The QCE external assessment timetable for 2026 runs from Monday 26 October to Tuesday 17 November, according to the Queensland Curriculum and Assessment Authority (QCAA). Economics opens the block on the Monday morning, English follows on Tuesday 27 October, and Agricultural Science Paper 2 closes it on the afternoon of Tuesday 17 November. Every General and General (Extension) subject has its one external assessment somewhere in those four weeks, and Queensland students do not get to choose the date.
At NextStepAcademy we work with Year 12 students across Brisbane and the Gold Coast, and the question we hear in late September is not really “when is my exam?”. It is “what do I do with the time between now and then?”. This guide gives you the dates, subject by subject, explains how much each external assessment is actually worth, and shows how to turn the timetable into a revision plan while there are still four weeks to use it.
When are the QCE external assessments in 2026?
The QCAA states that the external assessments for General and General (Extension) subjects will be held from Monday 26 October to Tuesday 17 November 2026. Term 4 starts on Tuesday 6 October, which leaves roughly three weeks of school between the first day back and the first external assessment.
The full timetable is published on the QCAA external assessment timetable page as a PDF. It lists each subject in a morning (AM) or afternoon (PM) session. Your school confirms the exact start times and the room, so treat the school’s advice as the final word on where to be and when.
What is on the 2026 QCE external assessment timetable?
Below are the most commonly taken General subjects, taken directly from the QCAA’s 2026 timetable. Subjects with two papers sit both on the dates shown.
| Subject | Date | Session |
|---|---|---|
| Economics | Monday 26 October | AM |
| Health | Monday 26 October | PM |
| English / English as an Additional Language | Tuesday 27 October | AM |
| Ancient History | Tuesday 27 October | PM |
| Physical Education | Wednesday 28 October | AM |
| Literature | Thursday 29 October | AM |
| Legal Studies | Thursday 29 October | PM |
| Chemistry (Papers 1 and 2) | Friday 30 October | AM and PM |
| Biology (Papers 1 and 2) | Monday 2 November | AM and PM |
| Business | Tuesday 3 November | PM |
| Accounting | Wednesday 4 November | PM |
| Modern History | Thursday 5 November | AM |
| General Mathematics and Specialist Mathematics (Paper 1) | Thursday 5 November | PM |
| General Mathematics and Specialist Mathematics (Paper 2) | Friday 6 November | AM |
| Physics (Papers 1 and 2) | Monday 9 November | AM and PM |
| Digital Solutions | Tuesday 10 November | AM |
| Psychology (Paper 1) | Tuesday 10 November | PM |
| Psychology (Paper 2) | Wednesday 11 November | AM |
| Geography | Thursday 12 November | AM |
| Mathematical Methods (Papers 1 and 2) | Friday 13 November | AM and PM |
| Agricultural Science (Papers 1 and 2) | Tuesday 17 November | AM and PM |
This is not every subject. Languages, the arts, Engineering, Food and Nutrition, Marine Science, Earth and Environmental Science and the Extension subjects all have their own slots, so check your subject against the full QCAA PDF rather than assuming it matches a friend’s.
How much does the external assessment count towards a QCE result?
This is the number that should shape how you spend the next four weeks. The QCAA explains that a General subject result comes from three internal assessments plus one external assessment, and that the external assessment contributes:
- 50% of the final subject result in General Mathematics and Science subjects (for example Mathematical Methods, Chemistry, Physics, Biology and Psychology);
- 25% of the final subject result in all other General subjects (for example English, Legal Studies, Modern History and Economics).
The source is the QCAA’s About external assessment page. In practice, a Chemistry student still has half the subject result to earn in two papers on one Friday, while an English student has already banked three quarters of theirs through internal assessment.
The same QCAA page makes one more point that matters: “The external assessment result does not scale the internal assessment result.” Your internal marks stand on their own. We explain what that means, and why so many families assume the opposite, in our guide to whether the external exam scales your internal marks in Queensland.
Which subjects have two papers, and how long is each one?
The QCAA timetable shows the Mathematics and Science subjects split into two papers, each listed as 90 minutes plus 5 minutes. Most other subjects are a single assessment listed as 2 hours plus 15 minutes, with some at 2 hours plus 5 or 20 minutes, and English and Literature Extension at 2 hours plus 30 minutes.
How the two papers fall is worth knowing in advance:
- Same day: Chemistry (30 October), Biology (2 November), Physics (9 November), Mathematical Methods (13 November), Marine Science (16 November) and Agricultural Science (17 November) sit Paper 1 in the morning and Paper 2 in the afternoon.
- Split across two days: General Mathematics and Specialist Mathematics sit Paper 1 on the Thursday 5 November afternoon and Paper 2 on the Friday morning. Psychology and Earth and Environmental Science are also split across consecutive days.
A same-day double means stamina matters as much as content. Practise at least one full paper-then-paper sitting under time before 30 October if you take any of those subjects.
Why does Mathematical Methods come so late?
Mathematical Methods is on Friday 13 November, both papers, which is in week three of the four-week block. Specialist Mathematics, by contrast, is finished by the morning of Friday 6 November. For a student taking both, that means Specialist arrives first, then a full week of other subjects, then Methods.
It is a useful quirk. The Methods content that sits underneath Specialist gets revised twice, and the final week before Methods can be spent almost entirely on Methods past papers once Physics (Monday 9 November) is done. We see students waste that week by treating it as a rest after Specialist. It should be the most focused week of the year.
What does a real timetable look like for one student? (Illustrative example)
The example below is illustrative, not a real student. It takes a common science-heavy combination and lays out that student’s external assessments in order, using the QCAA dates:
| Date | Subject | Weight of the external assessment |
|---|---|---|
| Tuesday 27 October (AM) | English | 25% |
| Friday 30 October (AM and PM) | Chemistry, Papers 1 and 2 | 50% |
| Thursday 5 November (PM) | Specialist Mathematics, Paper 1 | 50% |
| Friday 6 November (AM) | Specialist Mathematics, Paper 2 | (as above) |
| Monday 9 November (AM and PM) | Physics, Papers 1 and 2 | 50% |
| Friday 13 November (AM and PM) | Mathematical Methods, Papers 1 and 2 | 50% |
Five subjects, nine papers, eighteen days, and four of the five carry half the subject result. The gaps are uneven: two days between English and Chemistry, then almost a week before Specialist. A plan that simply rotates all five subjects evenly every day ignores the order they actually arrive in.
What happens if two external assessments clash?
The QCAA designed the timetable to minimise clashes. Where a clash does occur within a morning or afternoon session, the QCAA says students “will be allocated to the alternative session on the same day”. The authority also aims to ensure most students sit no more than two external assessments on one day.
If your combination produces a clash, your school will tell you which session you have been moved to. Do not guess. Ask your school’s senior schooling coordinator in the first week of Term 4 and write the confirmed session on your own timetable.
How should Year 12 students use the next four weeks?
With the September holidays under way and Term 4 starting on Tuesday 6 October, a workable structure looks like this:
- Now to 5 October (holidays): one complete past paper per 50% subject, sat under time, and marked honestly. The aim is to find the gaps, not to feel good.
- Weeks 1 and 2 of Term 4: close the gaps that the papers exposed, in the order your subjects arrive. Your first assessment gets the most attention first.
- The final week before 26 October: short timed sections, not new content. Rehearse the double-paper day if you have one.
- During the block: revise for the next assessment only. Once a subject is done, it is done.
Families who want structured support through this period often choose QCE tutoring in Brisbane or QCE tutoring on the Gold Coast, delivered online so sessions can fit around the assessment dates. For younger students in the same household, our high school tutoring in Brisbane covers Years 7 to 10.
What happens after the last external assessment?
The external assessment block ends on Tuesday 17 November, and the QCAA lists Friday 20 November as the final school day for Year 12 students. Then the wait begins:
- Wednesday 16 December 2026: final subject results and the Senior Education Profile are released through the QCAA Student Portal.
- 9.00am Friday 18 December 2026: ATARs are released by QTAC, two days after the subject results.
- Wednesday 13 January 2027: the QCAA’s final date to apply for reassessments and script inspections for external assessments.
Queensland is unusual in releasing subject results and ATARs on different days. Our guide to how the ATAR is calculated in Queensland explains what QTAC does with your results in those two days.
When will the 2027 external assessment timetable be released?
The QCAA has not published 2027 external assessment dates. Its timetable page currently carries 2026 only. We will not guess a date. Current Year 11 students should expect the 2027 block to again fall in Term 4, and should check the QCAA page rather than relying on any unofficial “2027 timetable” that appears online before the QCAA releases one.
Want a plan built around your child’s actual timetable? Book a tutor with NextStepAcademy, and every family starts with our First Lesson Guarantee: if you don’t love the first lesson, you don’t pay. Prefer to explore first? See how our online tutoring works.
Frequently asked questions
When do the 2026 QCE external assessments start?
Monday 26 October 2026, with Economics in the morning session. The block runs to Tuesday 17 November 2026, according to the QCAA.
When is the 2026 QCE English external assessment?
Tuesday 27 October 2026, in the morning session. English as an Additional Language is in the same session.
Is the external assessment worth 50% in every subject?
No. The QCAA says it contributes 50% in General Mathematics and Science subjects and 25% in all other General subjects. The other share comes from three internal assessments.
Does the external assessment scale my internal marks in Queensland?
No. The QCAA states that the external assessment result does not scale the internal assessment result. Scaling happens later, between subjects, when QTAC calculates the ATAR.
When do QCE results come out in 2026?
Final subject results and the Senior Education Profile are released on Wednesday 16 December 2026. QTAC releases ATARs at 9.00am on Friday 18 December 2026.