam dates

The dates, paper codes, tiers, durations, and morning sessions above come from AQA’s confirmed November 2026 timetable, version 1.1. The document’s general note sets published start times at 9:00 a.m. or 1:30 p.m.; these five entries are all listed in the morning session.

Who can take the November GCSE exams?

AQA’s November 2026 timetable says GCSE subjects in this series are available only to students who are at least 16 years old on August 31, 2026. In practical terms, a candidate whose 16th birthday falls after that date does not meet the stated age requirement for this series. The November GCSE papers shown in the AQA timetable are English Language and Mathematics.

This rule is specific to the November 2026 AQA series. It does not establish eligibility for a different exam board, qualification, or exam session. If you are unsure whether you can be entered, ask the exam officer to check your date of birth and entry before the center submits or confirms your exam entry.

Can your exam center change the start time?

The published AQA start for these morning papers is 9:00 a.m. GMT. AQA’s timetable notes allow a school or college to start an exam up to 30 minutes early without notifying AQA, so a center may begin as early as 8:30 a.m. If it delays a morning exam within the scheduled session, candidates must be supervised from 9:30 a.m. Other timetable variations must follow the Joint Council for Qualifications (JCQ) instructions or be confirmed with AQA.

That flexibility does not make the published time optional for candidates. Your arrival time, room, seat, access arrangements, and any center-specific adjustment are not shown in the national timetable. Check the personal timetable issued by your center and ask the exams office if its listed start differs from 9:00 a.m.; do not assume the exam has been moved based on a message from another school.

English Language coursework deadline is not another written paper

The timetable also lists GCSE English Language non-exam assessment component 8700/C, with marks or assessments due to AQA by Thursday, November 5, 2026. That is a submission deadline for the school or college, not a third English exam for students to sit in the exam room. AQA notes that schools and colleges may set their own internal deadline, so candidates should follow the date given by their teacher or center.

The same timetable includes a Level 3 Extended Project Qualification submission deadline on November 5. It appears in the same PDF but is not a GCSE paper.

When are November 2026 GCSE results released?

AQA’s version 1.1 changed the results schedule. Results are sent electronically to schools and colleges on Tuesday, January 12, 2027. Students can access their results on Wednesday, January 13, 2027. The earlier date is for restricted center access, not the general student results day.

AQA’s September 2026 exams update says the JCQ awarding bodies adopted the revised date for this year only. If you are taking exams with another board, check that board’s results page and your center’s instructions. For AQA candidates, write down January 13 as the student date and ask your center how it will distribute results.

What the timetable confirms—and what you still need to check

• Confirmed by AQA: national paper dates, codes, durations, morning sessions, age cutoff, and the revised results dates. Use the version 1.1 PDF linked below if you have an older copy.
• Center-specific: your entry, exam tier, venue, arrival time, seating, access arrangements, and any permitted timetable variation. Get these from your school, college, or exam center.
• Board-specific: dates for Pearson Edexcel, OCR, WJEC, CCEA, or another awarding organization. Do not use the AQA timetable to infer another board’s paper dates; check that board’s official timetable.

Before exam week, compare your personal timetable with the paper codes above, confirm whether your mathematics entry is Foundation or Higher, and check the calculator instructions for each paper. If a date, start time, or tier does not match, contact your exam center promptly so it can verify your entry against the current official timetable.

Official timetable and date references

• AQA confirmed November 2026 GCSE timetable, version 1.1
• AQA dates and timetables page
• AQA September 2026 Exams Officer update
• AQA results days
• UK government: when the clocks change