Exams

Penketh High School is committed to supporting all pupils through their examinations and assessments. This page will provide you with the key information to assist you through the examination process.

If you have any queries about Exams, you can contact the Exams Team by emailing: Exams@penkethhigh.org

If you have any safeguarding or wellbeing concerns relating to a pupil, you can contact the Safeguarding Team by emailing worrybox@penkethhigh.org

 

Exam Timetables

The following exam timetables are available here:

• November 2025 – Year 11 Mock Exams
• November 2025 – Year 10 Mock Exams
• January 2026 – Year 11 Digital Functional Skills
• March 2026 – Year 11 Mock Exams (Coming Soon)
• March 2026 – Year 10 Mock Exams (Coming Soon)
• March 2026 – Year 9 Mock Exams (Coming Soon)
• March 2026 – Year 8 Mock Exams (Coming Soon)
• March 2026 – Year 7 Mock Exams (Coming Soon)
• Summer 2026 – Year 11 Exams
• Summer 2026 – Year 10 Mock Exams (Coming Soon)

 

Communications

In May 2025, we sent a letter to Y11 Pupils with a copy of the final timetable for Summer 2026 and information about the National Contingency Days. A copy of this letter can be viewed here.

 

Subject Information

This table shows the Awarding Organisations for each subject offered at Penketh High School. To find more information, including the subject specification and past exam papers, click on the subject name. These are external links to each Awarding Organisation’s webpage for each subject.

Subject	Specification	Awarding Organisation
Art and Design	Art, Craft and Design	AQA
Art and Design	Graphic Communication	AQA
Art and Design	Photography	AQA
Biology	–	AQA
Business Studies	–	OCR
Chemistry	–	AQA
Child Development	–	Pearson
Combined Science	Trilogy	AQA
Computer Science	–	OCR
Construction and the Built Environment	–	WJEC / Eduqas
Digital Functional Skills	–	Pearson
Drama	–	Pearson
Economics	–	OCR
English Language	–	AQA
English Literature	–	AQA
Film Studies	–	WJEC / Eduqas
Geography	–	AQA
German (Year 10)		AQA
Health and Social Care	–	Pearson
History	–	Pearson
Hospitality and Catering	–	WJEC / Eduqas
Mathematics	Further	AQA
Mathematics	GCSE	Pearson
Music	–	AQA
Physics	–	AQA
Psychology	–	OCR
Sociology	–	AQA
Spanish (Year 11)		AQA
Sport	–	Pearson
Travel and Tourism	–	Pearson

Pupils in our Designated Provision will access the following qualifications, in addition to their mainstream subjects and, in some cases, before progressing to the GCSE:

Subject	Specification	Awarding Organisation
Arts Award	Discover and Explore	Trinity College London
Digital Functional Skills	Entry Level	Pearson
English	Entry Level	AQA
Humanities	Entry Level	WJEC / Eduqas
Mathematics	Entry Level	AQA

Non-Examination Assessments (NEA) / Coursework

When completing NEA / Coursework, it is important that you observe good academic practices. You can find information on ‘Good Academic Practice’ and how to avoid committing Malpractice, Plagiarism and Collusion on these slides.

When you receive your NEA/Coursework results, you may not be happy with the mark you receive. You can find information about our appeals process on these slides.

When completing your NEA/Coursework, you must follow the JCQ Regulations. All candidates completing NEA/Coursework are expected to read the following Information for Candidate booklets.

Access Arrangements

JCQ have prepared Guidance for Parents, Carers and Students about Access Arrangements.

There are strict regulations in place regarding Access Arrangements for exams. If you would like to discuss the Access Arrangements available for your child, you should speak to the SENDCO, Mrs Ogg (EOgg@penkethhigh.org)

Special Consideration

Special Consideration is a post-examination adjustment to a candidate’s mark or grade to compensate for a temporary illness, injury, or other difficult circumstance outside of their control at the time of the assessment which has had, or is reasonably likely to have had, a material effect on a candidate’s ability to take an assessment or demonstrate their normal level of attainment in an assessment. The adjustment is intended to mitigate the impact on performance, but it cannot remove the difficulty itself. This process applies to students who were fully prepared but had their ability to demonstrate their knowledge materially affected by unforeseen events.

 

Please note, where an application for special consideration is accepted, there will only be a small uplift in marks. Candidates do not receive a ‘predicted grade’ or an ‘automatic increase to the next grade’.

 

Candidates will be eligible for special consideration if they have been fully prepared and have covered the whole course but performance in the examination, or the production of coursework or non-examination assessment, is materially affected by adverse circumstances beyond their control. These include:

• Temporary illness, accident or injury at the time of the assessment.
• Bereavement at the time of the assessment (where whole groups are affected, normally only those most closely involved will be eligible).
• Domestic crisis arising at the time of the assessment.
• Serious disturbance during an examination.
• Accidental events at the time of the assessment, such as being given the wrong examination paper, being given a defective examination paper or CD, failure of practical equipment or failure of materials to arrive on time.
• Participation in sporting events, training camps or other events at an international level at the time of the assessment, e.g. representing their club or country at an international level in chess or football on the day of an examination.
• Failure by the centre to implement previously approved access arrangements for that specific examination series.

 

Candidates will not be eligible for special consideration if preparation for or performance in the examination(s)/assessment(s) is affected by:

• Long-term illness or other difficulties during the course affecting revision time, unless the illness or circumstances worsen what would otherwise be a minor issue at the time of the assessment (i.e. difficulties over and above those that previously approved access arrangements would have alleviated).
• Bereavement occurring more than six months before the assessment, unless an anniversary has been reached at the time of the assessment or there are ongoing implications, such as an inquest or court case or exceptional individual candidate circumstances.
• Domestic inconvenience, such as moving house, lack of facilities, taking holidays (including school or exchange visits and field trips) at the time of the assessment.
• Minor disturbance in the examination room caused by another candidate, suchas momentary bad behaviour, a mobile phone ringing or a momentary fire alarm.
• The consequences of committing a crime, where formally charged or found guilty. (However, a retrospective application for special consideration may be considered where the charge is later dropped or the candidate is found not guilty.)
• The consequences of taking alcohol or recreational drugs.
• The consequences of disobeying the centre’s internal regulations.
• The failure of the centre to prepare candidates properly for the examination for any reason.
• Quality of teaching, loss of teaching, staff shortages, planned building work or lack of facilities.
• Misreading the timetable and/or failing to attend at the right time and in the right place.
• Misreading the instructions of the question paper and answering the wrong questions.
• Making personal arrangements, such as a wedding or holiday, which conflict with the examination timetable.
• Not submitting any coursework or non-examination assessment, unless the coursework or non-examination assessment is scheduled for a restricted period of time, rather than during the course.
• Missing all examinations and internally assessed components or units.
• Failure to cover the course because of joining the class partway through.
• Any disability or learning difficulties (diagnosed or undiagnosed), unless the disability or circumstances worsen what would otherwise be a minor issue at the time of the assessment, i.e. Difficulties over and above those that previously approved access arrangements would have alleviated.
• Failure by the centre to process access arrangements by the published deadline.

 

Should you wish to discuss any adverse circumstances which may affect your child’s performance at the time of the examination, please email exams@penkethhigh.org

Revision Techniques and Support

We tend to think of revision as a process of putting things into our heads, hoping it will stick.  But the research tells us that this method is flawed. This guide will help you learn how to retrieve facts from your head.

Coping With Exams

It is natural for anyone to feel a little stressed or anxious before an exam. We have developed a guide for pupils which details how to cope with exams and how to manage the symptoms of anxiety and exam stress. This can be accessed here.

There are a vast array of resources available to support parents and young people around exam time:

• NHS
• Young Minds
• Anxiety UK
• Student Minds
• MHST

For more information about Mental Health and Wellbeing Support at Penketh High School, please click here.

If you need to speak to someone, you can email the Safeguarding Team at  worrybox@penkethhigh.org

You can also find information on other support services on our website here.

Results Day 2026

All pupils will be able to collect their results:

            On:      Thursday 20 August 2026

            At:       8:30am – 10:30am

            In:        Sports Hall

 

School staff will be available on results day to discuss your results, offer support and advise you about progression opportunities.

Information about results day, Post Results Services and Certificates can be found here.

 

Can’t Attend Results Day?

If you are not able to collect your results, you can either:

 

• Ask a named person to collect your results.
• Have your results posted home.

If a named person is collecting your results, you need to email Exams@penkethhigh.org from your school email account by no later than 3pm on Tuesday 18 August 2026. You must name the person who will be collecting your results. The person who collects your results will need to bring some Photo ID with them. We will not be able to issue your results without this.

If you would like your result to be posted home, you need to email Exams@penkethhigh.org from your school email account by no later than 3pm on Tuesday 18 August 2026. You must also send a stamped, self-addressed envelope to school reception before 3pm on Tuesday 18 August 2026. We will not be able to issue your results without this. We will post your results home on Thursday 20 August which may take a couple of days to arrive.

Results cannot be given out by telephone.

 

 Exam Certificates

Certificates are important legal documents that validate the qualifications you have earned during your time at Penketh High School. Consequently, you will need to collect your certificates from school.

Certificates can usually be collected from early December.

We usually retain certificates for three years. So if you left between Summer 2023 and Summer 2025, please contact Exams@penkethhigh.org to arrange your certificate collection.

If you left Penketh High School in 2022 or earlier, or have lost your certificates, you can find information on obtaining replacement certificates from the Awarding Organisation websites:

• AQA
• OCR
• NCFE
• Pearson
• WJEC

There is some useful information on GOV.UK about obtaining replacement exam certificates, including if your exam board no longer exists. There is also some useful information on the AQA website about where CSE results (1965-1987) will be kept and where other qualification results may be kept.

Please note, Penketh High School is not liable for the application or payment of confirmation of results from Awarding Organisations.

Other Information