Does anyone know when GCSE's finish in 2020 ?

[gubbsywubbsy]

I want to book a holiday when dd has finished her GCSEs with her friends . Anyone know when it's safe to do so ? We are in the south east if it's relevant . Thanks

Not sure for 2020 but this year there is a national contingency day on the 26th June so have to be mindful of that date - which is I think a week after exams finish...

The schools won't get the timetable until February next year, so you'll need to wait - the first week of July should be free, however, as I've not encountered them beyond the third week of June.

Yr 11 legally complete compulsory education on the last Friday in June every year. All exams are done and dusted by this point and you won't need to ask the schools permission.

Some schools will say that students who are staying in their 6th form still have to attend but they don't legally

Perfect thank you , I will email the school and ask when they may find out etc but I really didn't have any idea . She will be going to a separate college as school doesn't have a sixth form .

If she will be going to a separate college will they have taster days?
The 6th form colleges near me (in Hants) have taster days end June/early July, so you may want to look ahead, see when this year's are and plan accordingly.
Also school prom.

(Taster days can be good for settling in, but also confirming choice of A levels).

And confirming choice of college if you're holding offers from more than one.

Ah good point , thank you . I never thought about any of that . It will only be for a week , it just seems sucha shame to not take advantage of going away when it's quieter / cheaper and then having a blow out after their exams ( will take a frIend too)

Are there any leavers events/proms? You wouldn't be a popular parent if you made her miss that!

Legal Leaving day seems to be 30 June most yrs, but very few have any exams (or reason to go in to campus) after about 16th-20th June ime.

Another good point about the prom .. she would probably prefer the holiday though to be fair ... lots to think about that I didn't consider . Thank you

Its been the last week in June for about the last 35 years ....

DD1 did her GCSEs last year. Although she "left" just before half term, after the exams she still had prom, Silver DofE expedition and a sixth form induction day, fairly evenly spaced through to mid July. It was also a really nice few weeks when she and her mates enjoyed re-discovering their social lives (and rubbing their little brothers and sisters noses in it by being conspicuously relaxed and trouble-free!)

The second half of July was when people really started disappearing on holiday, if they didn't have younger siblings still at school.

Thanks for the sarcasm talkin .. I was wondering if anyone knew the exact date and actually it's brought up things I didn't think of so it's been really helpful !

Did not realise I was being sarcastic.

The end date has always been around the time of the summer solstice.
The exact date will depend on the negotiations between the exam boards.
To fit in many more subjects, the exams now start much earlier.

The legal school leaving date is the last Friday in June. Has nothing to do with exam boards, its a legal thing to allow young people to legally start work.

When did it change from the Tuesday after Easter (as it was when I was at school? )

It was never Tuesday after Easter. You might be getting mixed up with when students were allowed to go on study leave for their exams. Study leave used to be at the discretion of the school but nowadays it isn't technically allowed as it impacts on attendance figures. Some schools will let students have authorised absence a week or 2 before to help with stress.

School leaving date was Easter for those with birthdays up to January.

Between 1976 and 1997, the minimum school leaving arrangements were:

A child whose sixteenth birthday falls in the period 1 September to 31 January inclusive, may leave compulsory schooling at the end of the Spring term (the following Easter).
A child whose sixteenth birthday falls in the period 1 February to 31 August, may leave on the Friday before the last Monday in May.
Under the Education Act 1996, a new single school leaving date was set for 1998 and all subsequent years thereafter. This was set as the last Friday in June in the school year which the child reaches the age of 16.

Thank you FiveLittlePigs
I knew I was not imagining what went on when I was at school :-)

Last Friday in June.