In short
AQA, Edexcel GCSE and Edexcel International GCSE Biology Paper 1 is on Tuesday 11 May 2027 and Paper 2 on Thursday 10 June 2027, both in the morning. Cambridge IGCSE has not yet published its June 2027 timetable. The IB May 2027 session runs from 23 April to 19 May, with the day-by-day schedule still to come.
The GCSE and Edexcel International GCSE Biology exams in 2027 start on Tuesday 11 May (Paper 1) and finish on Thursday 10 June (Paper 2), both in the morning. That applies to AQA, Edexcel GCSE and Edexcel International GCSE. Cambridge IGCSE has not published its June 2027 timetable yet, and the IB May 2027 session runs from 23 April to 19 May. Everything below comes from the boards' own timetables (AQA, Pearson Edexcel, Cambridge, IB), and anything not yet confirmed is marked.
Biology exam dates 2027 at a glance
| Course | Paper | Date | Session | Duration | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| AQA GCSE Biology (8461) | Paper 1 | Tuesday 11 May 2027 | Morning | 1 h 45 min | Published by AQA |
| AQA GCSE Biology (8461) | Paper 2 | Thursday 10 June 2027 | Morning | 1 h 45 min | Published by AQA |
| AQA Combined Science: Trilogy (8464) | Biology Paper 1 | Tuesday 11 May 2027 | Morning | 1 h 15 min | Published by AQA |
| AQA Combined Science: Trilogy (8464) | Biology Paper 2 | Thursday 10 June 2027 | Morning | 1 h 15 min | Published by AQA |
| Edexcel GCSE Biology (1BI0) | Paper 1 | Tuesday 11 May 2027 | Morning | 1 h 45 min | Final |
| Edexcel GCSE Biology (1BI0) | Paper 2 | Thursday 10 June 2027 | Morning | 1 h 45 min | Final |
| Edexcel GCSE Combined Science (1SC0) | Paper 1: Biology 1 | Tuesday 11 May 2027 | Morning | 1 h 10 min | Final |
| Edexcel GCSE Combined Science (1SC0) | Paper 4: Biology 2 | Thursday 10 June 2027 | Morning | 1 h 10 min | Final |
| Edexcel International GCSE Biology (4BI1) | Paper 1B | Tuesday 11 May 2027 | Morning | 2 h | Final |
| Edexcel International GCSE Biology (4BI1) | Paper 2B | Thursday 10 June 2027 | Morning | 1 h 15 min | Final |
| Edexcel International GCSE Double Award (4SD0) | Biology Paper 1B | Tuesday 11 May 2027 | Morning | 2 h | Final |
| Cambridge IGCSE Biology (0610) and Combined Science (0653) | All papers | Not yet published | - | See below | Final timetable due |
| IB Biology HL and SL | Papers 1 and 2 | Session 23 April to 19 May 2027 | See below | See below | Day-by-day schedule not yet published by the IB |
Put 11 May and 10 June in your calendar now, but confirm your own candidate timetable with your school's exams officer. They hold your exact start time, any clashes and any access arrangements.
AQA GCSE Biology exam dates 2027
AQA's May/June 2027 GCSE timetable (version 1.2) puts Paper 1 on Tuesday 11 May 2027 and Paper 2 on Thursday 10 June 2027, both in the morning. Foundation and Higher tier students sit the same paper on the same day. Each Biology paper (8461) lasts 1 hour 45 minutes. AQA says the published start time of every GCSE exam is either 9.00am or 1.30pm.
If you take Combined Science: Trilogy (8464), the Biology papers are on the same two dates, but each is shorter at 1 hour 15 minutes. Chemistry and Physics papers are on other days, so a Combined Science student has papers spread between mid-May and mid-June. Track your progress against the AQA Biology specification checklist, or for Combined Science the AQA Combined Science checklist.
Edexcel GCSE Biology exam dates 2027
Pearson's final GCSE timetable for summer 2027 lists Biology (1BI0) Paper 1 on Tuesday 11 May 2027 and Paper 2 on Thursday 10 June 2027, both in the morning and each 1 hour 45 minutes. Foundation and Higher papers are on the same days.
For Edexcel Combined Science (1SC0), the two Biology papers fall on the same days: Paper 1 (Biology 1) on 11 May and Paper 4 (Biology 2) on 10 June, each 1 hour 10 minutes. Start with the Edexcel GCSE Biology notes or the Edexcel Combined Science notes.
Edexcel International GCSE Biology (4BI1 and 4SD0) exam dates 2027
Pearson's final Edexcel International GCSE timetable for summer 2027 has 4BI1 Paper 1B on Tuesday 11 May 2027 (morning, 2 hours) and Paper 2B on Thursday 10 June 2027 (morning, 1 hour 15 minutes). The Biology paper in Science (Double Award) 4SD0 is Paper 1B, the same paper as 4BI1 Paper 1, so it is also on Tuesday 11 May (2 hours). The Double Award Chemistry and Physics papers are on Tuesday 18 May (afternoon) and Tuesday 25 May (morning).
Pearson's timetable tells centres outside the UK to follow separate start-time guidance, so students in Dubai and the wider Gulf should check the exact start time with their school rather than assume 9.00am. Our Edexcel IGCSE Biology course and Double Award course cover the full specification.
Cambridge IGCSE Biology 0610 and Combined Science 0653 exam dates 2027
Cambridge has not yet published the final June 2027 timetable on its public exam timetables page, which currently lists timetables only up to the November 2026 series. Cambridge's guidance on timetable releases gives October of the year before for the final June timetable, so it is due about now. We will not guess dates, because Cambridge issues a separate timetable for each administrative zone and your school must use the one for its zone.
What is already fixed is the paper structure, from the syllabus. Every candidate sits three components, and the timetable will place each one in a session:
| Paper | Title | Duration | Route |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Multiple Choice (Core) | 45 minutes | Core |
| 2 | Multiple Choice (Extended) | 45 minutes | Extended |
| 3 | Theory (Core) | 1 hour 15 minutes | Core |
| 4 | Theory (Extended) | 1 hour 15 minutes | Extended |
| 5 | Practical Test | 1 hour 15 minutes | Core or Extended (5 or 6) |
| 6 | Alternative to Practical | 1 hour | Core or Extended (5 or 6) |
Core students take Papers 1, 3 and either 5 or 6. Extended students take Papers 2, 4 and either 5 or 6. Ask your school which practical paper you are entered for, then use the Cambridge IGCSE Biology practicals to prepare. For Combined Science, the 0653 course follows the same pattern.
IB Biology May 2027 exam dates
The IB lists the May 2027 examination session as running from Friday 23 April to Wednesday 19 May 2027, with no exams on 1 May. Its exam schedule page had not yet published the May 2027 day-by-day schedule on 13 October 2026, only schedules up to November 2026. Your IB coordinator will give you the exact date and start time for each paper.
Two school-published May 2027 schedules (not IB documents, so treat them as provisional) both list Biology HL Paper 1 on Monday 10 May in the afternoon and Biology HL Paper 2 on Tuesday 11 May in the morning. We could not confirm the SL paper dates from any source we trust, so we are not listing them. Paper lengths for the 2025 syllabus come from the IB subject guide:
| Paper | SL | HL |
|---|---|---|
| Paper 1 (1A multiple choice and 1B data-based, taken together) | 1 h 30 min, 55 marks | 2 h, 75 marks |
| Paper 2 | 1 h 30 min, 50 marks | 2 h 30 min, 80 marks |
There is no Paper 3 in the 2025 syllabus, so the external assessment is just Papers 1 and 2, plus the internal assessment. If your internal assessment is still in progress, see our IB Biology internal assessment guide, and for exam practice use the HL exam papers or SL exam papers pages.
Revision countdown plan to May 2027
From mid-October 2026 to Tuesday 11 May 2027 is about 30 weeks, so there is time to revise every topic twice without cramming. Use this plan for any of the courses above, and swap in your own board's pages.
- Now to December (about 10 weeks): learn it once. Work through each topic's notes and tick off every point on the specification checklist: AQA Biology, Edexcel Biology, Cambridge IGCSE, Edexcel IGCSE, IB HL or IB SL. Anything you cannot explain without notes stays unticked.
- January to February (about 8 weeks): test it. Take one topic test per topic, then fix the gaps: AQA, Edexcel, Cambridge, Edexcel IGCSE, IB HL or IB SL. Start daily flashcards for definitions and key terms.
- March to mid-April (about 6 weeks): practise under exam conditions. Do topic-by-topic exam questions, then full papers in the time you will get. Redo the practicals your board examines: AQA required practicals or Cambridge practicals.
- The last four weeks: close the gaps. Use past papers and your lowest-scoring topic tests to decide what to revisit, and rebuild weak topics with mind maps. Stop learning brand-new material in the final week.
- The week before each paper: light and specific. Revisit flashcards, your unticked checklist points and your mark-scheme corrections. Sleep matters more than a last late session.
For GCSE and Edexcel IGCSE, Paper 2 is a month after Paper 1, so do not treat 11 May as the finish line. Plan a second push in the gap, focused on the topics Paper 2 covers.
Other dates worth knowing
The awarding bodies have designated Wednesday 23 June 2027 as the contingency day for GCSE exams, to be used only if national or significant local disruption affects the series, so GCSE students in the UK must remain available until then. Results days are set separately by each board, so check the board's own key dates page rather than relying on a summary.
If you want help planning your revision timeline or working through the papers, we offer 1-to-1 biology tutoring online and in Dubai.