3 GCSE exams in one day

[ExamExamExam]

DS has 3 GCSE exams in one day - I thought 2 was bad!

That’s bad luck.
But they are getting 3 out of the way very quickly!
Hope it goes well x

That’s true 😄.

I’m planning to send snacks.

How long are they?

Are you sure they don’t clash? I don’t think three exams would fit in one day unless one is an MFL speaking or listening exam or something quite short.

Mine has stats and catering on penultimate day of exams, as stats and catering clash, he has to sit one then the other. He's not happy but it's just the way it worked out.

Right, I’ve just checked them - 1 is quite short, 2 only have a gap of 15 minutes, and they don’t clash.

I posted to see if it was more common than I thought, but maybe it isn’t!

Quite common especially for mfl.

sometimes you get paper 1 and paper 2 for same subjuect following each other like paper 1 is multiple choice for 1 hour then 30 minute break and longer written paper is 90 minutes or similar

also happens with listening exams which are generally only 45 minutes

Yeh MFL listening and reading are usually on the same day as they are max an hour each.

Actually Pearson Edexcel has moved to separate days but AQA had two German exams today. Then you could have had another in the am session.

It will be fine @ExamExamExam - I think with reading and listening you get in the zone and do better tbh.

They’re 3 different subjects unfortunately.

Oh what subjects? but you say they are short?

<glances at timetable> is it something like Citizenship? I would imagine at least one of the subjects is less commonly taken as apart from MFL three GCSEs in one day is not common. It's usually only if you do an unusual combo like Italian and psychology.

I think 3 is pretty rare. My dd only has two days of 2 and no 3s

There is a limit of 5.5 hours per day including any extra time allowed. If the total time exceeds 5.5 hours he should be allowed to sit one exam the following day and has to be supervised overnight.

😮 Luciky, he’s below that length of time.

The 3 exams are Biology, Further Maths, and French (writing) from memory.

Thanks all - it’s interesting to know that this isn’t unheard of!

Which exam board is that? DD is doing those subjects and I don't think that she has three in a day. She is AQA.

AQA, OCR, Pearson respectively I think…?

Is it unusual to mix the exam boards?

That sucks but it's always been the same.

One of my A Level kids has three in one day coming up.

All three over two hours! Kid has to be sequestered all day and start early.

Ahh - it's Edexcel French isn't it? For some reason Edexcel has split up the reading and listening papers for MFL this year which means the written exams are on three days, while AQA has stuck with reading and listening on the same day (they are only short as noted) – so German R and L was yesterday – thus if you are doing AQA French GCSE you don't have a French exam on 8 June. And the FM which is less commonly take is the reason as well. Hope it goes OK for your DC.

No it’s totally normal
There may be a topic or a text that is preferred from this board or that one, or a style of paper.

Pearson Edexcel MFL allows a choice of topic for the final speaking task which AQA does not under the new spec. So that may be viewed as a positive.

My DD had 3 in a day last year. No phones and fully supervised until the 3rd was over. Luckily she really liked the lady who was supervising, she’s autistic and can struggle with new people so I was relieved it went ok. She also had more than one day of 2 exams, her timetable was worse than anyone else’s, it’s luck of draw with subjects and clashes unfortunately. Good luck to all this year’s cohort!

@ExamExamExam My DD has the same exam clash (and it is a clash of the Further Maths & French). They'll sit Biology in the morning and then the other 2 in the afternoon, with up to a 20min break in-between.