Past papers, straight from the awarding bodies.
No third-party sites with watermarks and pop-ups. Free, official papers and mark schemes from the boards themselves.
AQA
GCSE, A-Level, AS — full archive with mark schemes and examiner reports.
Open archive →Edexcel (Pearson)
GCSE, A-Level, IAL. Includes International Advanced Level papers.
Open archive →OCR
GCSE, A-Level. Searchable by qualification and unit.
Open archive →WJEC / Eduqas
GCSE, A-Level. Eduqas papers are listed separately.
Open archive →CCEA
Northern Ireland qualifications.
Open archive →IB
Past papers via your school’s My-IB / Managebac access.
Open archive →UK exam paper structure at a glance
A quick reference for the most-tutored subjects. Verify the current spec on the awarding body’s site before relying on this for the exam — boards do tweak structures.
| Subject | Papers | Time per paper | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| GCSE Maths (AQA / Edexcel / OCR) | 3 | 1h 30m each | Paper 1 non-calculator, papers 2 & 3 calculator. Foundation and Higher tiers. |
| GCSE English Language (AQA 8700) | 2 | 1h 45m each | Paper 1 fiction, Paper 2 non-fiction. 50% reading / 50% writing across both papers. |
| GCSE English Literature (AQA 8702) | 2 | 1h 45m + 2h 15m | Closed-book. Shakespeare + 19th-c novel on paper 1. Modern + poetry on paper 2. |
| GCSE Combined Science (AQA Trilogy) | 6 | 1h 15m each | 2 papers per science (Bio/Chem/Phys). Required practicals examined within papers. |
| A-Level Maths (Edexcel 9MA0) | 3 | 2h each | Pure 1, Pure 2, Statistics & Mechanics. 100 marks per paper. |
| A-Level Biology (AQA 7402) | 3 | 2h each | Plus 12 required practicals — assessed within written papers, no separate practical exam. |
| A-Level English Lit (AQA A 7712) | 2 + NEA | 3h + 2h 30m | NEA coursework worth 20%. Closed-book papers, named texts. |
| A-Level History (Edexcel 9HI0) | 3 + NEA | 2h 15m × 3 | NEA worth 20% — historical interpretations essay, ~4,000 words. |
Always cross-check with the awarding body. Spec codes are listed on every page so you can find your exact paper structure.
How to use past papers properly
- Sit one cold — six to eight weeks before the exam. No notes, full timing. The result is your revision plan.
- Mark it with the scheme open — examiner reports tell you what answers were missing. Read them.
- Re-do the questions you lost marks on — same paper, two days later. The recall stops being theoretical.
- Then move topics to mixed practice — papers from different years, in random order, to break pattern-matching.
Need someone to walk you through them?
Most TheTutorLink tutors offer paper-walkthrough sessions.