Exams & Revision

At Ullswater Community College, we view exams not as a final hurdle, but as an opportunity for our students to showcase their knowledge and hard work.

Our role is to ensure every student is prepared, supported, and confident, allowing them to achieve the excellent results their ambition deserves. This page is your central hub for all information relating to both internal and external exams. Our approach is founded on our core values: we are ambitious in our academic standards, caring in our support for every individual, and committed to ensuring an equal opportunity for all students to demonstrate their true potential.

We see this as a partnership between the school, our students, and you, their parents and carers. Together, we can ensure every student is set up for success.

Key Dates & Results Days

Most external GCSE and A-Level exams take place throughout May and June. The key dates for the collection of results in summer 2025 are as follows:

  • A-Level Results Day: Thursday, 12 August 2027
  • GCSE Results Day: Thursday, 19 August 2027

Further details regarding the arrangements for these days will be shared with students and parents closer to the time.

Exam Support

We are committed to ensuring every student can access examinations fairly. We provide two main types of support, both governed by the national regulations set by the Joint Council for Qualifications (JCQ).

Access Arrangements

Access Arrangements are agreed upon before the exams and are put in place to ensure that a student with a proven physical, emotional, or cognitive disadvantage is not unfairly penalised. This allows them to demonstrate their skills on a level playing field.

  • Who might qualify? Students are often identified through school assessments, concerns from teachers, or via the SEN register.
  • What does it involve? Support is tailored to the individual’s needs and could include extra time, a reader, a scribe, or the use of a word processor.
  • How are they granted? Applications are managed by our SENDCO and must be supported by a history of need and current evidence.

Further information about Access Arrangements can be viewed here.

Special Consideration

Special Consideration is a different process that can be requested for a student who has been seriously disadvantaged immediately before or during an exam. This could be due to a recent serious illness, a family bereavement, or another significant traumatic event.

The school’s Examinations Officer will automatically apply for special consideration where they are aware of any qualifying circumstances. Please note that to be eligible for special consideration for a missed exam, a student must have completed at least 50% of the total examination for that subject.

Official Information for Candidates

The Joint Council for Qualifications (JCQ) publishes essential information for all students sitting external exams. It is vital that all candidates familiarise themselves with these regulations.

Exam Timetables

Internal mock exams take place at various points throughout the year. Full timetables for external summer exams are typically published in the spring term.

  • Year 11 & 13 February Mock Exam Timetable – Click here
  • Summer 2025 External Exam Timetable – (To be published)

Replacement Exam Certificates

If you have lost or damaged your official examination certificates, you must request replacements directly from the relevant exam boards using the links below.

If you do not require official documentation, the school can provide an email transcript of your results. Please note that due to GDPR, we only hold student records until your 25th birthday. To request an email transcript, please send your details to exams@ullswatercc.co.uk.

Revision at UCC
A Guide to Effective Learning

Fostering Ambitious and Knowledgeable Learners

At Ullswater Community College, our commitment to excellence extends to teaching our students how to learn effectively. We believe that purposeful, evidence-based revision is key to unlocking a student’s full academic potential. It transforms learning from a short-term task into a long-term skill, building knowledge and confidence.

This guide, based on our SUCCESS SERIES resources for parents and students, explores proven strategies that are rooted in the science of learning. Our ambitious goal is to empower every student with these techniques. We see revision as a partnership; by working together, we can ensure every child is fully prepared for their examinations and feels confident in their ability to succeed.

The Science of Learning: How Our Memory Works

To understand why some revision techniques work better than others, it helps to understand a little about how we learn.

The learning process involves moving new information from our limited working memory into our vast long-term memory. The challenge is that our working memory can only hold a small amount of information for a short time (perhaps up to 30 seconds). This is why “cramming” is so ineffective—it overloads the working memory, and most of the information is quickly forgotten.

Effective revision involves repeatedly retrieving information from our long-term memory. Each time we do this, the memory becomes stronger and easier to recall in the future. The strategies below are all designed to strengthen this retrieval process.

Effective Revision Strategies: The UCC Toolkit

We teach our students a range of powerful, research-backed revision strategies. Here are the key techniques we encourage you to use at home.

Retrieval practice is the simple but powerful act of actively recalling information from memory, rather than passively re-reading it. This is the most important revision principle. Examples include:

  • Answering past paper questions from memory.
  • Using flashcards to test yourself.
  • Answering verbal questions from a parent, carer, or friend.
  • Taking low-stakes quizzes.

Forgetting is natural! Research shows that we forget information over time unless we consciously review it. Spaced repetition involves reviewing information at increasing intervals to combat this “forgetting curve”. When using flashcards, for example:

  • Review cards you get wrong every day.
  • As you answer them correctly, you can “level them up” to be reviewed less frequently (e.g., every other day, then once a week).

This technique strengthens long-term memory and gives you immediate feedback on what you know and what you need to practise more.

Instead of studying one topic for a long block of time (“mass practice”), it is far more effective to space out your revision into shorter chunks over a longer period. For example, revising a topic for 30 minutes every day for a week is much better than cramming for hours on a Sunday.

Interleaving takes this further by encouraging you to switch between different topics within a study session. For instance, instead of revising only Macbeth on Monday, you could do 30 minutes of Macbeth, 30 minutes of Unseen Poetry, and 30 minutes of Creative Writing. This feels harder, but it forces your brain to work more effectively and make connections between topics.

Effective revision should feel challenging; it shouldn’t keep you in your comfort zone. Deliberate practice means actively identifying the areas where your knowledge is weakest and focusing your efforts there.

  • Test yourself on a topic with no notes.
  • Check your answers to see where the gaps are.
  • Focus your next revision session specifically on closing those gaps.

Avoid the temptation to only revise the topics you enjoy or already know well because it ‘feels good’.

Dual coding is the process of combining verbal information with visual representations. The brain processes images very effectively, so linking words to diagrams, timelines, infographics, or cartoon strips creates multiple pathways for you to remember information. When making notes or revision materials, think about how you can represent complex ideas visually. This can make learning more engaging and dramatically improve memory retention.

Ineffective Revision to Avoid

It’s just as important to know what not to do. The following methods have been shown to have very limited impact on long-term memory:

  • Simply re-reading notes or textbooks.
  • Copying out notes word-for-word.
  • Highlighting information without a clear purpose.
  • Revising ‘comfort zone’ material you have already mastered.
  • Attempting to revise while multitasking (e.g., with your phone nearby or the TV on).

Building Good Habits and Routines

Establishing a strong routine is vital for successful revision. We encourage a partnership between students and parents to build these habits together.

  1. Make a Plan: Create a revision timetable and place it somewhere visible, like the kitchen fridge. This creates accountability and allows families to support the routine.
  2. Create a Revision Zone: Revise in the same clear, uncluttered space each time to help form a strong habit. Reduce distractions where possible.
  3. Start Small and Build: Don’t plan to revise for hours at a time. Use techniques like the Pomodoro Technique (25 minutes of focused work, followed by a 5-minute break) to stay focused and avoid burnout.
  4. Track Your Progress: Use checklists or personal learning checklists (PLCs) to track which topics you have mastered and which need more work. Seeing this progress is a powerful motivator.
  5. Reward Your Hard Work: Build a reward into the end of a revision session. Knowing you have something to look forward to can make it easier to get started.

For any enquiries regarding exams or revision support, please contact us at exams@ullswatercc.co.uk.

Downloadable Resources