Examinations
Year 11 Qualifications
Summer 2026:
Please read the Exam Information Pack, which all candidates must read and understand prior to their first examination.
Please note that the Exam Contingency days for 2026 are Wednesday 17th June (all day) and Thursday 18th June (all day).
Early Entry GCSEs
Summer 2025:
Languages: Some native speaking students have been identified as GCSE candidates this academic year. The exam board for these courses will be AQA, except for Chinese, Portuguese, Russian, Modern Greek and Turkish, which are exam board Edexcel and Ancient Greek which is exam board OCR.
Our Year 10 students will take Religious Studies GCSE one year prior to the rest of their GCSE/BTEC qualifications. The exam board for this course will be AQA.
Exam Policies
Please find below Northstowe Secondary College’s Exam Policies.
Please visit the Meridian Trust website to find the current Meridian Trust Examination Policy.
MT 01 Access Arrangements Policy
357KB
MT 02 Access to Scripts, Reviews of Results and Appeals Procedure
316KB
MT 03 Alternative Rooming Arrangements Policy (Exams)
293KB
MT 04 Candidate Absence Policy
312KB
NSC Access to Scripts Reviews of Results and Appeals Procedure
126KB
MT 05 Candidate Identification Procedure
315KB
MT 06 Candidate Late Arrival Policy
313KB
MT 09 Conflicts of Interest Policy (Exams)
295KB
MT 10 Exam Contingency Plan
528KB
MT 11 Emergency Evacuation Policy (Exams)
332KB
MT 14 Food and Drink Policy (Exams)
303KB
MT 16 Internal Appeals Procedure (Internal assessment decisions)
310KB
MT 17 Internal Appeals Procedure (RoR and Appeals)
319KB
MT 18 Leaving the Examination Room Policy
285KB
MT 21 Managing Behaviour Policy (Exams)
338KB
MT 23 Overnight Supervision Arrangements Policy
322KB
MT 25 Word Processor Policy (Exams)
308KB
NSC Candidate Absence Policy
114KB
NSC Candidate Identification Procedure
112KB
NSC Candidate Late Arrival Policy
136KB
NSC Conflicts of Interest Policy (Exams)
123KB
NSC Emergency Evacuation Policy (Exams)
150KB
NSC Exam Contingency Plan
360KB
NSC Food and Drink Policy Exams
112KB
NSC Internal Appeals Procedure (Internal Assessment Decisions)
123KB
NLC Internal Appeals Procedure (RoR and Appeals)
226KB
NSC Leaving the Examination Room Policy
110KB
NSC Managing Behaviour Policy (Exams)
189KB
NSC Overnight Supervision Arrangements Policy
120KB
JCQ Rules and Regulations
JCQ is the Joint Council for Qualifications. They provide consistent administrative arrangements for examinations across the different exam boards.
They provide a variety of Information for Candidate documents, which cover all of the information that a candidate would need to know about the different types of exams.
They also provide the latest warning information which must be displayed for candidates to see in the examination room.
Ofqual Grading for new GCSE’s
The way GCSEs are graded changed between 2017 and 2020. They’re now graded using 9 to 1, rather than A* to G. Grade 9 is the highest grade.
The Grading new GCSEs document helps to explain how the new grading structure relates to the old one.
Contact Us
Any questions about exams should be directed to the relevant curriculum or subject leader. Alternatively, you can contact our Exams Officer on 01223 343739 or by email to exams@northstowe.education.