Question papers and exam stationery

We’ll send you all the materials you'll need for exam day.

You must have a secure storage area where you can store confidential exam materials such as question papers, answer booklets and supplementary booklets and sheets. See the requirements in the JCQ Instructions for conducting examinations.

We send stationery such as graph paper, drawing paper and data booklets to centres before the examination in a general exam stationery despatch. 

We issue formulae booklets for use in mathematics examinations of certain specifications and, where appropriate, mathematical and statistical tables. 

Candidates must not take their own copies of tables or formulae booklets into the examination room. 

Centres will receive one copy of the appropriate booklet for each candidate for the series.

We provide a full spreadsheet listing of materials for all examinations each series:

Information about answer booklets will be found on the front cover of relevant question papers, in the box.

In most cases, a generic answer booklet will be supplied.

These are sent to centres separately from question papers, as part of the general exam stationery despatch.

These are 12-page answer booklets (OCR12) and four-page continuation booklets (OCR4).

To find out which units require the use of the 12-page generic answer booklet, please see the stationery listing above.

In a few cases, a specific answer booklet may be required.

These are sent to centres as part of the confidential question paper despatch and come in three formats:

• Answer booklet with the question paper inserted – the front covers of the answer booklet and question paper give details of the assessment they are to be used for. As the box on the front cover of the answer booklet says, the question paper has been inserted into the booklet.
• Question paper with an answer booklet inserted – the front covers of the question paper and answer booklet give details of the assessment they are to be used for. As the box on the front cover of the question paper says, the answer booklet has been inserted.
• Answer booklet separate from the question paper – if the answer booklet is not provided as an insert, it will be sent in a separate envelope in the same despatch as the question paper.

Remember: the correct answer booklet must be used for each paper.

If a candidate runs out of space, they should be given an OCR 4-page continuation booklet (OCR4) to continue their answers. 

If further space is required then another 4-page continuation booklet should be used (and so on). 

The candidate’s name, candidate number, centre number and unit code must be clearly written on all continuation booklets, which should be inserted inside their exam script.

We send exam-day question papers to arrive in centres at least five working days before the relevant exam. The dates for the despatches of question paper materials are given on the key dates document.

We also send a despatch email which confirms what's been sent, together with a tracking reference so you can track and manage the receipt of question papers.

They will be supplied in brown/gold question paper bags. We no longer send question papers in different coloured bags.

We cannot guarantee question papers will be supplied where late entries have been made less than two weeks before the examination date.

Under exceptional circumstances, we can make question papers available for secure download via shortly before the start of the examination.

If you need a modified paper, you can request this using the online tool, Access Arrangements Online, accessed via Interchange.

Please contact our customer support centre if you have not received the necessary materials for an exam.

Attendance registers are sent to centres as close to the exam as possible to ensure they are as up to date as they can be. 

Once we have sent attendance registers, we continue to generate and despatch updates for any late candidate entries. 

However, it’s important you keep and send the original attendance register together with the updates, as the updates do not replace the original attendance register.

We supply plastic script return envelopes which should always be used for the despatch of OCR scripts, even for single scripts. 

As the adhesive on envelopes can deteriorate over time (and we supply new ones each series), please ensure you dispose of the old ones by the ‘use-by date’ shown on the envelope.

You should not be able to reopen a sealed envelope without damaging it. 

If you are despatching CDs, DVDs or USBs, these can be packaged in a bubble wrap envelope before being placed inside a correctly labelled plastic OCR script envelope.

These are provided as close to the exam as possible to ensure they are up to date. 

However, once we have sent labels we continue to generate and despatch labels for any late changes. 

Please destroy any old labels and use the new label for the despatch. 

If you have a large entry for an examination we will provide additional labels (usually 1 extra for every 40 scripts) to make sure that script packets are not overfilled. 

The labels you receive are based on your geographical location and whether the qualification is included in the DfE’s approved key stage 4 and 16 to 18 qualifications: 

• Yellow labels – These are supplied to centres in England for exam scripts (not coursework or controlled assessment) for qualifications included in the DfE’s approved key stage 4 and 16-to-18 qualifications. For further information on the yellow label service, see the DfE website.
  
• White labels – Centres based outside England and qualifications not included in the DfE’s approved key stage 4 and 16-to-18 qualifications.

If, a week before an exam, you have not received labels for that exam, please contact our customer support centre as soon as possible to request replacements.