Syllabuses, rules and key dates

• Phones, watches and smart devices stay outside the exam room, switched off. For Pearson Edexcel and AQA (JCQ rules from September 2026), this includes ordinary watches as well as smartwatches. Being found with one counts as malpractice even if you do not use it.
• Write in black ink. Cambridge also allows dark blue; JCQ boards do not. Use pencil only for graphs and diagrams. No correction fluid, correction tape or highlighters on your answers.
• Calculators must be silent, with no notes on the case and no lid with writing on it. Cambridge and JCQ both ban calculators that do symbolic algebra or calculus, and you cannot borrow one during the exam. Check your syllabus for anything else your calculator must do.
• Bring your equipment in a clear pencil case. Notes, revision cards and any paper of your own are not allowed in.
• Do not talk to other candidates or share anything about the paper until the board allows it. For Cambridge, that means after the published key time.
• If something goes wrong on the day (illness, a missing paper, a fire alarm), tell the invigilator straight away. Your school can then apply for special consideration.

A summary of the Cambridge Handbook 2026 and JCQ “Preparing to sit your exams 2026/27”. Your exam centre's instructions on the day always apply.