Dates for the autumn exam series have been confirmed by the Joint Council for Qualifications.

The organisation, which represents exam boards AQA, OCR, Edexcel and WJEC, said today that AS and A-level exams will take place between October 5 and October 23, and GCSEs will go ahead between November 2 and November 23.

The autumn exam series is going ahead for any pupils who feel their centre-assessed grades issued this summer are unfair.

Deadlines for entry are September 4 for AS and A-levels and September 18 for all GCSEs except English language and maths, for which the deadline is October 4.

Exam boards will post timetables on their websites and contact centres about entries “in due course”, JCQ said.

Dr Philip Wright, director general of JCQ said: “In August, we will be celebrating the success of young people and their progression to the next stage of learning or move into a career.

“The grades will be reflective of what they might have achieved had they been able to sit their exams and will enable them to move on to the next phase in their lives.

“By the autumn, many young people will have entered further or higher education or started their careers. The autumn series will be available for young people for whom it was not possible to issue a grade or who wish to improve their grades based on taking an exam. Full details on the autumn series will be available shortly from the exam boards.”

It comes after Ofqual confirmed that pupils’ performance in the autumn series would be based on pupil performance in the tests alone, not on any non-exam assessment.

The exams regulator published its decisions in late June following a consultation on the autumn series. Only art and design qualifications will be assessed based on non-exam assessments.

Ofqual also confirmed that exam boards must make exams available in all GCSE, AS and A-level subjects. However, exam boards will be allowed to withdraw an exam if there have been no entries by the closing date.

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