AQA’s May/June 2027 timetable is out of the provisional stage. It sits on AQA’s site under the heading “Confirmed exam timetables”, and the page says plainly that the timetables on it are definitive. Version 1.2 is the one currently published.
That matters more to a retake student than to anybody still in school. A school plans your year around the timetable for you. If you are retaking, you are the one booking the centre, counting the weeks and deciding when to start, and you cannot do any of that until you know the dates.
So here they are, with the parts that actually change a retake plan flagged as we go.
The 2027 series at a glance
| Event | Date |
|---|---|
| First A-level exams | Monday 10 May 2027 |
| Last timetabled A-level exam | Friday 18 June 2027 |
| Contingency day | Wednesday 23 June 2027 |
| Results to schools and colleges | Wednesday 11 August 2027 |
| Results available to students | Thursday 12 August 2027 |
Every exam starts at either 9.00am or 1.30pm. AQA allows a centre to start up to 30 minutes early or 30 minutes late without telling AQA, so the time on your centre’s own letter is the one to turn up for, not the time on the national timetable.
The dates for the subjects most people retake
These are AQA’s. If you are entered with Pearson Edexcel, OCR or WJEC, the common slots agreed through the Joint Council for Qualifications mean most papers fall on the same days, but check your own board before you build a revision plan on them.
| Subject | Paper 1 | Paper 2 | Paper 3 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Biology (7402) | Mon 7 June, pm | Mon 14 June, pm | Fri 18 June, am |
| Chemistry (7405) | Fri 28 May, am | Thu 10 June, am | Thu 17 June, am |
| Physics (7408) | Fri 21 May, am | Thu 27 May, pm | Tue 8 June, am |
| Mathematics (7357) | Wed 26 May, pm | Wed 9 June, pm | Wed 16 June, pm |
| Psychology (7182) | Tue 18 May, am | Tue 25 May, am | Wed 9 June, am |
| Economics (7136) | Mon 10 May, am | Mon 17 May, pm | Mon 7 June, am |
Four things in that table change how you would plan.
Economics is first. Paper 1 is on the opening morning of the series, 10 May. English Language and Sociology sit in the same slot. If economics is one of your retakes, your deadline is five weeks earlier than a biologist’s.
Biology is last, and it is last by a single paper. Biology Paper 3 on the morning of Friday 18 June is the only A-level exam AQA has timetabled that day. A biology retake is a six week exam period, start to finish.
Maths is spread across four weeks and all three papers are afternoons. Three papers on 26 May, 9 June and 16 June is a very different revision shape from chemistry’s, which front-loads two papers into a fortnight and then leaves a week before the third.
Chemistry and physics barely overlap with each other. Physics finishes on 8 June. Chemistry Paper 3 is on 17 June. Retaking both is more manageable in 2027 than the raw dates suggest.
The contingency day is not optional
AQA’s note 20 is worth reading in full, because every year somebody books a flight for the week after their last paper and then discovers this.
The awarding bodies have designated Wednesday 23 June 2027 as the contingency day. It exists in case of national or significant local disruption to exams. In AQA’s words: “Centres must therefore remind candidates that they must remain available until Wednesday 23 June 2027 should an awarding body need to invoke its contingency plan.”
So the series ends on 18 June and you are still committed until 23 June. Do not book anything that cannot be moved before then.
What these dates mean if you are retaking
Securing an exam centre is the urgent job, not revision
If you are sitting as a private candidate, the exam entry deadline is not your first deadline. Finding a centre is, and centres fill up months before the entry deadline. The normal entry window closes in late February for a summer series, and a centre that has already taken its intake will simply say no.
Our guide to retaking A-levels privately covers how to find one and what to ask. Do that part in the autumn, not in the new year.
Science practicals are the thing that catches people out
A retake candidate without a certificated practical endorsement pass cannot get one from a centre with no practical provision. AQA does let you carry forward non-exam assessment marks from a previous series, in line with its carry forward guidance, but the practical endorsement is a separate question from the paper.
If biology, chemistry or physics is on your list, read A-level biology retakes or A-level physics retakes before you choose a centre, because this narrows your options considerably.
Count back from your own first paper, not from 10 May
A ten week plan from the start of the series is a fifteen week plan if your first paper is biology and a nine week plan if it is economics. Your ten week A-level revision plan is written to be counted backwards from a date, and the date is yours rather than the series opening.
There is no faster sitting
A-levels in England are examined once a year. If you missed your grade in summer 2026, summer 2027 is the next opportunity, whatever the subject. Can you resit just one A-level goes through what that means in practice, and how many times you can resit covers the limits.
Results day
Results reach schools and colleges electronically on Wednesday 11 August 2027 and are available to students on Thursday 12 August 2027. Private candidates get them from the centre that entered them, and how depends on that centre, so ask in advance rather than on the morning.
If you are applying to university on your retake grades, that gap between the two dates is nothing to worry about: UCAS and the universities work to the Thursday.
Where to check before you rely on any single date
AQA publishes the full timetable as a PDF, subject by subject, component by component, and it is the only document that will tell you the date of a paper we have not listed here. The version number matters: ours is 1.2, and a later version supersedes it.
The AQA exam dates and timetables page (opens in a new tab) is where it lives. Your own board’s equivalent page is where to look if you are not with AQA.
Frequently asked questions
When do A-level exams start in 2027?
Monday 10 May 2027. Economics Paper 1, English Language and Sociology are in that first morning slot.
When is the last A-level exam in 2027?
Friday 18 June 2027. Biology Paper 3 is the only AQA A-level paper timetabled that morning.
What is the contingency day for 2027?
Wednesday 23 June 2027. It is only used if there is national or significant local disruption, but candidates must stay available until then.
When is A-level results day 2027?
Thursday 12 August 2027 for students. Schools and colleges receive results electronically the day before.
Are these dates the same for all exam boards?
Mostly. AS and A-level exams are timetabled in common slots agreed by all boards through the Joint Council for Qualifications, so the big subjects usually fall on the same day. The end of the series differs: AQA finishes on 18 June, and other boards run a few days later. Check your own board.
I am retaking as a private candidate. When do I need to have everything in place?
Secure a centre in the autumn. Entries for a summer series normally close in late February, with late entry fees after that, but the practical constraint is centre capacity rather than the deadline. Our retake costs guide breaks down what each stage costs.
If you are weighing up whether a taught retake year or a private candidate resit suits what you are aiming at, get in touch through our enquiry form and we will talk it through.