GCSEs 2025: Key subject dates for Northern Ireland's summer exam season - including English and maths

• The 2024/25 school year’s summer exam season begins the week of May 5
• Pupils in Northern Ireland usually take a range different subjects at GCSE level
• But all of them are required to sit at least two core subjects
• There may be additional exams your child will have to sit, depending on their school

Exam season is now underway for secondary school pupils across Northern Ireland.

The 2024/25 school year’s summer exam season kicked off this week with GCSEs, and will run until late June. Candidates will then face a likely tense two-month wait for results, which will be released to them on Thursday, August 21 this year.

Secondary school pupils have spent the last couple of years studying towards their GCSE qualifications across a whole range of different subjects. But while they may have chosen some of these subjects themselves, all students in Northern Ireland are required to take the mathematics and English language GCSEs - meaning there are some exam dates most candidates will have in common.

We’ve taken a look at when the exams for these required papers are scheduled by Northern Ireland’s biggest awarding organisation, the Council for the Curriculum, Examinations and Assessment (CCEA). We’ve also included the English literature, science and combined science exam dates - some of which may also be compulsory, depending on your child’s school. You can find CCEA’s full GCSE exam timetable for all subjects online here.

Here is when the young learner in your life will be sitting their core GCSEs over the coming weeks, by subject and date:

English Language

• Wednesday, May 7: English Language Unit 1 (9.15am)
• Tuesday, May 20: English Language Unit 2 (9.15am)

English Literature

• Monday, May 12: English Literature Unit 1 (9.15am)
• Thursday, May 29: English Literature Unit 2 (Drama/Poetry) (9.15am)

Mathematics

• Thursday, May 15: Mathematics Unit 1 & 2 (foundation tier); Mathematics Unit 3 & 4 (higher tier) (9.15am)
• Wednesday, June 4: Mathematics Unit 5 & 6 (calculator & non-calculator sections with a short break between) (foundation tier); Mathematics Unit 7 & 8 (calculator & non-calculator sections with a short break between) (higher tier) (9.15am)

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Science & Combined Science

• Tuesday, May 13: Biology Unit 1 (both tiers); DAS: Biology Unit 1 (both tiers); SAS: Biology Unit 1 (both tiers) (1.30pm)
• Monday, May 19: Chemistry Unit 1 (both tiers); DAS: Chemistry Unit 1 (both tiers); SAS: Chemistry Unit 2 (both tiers) (9.15am)
• Thursday, May 22: Physics Unit 1 (both tiers); DAS: Physics Unit 1 (both tiers); SAS: Physics Unit 3 (both tiers) (9.15am)
• Monday, June 9: Biology Unit 2 (both tiers); DAS: Biology Unit 2 & DAS: Biology Practical Theory (both tiers); SAS: Unit 4 Practical Theory (both tiers) (9.15am)
• Friday, June 13: Chemistry Unit 2 (both tiers); DAS: Chemistry Unit 2 & DAS: Chemistry Practical Theory (both tiers) (9.15am)
• Monday, June 16: Physics Unit 2 (both tiers); DAS: Physics Unit 2 & DAS: Physics Practical Theory (both tiers) (9.15am)
• Thursday, June 19: Biology Unit 3 Practical Theory (both tiers) (9.15am)
• Friday, June 20: Chemistry Unit 3 Practical Theory (both tiers) (1.30pm)
• Monday, June 23: Physics Unit 3 Practical Theory (both tiers) (9.15am)

What if my child’s school uses a different exam board?

While most secondary schools in Northern Ireland use CCEA as their exam board, a few might use alternatives like AQA or WJEC Eduqas.

The dates that key GCSE exams are often reasonably consistent across different boards, but can vary a little. To check you can find our coverage of other board’s key exam dates here.

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