Surferfish wrote:
Thanks for the reply.
Prince Phillip dying though? Would they really postpone a GCSE exam for that?!

(Or even the Queen for that matter?). And don't even get me started on civil unrest due to Brexit! As if that hasn't caused enough chaos already!
What happens if a pupil is sick though during GCSEs? Do they get to take them during the contingency period after everyone else?
As I said we've not actually booked a holiday yet, but I'm guessing there are thousands of other families who have once the exam dates came out unaware of this contingency thing?
I imagine if a major Royal died, as there would be a State Funeral, a) it would either be a day off as an official day of mourning or b) London itself would be gridlocked with many roads shut off completely, causing utter chaos. You cannot have a child/children taking exams after everyone else (except in the case of a clash where they would be taken within a day and under supervision throughout) so on a day such as a royal dying, I suspect the exam would be suspended nationally and moved into the contingency period.
In answer to your sick pupil question, the answer is no - they wouldn't take them. If they had already sat enough of the exams for that subject as per the link you have been given, a grade could be estimated for them. If not there is sometimes the opportunity for a school to provide evidence to the exam board of their predicted grade (this uses things like alis, IST, mock results etc) and requires the school to also provide evidence of other people in the cohort - that way the exam board can identify if the predicitions are about right! Very complicated - best thing is not to be so sick that you miss exams!!!
And, yes, your school will have known about it when the exam timetable was issued by the board.....