Best Holiday dates straight after GCSEs 2025

[Asvan]

Hi everyone,

My Dd is doing her gcses this year. She has worked really hard and I would like to take her for a mini holiday after her exams are finished.

The exam boards she has are AQA and Edexcel.

Flights for everywhere are pretty cheap for June but I'm not quite sure what date to book for. She's not been given a timetable yet but Google is telling me that the last day of GCSE exams will be 20th June.

I've looked at the AQA website and her last exam for that board will be on 18th June but they have a contingency day marked on 25th June. On the Edexcel website her last exam will be on 17th June but there are no contingency dates marked.

Whats the earliest date I should be looking to book? Should the week after 20h June be assumed as contingency week? School have not been very helpful at all.

Thanks.

I believe the contingency day is the same for all exam boards as anything like a monarch’s funeral would mean a whole day of all boards would be shunted.

Yes the contingency day for GCSEs and a levels is 25th June which is why the prices shoot up on 26th will all the a level students flying off on holiday too.

So the dates are the same for all GCSE exam boards, that's not an issue.

The contingency day is a day that is held in reserve (since the year of the Grenfell fire) in case there is a need to stage an exam after the timetabled period is finished. It's never been used AFAIK but you should not go on holiday before that date.

Remember that there may also be prom, if your DD is keen on that (some schools have it in May, some end June, some in July so check with your school) and also transition days for sixth form, if appropriate. Those will vary according to school or college so find out about that as well.