As part of our commitment to designing and developing accessible assessments, we are making changes to the layout and formatting of our question papers. Question papers may look slightly different from published specimen papers. These changes will apply to exams from March 2026 onwards.
The assessment content, demand and types of questions will not change.
What are the changes?
We are making a number of layout and formatting improvements to increase the clarity, readability and design consistency of our question papers. These changes are intended to support how candidates read and process the information presented to them. Our approach to accessible design is grounded in research-informed best practice.
In our 2026 question papers, we are:
- using left-aligned text rather than fully justified text
- aligning tables, figures and graphs on the left of the page when these are for reference only. If a candidate needs to write on a figure or graph, it will be centred on the page
- minimising the use of italic text for rubrics and task instructions
- using bold text for column headings in tables
- reducing the use of capital letters in figure and axis labels, on prompt words and in tables
- using a consistent style for bulleted lists
- using Figure X.X rather than Fig. X.X
Take a look at the examples in the PDF below:
Style change examples of question papers (PDF, 173KB)
You can find more information on our website about our commitment to inclusive education and accessibility and accessibility for all.