Qualifications Scotland Exam Timetable 2027: When It's Published

If you're looking for the 2027 Qualifications Scotland exam timetable, here's the honest position: the confirmed dates are not published yet. Qualifications Scotland has said the 2027 National Qualifications timetable arrives after the summer break. This page explains when to expect it, what already exists, and what the diet usually looks like — and it's updated the moment the real dates land.

As of 13 July 2026, the 2027 National Qualifications exam timetable is not yet confirmed. Qualifications Scotland issued a provisional 2027 timetable for consultation in spring 2026 and has said the final version will be published after the summer break. Provisional dates can change, so we don't state them here as fixed. The diet has run from late April to early June in recent years, and 2027 is expected to be similar.

Where the 2027 timetable stands right now

Two things have happened, and one still has to.

• A provisional 2027 timetable was issued in spring 2026. Qualifications Scotland opened a consultation on the proposed schedule, asking learners, teachers and lecturers for their views. That consultation closed on 24 April 2026.
• The confirmed timetable comes after the summer break. Qualifications Scotland's own exam-timetable page states it will publish the 2027 National Qualifications exam timetable after the summer — so from around August or September 2026. The My Qualifications Scotland apps are updated for the new year at the same time.

In other words, there's a draft, feedback has been gathered, and the final schedule is being finalised over the summer. That's a normal part of the annual cycle — the same thing happens every year — but it means anyone searching in the summer of 2026 is searching a little early.

When to expect the confirmed dates

Based on how Qualifications Scotland (and SQA before it) has run this cycle, expect the confirmed 2027 timetable in late summer or early autumn 2026, most likely August or September. Your school then builds each pupil's personalised timetable from it, usually issuing paper copies in the new year, a few months before the diet.

What the diet usually looks like

While the exact 2027 dates aren't set, the shape of the diet is very consistent year to year. This is what to expect — treat it as a guide to the pattern, not as confirmed 2027 dates.

2026 dates are confirmed and shown only as a reference for the usual pattern. The 2027 column is an expectation based on recent years, not a published timetable.

A few things that hold true every year, and will for 2027:

• The timetable is national and fixed. Once published, every school in Scotland follows the same subject-by-subject schedule. There are no regional variations and you cannot move an individual exam.
• National 4 has no written exams. National 4 (and most Skills for Work courses) are internally assessed, so they don't appear on the written-exam timetable.
• Personalised timetables come from your school. The national schedule sets the dates; your school assigns your room, seat and exact start times.
• Clashes are handled by the school. If two of your exams fall at the same time, your school arranges a supervised solution — flag it to the exams officer as soon as your personal timetable is out.

Map the exam season onto one timeline. Once the 2027 dates are confirmed, our exam deadline tracker lets you drop them in alongside coursework and appeal deadlines so nothing sneaks up.

No sign-up required.

The Honest Take

There's a real temptation, when a page like this could rank for "exam timetable 2027", to fill it with confident-looking dates. We won't. A provisional April date that shifts by a week after consultation is worse than no date at all for a parent building a revision plan around it. The useful thing this page can do right now is tell you the truth — the dates aren't confirmed, they're due after summer 2026 — and be the first place to carry them when they are. That's the deal.

SQA is now Qualifications Scotland

If the "Qualifications Scotland" name is new to you: it's the body that replaced SQA. SQA was formally dissolved on 26 February 2026, and Qualifications Scotland took over every function — designing qualifications, running the exam diet, publishing the timetable, marking, results and appeals. National 5, Higher and Advanced Higher are unchanged, and certificates from Qualifications Scotland are legally equivalent to all previous SQA certificates.

So the "SQA exam timetable 2027" and the "Qualifications Scotland exam timetable 2027" are the same document — just under the new name. For the fuller story of the change, see our Qualifications Scotland explained guide.

What to do while you wait

1. Bookmark this page. It's updated the day the confirmed 2027 timetable is published.
2. Check your school's communications from August. Schools usually flag the new timetable once Qualifications Scotland releases it.
3. Use the 2026 diet as a planning proxy. If you need a rough sense of the window now, our 2026 exam timetable guide shows the confirmed shape of a recent diet — just don't treat those exact dates as 2027's.
4. Refresh the MyExams app after summer. Once updated, it lets your teenager build a personal schedule from the national timetable.

For everything around the other end of the process — what happens on results day and how appeals work — see our SQA results day guide and the SQA appeals process guide. And once the confirmed dates arrive, our 2026 diet guide shows the level of detail this page will carry for 2027.

The short version: the 2027 exam diet timetable isn't published yet, it's due from Qualifications Scotland after the summer break, and it should follow the familiar late-April-to-early-June pattern. When the real dates are confirmed, they'll be here — no guesswork in the meantime.