Examinations

Examination Requirements

• Examination Requirements June 2026 Spreadsheet (Excel)
• Examination Requirements June 2026 General Information (pdf)
• Examination Requirements June 2026 Spreadsheet (pdf)
  
  

Our Examination Requirements documents are published in advance of each examination series and provide information and guidance relating to examinations, including:

• The date, time, and duration of each examination
• Whether a 16-page answer booklet is required for the examination
• Any additional materials required for the examination, and whether they are provided by WJEC or by the centre/candidate
• Any additional information relevant to the examination
  
  

Additional guidance on a variety of topics, including question paper packets, download of papers, and audio-visual files.

Question Papers and Resources

For information regarding the despatch of question papers and resources, please see our Despatch FAQs pages.

Question papers (pdf) and resources will also be available to download from the WJEC Portal on the day of an examination.

Exams Officer and Admin users will be able to access these files in 'Today’s Question Papers’ (under 'Key Information') and centres will need a corresponding entry in place to view and download. 

If the required assessment/resource is not listed, please phone the department below for assistance to access these files:

GCSE: 029 2026 5082

AS/A Level: 029 2026 5336

Vocational, Applied and Entry Level: 029 2026 5444

You will find information regarding downloading question papers on the home page of the WJEC Portal.

Attendance Registers

These are provided in date order and are sent in separate envelopes for each of the qualifications for which you have entries (e.g. GCSE will be packed separately to A level). These are separate to question paper despatches.

In addition to issuing attendance registers in hard copy, Exams Officer and Admin users are able to access and print attendance registers from Portal by choosing the ‘Centre Administration’ menu within ‘Menu. They can then select ‘Attendance Registers’, choose the relevant qualification level and click ‘display papers for session’. Registers on Portal will reflect the most up-to-date entries for your centre.

Guidance on completing registers can be found in our Register Exemplar document.

At the end of the examination, the scripts should be arranged in the order in which the candidates are listed on the attendance register.  Centres should retain the bottom copy of the attendance registers for their records. As part of this check, please ensure that candidates have used the name shown on the attendance register.

More information about attendance registers is available in section 22 of the JCQ Instructions for Conducting Examinations

Answer Books

Details of which subjects require answer books can be found in the 'Exam Requirements' documents. WJEC 16-page pink scannable booklets must be used for all examinations that require an answer book. If any candidate requires additional writing space, a pink 4-page scannable booklet should be used.

Information for Exams Officers regarding the completion of answer books is available in our Completing WJEC answer books document . A guide for candidates is available in our Completing WJEC answer books – information for candidates document.

Invigilator Recruitment

The Exams Office has developed an Invigilator Recruitment and Vacancy Map to support centres with recruiting invigilators. This service enables centres to advertise invigilator vacancies at no cost and is available to members of The Exams Office and non-members.  Further information about the service is available on their website.

Most eventualities are covered in the JCQ Instructions for Conducting Examinations (ICE) booklet including contingency planning, late arrivals and incidents of malpractice, and centres should follow the guidance provided in this document.

Late Arrivals

Candidates who arrive late may sit an examination at the discretion of the centre. Any candidate who arrives more than an hour after the published start time is Very Late, and centres must report this via the JCQ Centre Admin Portal (CAP), available from Portal. The candidate must be warned that Eduqas may not accept their script.

More information about very late arrivals is provided in the JCQ ICE booklet.

Timetable clashes

A timetable clash occurs when two or more exams for which a candidate is entered are timetabled within the same session. Centres should manage timetable clashes according to the guidance set out in the JCQ ICE booklet.

A centre which is managing a timetable variation must ensure that appropriate supervision is maintained at all times in order to preserve the integrity of the examination. 

Malpractice

Any incidents of candidate malpractice must be reported to us and form JCQ/M1 must be completed and submitted. More information is available on our malpractice page.

Report a potential question paper error or security breach

If you believe you have found a potential question paper error or security breach, then contact Eduqas immediately:

GCE A/AS level question papers: 029 2026 5336
GCSE question papers: 029 2026 5420
Other qualifications: 029 2026 5444

For security breaches, please contact the Compliance Team directly: 029 2026 5351 or malpractice@wjec.co.uk.

Please make sure that you have the following information to hand when you call:

• Details of the suspected error/breach and the number and name of the paper affected
• Time within the examination session when the error was discovered
• Initial indication of the way in which the error/breach has affected candidates

Contingency Planning

In accordance with JCQ regulations, centres should have their own contingency plans in place in the event of a major disruption and ensure that the relevant staff are familiar with the content. More information is provided in the JCQ ICE book.

The regulators, JCQ and educational government departments have prepared a Joint Contingency Plan to ensure there is a consistent response to any major disruption to the examination system affecting a large number of candidates. Examples could include severe weather, widespread illness, travel disruption or system failures.

Key documents relating to contingency planning for examinations are available here:

• JCQ Notice to Centres - Preparing for disruption to examinations
• Joint Contingency Plan
• Ofqual guidance on what schools and colleges and other centres should do if exams or other assessments are seriously disrupted
• Eduqas Contingency Questions and Answers

Centres should have their own contingency plans in place in the event of a major disruption and ensure that the relevant staff are familiar with the content.

Checking information

Before putting the scripts in the sack for dispatch, centres should check candidate and subject information on the front cover of answer booklets against the details on the attendance register in order to identify any discrepancies. 

Any incorrect information such as wrong centre or candidate number, incomplete candidate name or incorrect unit/component code, can be amended but must be counter-signed on the script. Centres must not alter the contents of the candidate's scripts.

Packing scripts

Completed scripts and the accompanying attendance register must be sent to the notified examiner using the plastic script envelopes and address labels provided.

To ensure that scripts are processed correctly, centres should ensure that all the following details are included and not obscured during the packing process:

• Centre number
• Subject and unit/component code
• Number of scripts in the envelope.

Any A3 scripts should be placed on top of the other candidates' scripts so that these will be the first scripts seen when the package is opened.

Despatching scripts

Scripts must be despatched on the same day as the exam wherever possible and certainly within one working day of the examination. Any scripts kept in the centre overnight must be stored in the centre’s secure storage facility.

Centres in England should refer to the instructions issued by the Department of Education for despatching scripts:

• Dispatch of exam scripts guide (centres in England only)
• Yellow Label service checklist (centres in England only)

Scribe cover sheets

Scribe cover sheets can be downloaded from the JCQ website.

For examinations completed with the use of a scribe, a completed JCQ Form 2 must be placed inside the candidate’s completed script.

The JCQ Transferred Candidate arrangement allows a candidate to be transferred to another WJEC Eduqas registered examination centre to sit their examinations in certain circumstances. The entry remains with the original ‘entering’ centre, however question papers are despatched to the ‘host’ centre.

Further information regarding this arrangement is available on the JCQ website.

Applications for transferred candidates must be processed through the JCQ Centre Admin Portal available from the WJEC Portal.

Requests must be submitted online as early as possible and no later than the dates below of the respective examination series: 

There is a charge for this service, please see our fees document for further details.