Can You Resit A-Levels in November?
No. A-Levels are examined once a year, in May and June. The autumn series that existed in 2020 and 2021 was a pandemic arrangement and it no longer exists. GCSE English Language and Mathematics are the one genuine exception.
At a glance
- No autumn A-Level series
- Guidance withdrawn 7 April 2022
- GCSE November series: English and Maths only
- Next A-Level series: Summer 2027
No, you cannot resit an A-Level in November, because there is no autumn A-Level exam series: the autumn 2020 and 2021 series were a one-off pandemic measure and the government guidance that created them was withdrawn on 7 April 2022, leaving one A-Level series a year in May and June, with the next being Summer 2027.
Why This Question Keeps Being Asked
Because for two years the answer was yes. In autumn 2020 and autumn 2021, candidates could sit GCSE, AS and A-Level papers in October and November. Those series were created specifically to give candidates affected by the cancellation of summer exams a chance to sit papers, and centres were given responsibility for running them under dedicated government guidance.
That guidance was withdrawn on 7 April 2022. Nothing replaced it. The arrangement was temporary by design and it ended when the reason for it ended.
Search results have not caught up. Advice written in 2020 and 2021 is still indexed, still ranks, and still says an autumn series exists. It did. It does not now.
What Exists and What Does Not
| Qualification | Autumn or November series? | Next opportunity |
|---|---|---|
| A-Level | No | Summer 2027, papers in May and June, results Thursday 12 August 2027 |
| AS Level | No | Summer 2027, alongside the A-Level series |
| GCSE English Language | Yes, November series | November each year, or the following summer series |
| GCSE Mathematics | Yes, November series | November each year, or the following summer series |
| All other GCSE subjects | No | The following summer series |
If your problem is a GCSE English Language or Mathematics grade, see GCSE resits. If it is an A-Level grade, the target is Summer 2027.
The GCSE Exception, Precisely Stated
A November GCSE series runs each year, and it is limited to English Language and Mathematics. It exists because those two subjects carry a continuing study requirement for students who have not achieved a grade 4, so a second opportunity within the same academic year has a purpose that does not apply elsewhere.
It is not a general resit window. There is no November GCSE Biology, no November GCSE History, and no November A-Level anything.
Ofqual publishes results data for the November series each January, and JCQ publishes key dates for it. Both are published by the awarding bodies each year.
What to Do with the Months Instead
The honest answer to "can I resit in November" is disappointing, but the follow-up question is more useful: what is the best use of the time between now and May 2027?
Nine or ten teaching months is more than most resitters get and considerably more than the six weeks a November series would have offered. Used properly it is enough to rebuild a specification rather than patch it. Used badly it is nine months of intending to start.
The structure that works is unglamorous: teaching from September, a checkpoint paper before Christmas, a full mock series in January, entries made by 21 February 2027, and past papers from March onwards. That is how our resit courses are built.
Questions
Questions About Autumn and November Exams
No. There is no autumn or November A-Level series in 2026, and none is planned. A-Levels are examined once a year, in May and June.
The next series is Summer 2027, with entries due by 21 February 2027 and results on Thursday 12 August 2027.
There was, in autumn 2020 and autumn 2021. It was created as a pandemic measure after summer exams were cancelled, and centres ran it under specific government guidance.
That guidance was withdrawn on 7 April 2022 and no replacement was issued. Pages describing it are still online and still indexed, which is why the question persists.
Because summer exams had been cancelled and grades awarded by other means. The autumn series gave candidates who wanted to sit papers a way to do so.
It was a response to a specific disruption, not a permanent addition to the exam calendar.
English Language and Mathematics only. There is no November series for any other GCSE subject.
Entries are made through a centre in the same way as summer entries, on the awarding body deadlines for that series.
No. The November series is limited to English Language and Mathematics. Every other GCSE subject is examined in the summer series only.
If you need another GCSE subject, the next opportunity is the following summer.
No. January modules ended with the modular A-Level system. A-Levels have been linear since the 2015 to 2017 reforms, which means the whole subject is assessed in one series.
There is no January window, no resit of an individual paper, and no way to bank a paper across series.
You have to wait until the next series, which for an A-Level means the following May and June. Whether that feels like a full year depends on when you decided.
It is worth separating two things: the wait for the exam, which is fixed, and the wait to start work, which is not. Teaching for Summer 2027 starts in September 2026.
Not through Pearson: its International A Levels are not available for candidates studying in the UK.
Any international route changes the qualification you end up holding, and the Cambridge International route carries no UCAS Tariff points after Ofqual recognition was surrendered on 20 December 2024. Check what your target course actually requires before treating this as an option.
No. The exam calendar is the same for every candidate. There is no separate adult series and no upper age limit on entry to an A-Level.
What does differ by age is public funding, which is a separate question covered in how A-Level resits are funded.
Thursday 12 August 2027, if you sit in the Summer 2027 series. That is the earliest a new A-Level grade can exist.
Plan any university application, employment offer or professional registration around that date rather than around when your course finishes.
Keep reading
Where to Go Next
Use the Year Rather Than Waiting for a Series That Does Not Exist
Oliver Moy
I need help with my Maths course.
AI Assistant
You're in the right place. Let's map out the best study plan for your Maths course.