Warden Park opens at 9am, Oathall at 10am, Imberhorne runs to 1pm on Thursday 20 August. Every published Mid Sussex collection time and ID rule.

GCSE results are released on Thursday 20 August 2026, and most Mid Sussex secondary schools have now published the hour and the room. (National Careers Service)

The windows are short, and they are not the same. Warden Park closes its doors at 10.30am. Oathall is open for an hour. Two schools have confirmed the day but not yet the time.

Where and when to collect, school by school

  • Warden Park Secondary Academy, Cuckfield: from the Studio, 9am to 10.30am. (Warden Park)
  • Oathall Community College, Haywards Heath: from the Hall, 10am to 11am. (Oathall exams site)
  • Imberhorne School, East Grinstead: Imberhorne Lane library, 9am to 1pm. (Imberhorne)
  • St Paul’s Catholic College, Burgess Hill: 9am to midday. (St Paul’s)
  • Haywards Heath College: no collection needed. Level 2 and GCSE results go live on the Chichester College Group results portal at 8.30am. (Haywards Heath College)
  • Downlands Community School, Hassocks: the school’s own online calendar lists GCSE results day for 20 August, 11.35am to 12.35pm, and publishes no other detail. (Downlands diary)
  • The Burgess Hill Academy: confirms a “GCSE results morning” on 20 August but has not published a time. (The Burgess Hill Academy)
  • Sackville School, East Grinstead: no collection time on its website. The school said on its home page that it looks forward to celebrating GCSE results day this Thursday. (Sackville School)
Chart of GCSE results collection windows in Mid Sussex on Thursday 20 August 2026: Haywards Heath College portal opens 8.30am, Warden Park 9am to 10.30am, Imberhorne 9am to 1pm, St Paul's Catholic College 9am to midday, Oathall 10am to 11am, Downlands 11.35am to 12.35pm
Graphic by Mid Sussex News

If someone else is picking them up

Every school that has published a rule requires written authority in advance, and the wording differs.

  • Oathall wants its own Results Form completed and returned to the school before results day if an adult, including a family member, is collecting. Anyone who does not collect on the day has a results letter posted on 20 August, and not before. Results for Years 7 to 10 are posted home the same day.
  • Imberhorne asks for a letter of authority signed by the student, or an email to the exams officer from the student giving that authority.
  • Haywards Heath College asks students to email the exams team in advance from their college address naming who will collect, and the nominated person is asked for ID at the desk. Students collecting in person should bring their college ID card.

If the grades are not what you hoped

Two things are worth knowing before Thursday, because both are commonly misremembered.

The fast-track appeal does not apply to GCSEs. The priority review of marking, which awarding bodies must complete within 15 calendar days, closes on 20 August and covers A levels and Level 3 vocational qualifications only. For GCSEs there is a clerical re-check, a review of marking and a review of moderation, and all three close on 24 September 2026, with turnarounds of 10, 20 and up to 35 calendar days. Reviews of marking need the candidate’s written consent; reviews of moderation do not. Schools submit these, not students, and awarding bodies charge fees. (JCQ, post-results services)

A grade 3 in English or maths does not mean a free choice at 16. Under the government’s condition of funding, a student who holds a GCSE grade 3 must study towards the GCSE again, while a student with a grade 2 or below may study either the GCSE or a Functional Skills level 2 qualification. The guidance was updated on 24 July 2026 for the 2026 to 2027 academic year. (Department for Education)

Haywards Heath College says staff will be on site on results day to advise students with questions or concerns about their grades, and its enrolment pages note that many students change course because they miss the entry requirements for the one they applied for. (Haywards Heath College)

The National Careers Service also runs a free adviser line on 0800 100 900, open Monday to Friday 8am to 8pm and Saturday and bank holidays 10am to 5pm, closed on Sunday. (National Careers Service)

What it means for you

If you are collecting in person, work backwards from the window rather than the day. Warden Park and Oathall between them are open for two and a half hours in total, and both are morning-only. Check your child’s school site again on Wednesday evening, because the two schools without a published time may add one.

If nobody can get there, sort the authority now. Oathall’s form has to be back at the school before Thursday, and Imberhorne’s letter has to be signed by the student, so neither can be arranged on the morning by phone.

Keep the results slip. Colleges, sixth forms and employers ask for it, and certificates do not follow until much later: Haywards Heath College starts receiving them from exam boards in November and posts them out between November and January.

Getting there on the day is the last thing to check. Roadworks and rail engineering are both running across the district this month, and our roadworks and travel page and train times to London are kept current. A level results, published last Thursday, are set out school by school in our Mid Sussex A level results 2026 round-up.

Sources