When will your Gcse student child go on holiday? Contingency Day

Wrong quote 😩 It was this one
Therefore the papers won't be compromised as all students will complete it at the same time.

Sorry just read this, where you've already answered my question 🤦‍♀️
where students terribly affected had to attend their exams the very next day or they wouldn't have received a grade.

where students terribly affected had to attend their exams the very next day or they wouldn't have received a grade.

God forbid anything like this happened again but if it did, is it just the kids affected or everyone? Must be everyone or else how would they keep them from leaking the answers?

Also hoping it wont be needed. We have booked to go on holiday, first time being able to afford abroad as we now don't have to go in school holidays

Our school originally flagged it as that single day but, as some other posters have said, now says the contingency is for all days up to this one, so sneaky squeezed-in holidays don’t worry either

I'm an Exam Officer, the contingency day was set by the JCQ who are the regulatory body who oversee the exam boards.
The contingency day (CD) was created on the back of awful events such as the Manchester Bombing and Grenfell Tower fire where students terribly affected had to attend their exams the very next day or they wouldn't have received a grade. The intention is to buy such students some breathing space by moving anything affected in the immediate aftermath to the CD. Therefore the papers won't be compromised as all students will complete it at the same time.
The JCQ won't just use this day willy nilly.
Should your child be scheduled to finish on, day June 16, and at that point they're all finished then the CD can be dismissed.
I'm in an International school overseas and my parents cannot understand why they'd be affected. It's taking a LOT of explaining that they've chosen to put their kids in a school that follows English curriculum

I can't remember exactly when our DC's schools notified us, but googling on the subject turned up loads of schools' notifications, invluding this one:

17 October 2018

The Joint Council for Qualifications (JCQ: the Exam Boards’ umbrella co-ordinating body) has advised all schools that it has set Wednesday 26th June 2019 as Exam Contingency Day.

So the schools knew a long time ago.

Didn’t know anything about it. DS will be on Silver DofE expedition in Devon on 26th

Slight lack of joined up thinking here, if its something the school has organised?

Didn’t know anything about it. DS will be on Silver DofE expedition in Devon on 26th

That was back in September, right at the beginning of term.

This is what we got from out school:

The Joint Council for Qualifications have contingency plans in place should sustained national or local disruption arise during the June 2019 examination series. If your son/daughter is scheduled to take GCSE or A Level examinations in the Summer of 2019, they now have to be available to take examinations up to and including 26 June 2019. Please ensure you child does not book any holidays until after this date.

Clear as mud.

It's not just contingency day but all days up to 26th June. Originally it was just a day but now has been clarified as all days until then. DD's best friend now worried as they've booked a big trip leaving 18th June. Hopefully no changes will be needed. We were told it's because of Grenfell and the Manchester bomb.

Well this is the first I've heard of it and we've booked a break 23rd to 27th June

I think it's sensible. We're going away on the 6th of July, before term ends but after contingency day - because DD2's prom is on the 5th.

Thanks for the info, I wasn’t aware of that either. Sensible idea in current times. Hopefully it’s just a precaution and won’t be needed.

Or any contingency.
It isn’t a bad idea to have a planned contingency day.
They just needed to have flagged it up simultaneously with the exam timetable, which was available ages ago.

I doubt everything would completely shut down when the queen dies. It's the Brexit plan the JCQ came up with. Nothing to do with the queen. Or Grenfell for that matter.

Because the Queen is now 92. She won't last forever.

If it was about the Queen why have they only just done it this year? Doesn't make sense.
The Grenfell/Manchester bombing scenario is more likely.

“Why on earth would the queen dying mean a contingency day was needed.”

Because there would be a day of national mourning with complete shut down, I imagine.

Why on earth would the queen dying mean a contingency day was needed.

It was suggested as a Brexit contingency, in case there was significant distribution which meant either exam papers couldn't be delivered or kids couldn't get to exams safely.

Interesting. This doesn't apply in Scotland then? (Different exam boards) I'd best go off and google.

We have been told it’s in case the Queen dies.
First year it’s been introduced - will be there every year until it’s ‘ not needed’ anymore.

Dated 25 Jan
ofqual.blog.gov.uk/2019/01/25/be-prepared-gcse-and-a-level-exam-contingency-day-2019/

We've been told that the students need to be available up to and including 26th June. We were hoping to go on holiday once DD's exams had finished and be back for the contingency day. Have now planned go go away on the 27th June!

DD has to be back in after exams anyway, so booked holiday at normal time, after end of term. What is annoying is that but for the contingency, we could have had a quick week away somewhere, in between end of exams and going back to school. Oh well, saved us some money