O/L 2026 exam day checklist: what to bring, and what is banned

The 2026 O/L exam starts on Tuesday 8 December. Everything below is either from the Department of Examinations' official time table or is plain good practice; the rules part is marked as such. Print it, or screenshot it the night before your first paper.

The rules, from the official time table

• No calculators in any subject, Maths and Science included.
• No correcting fluid (Tipp-Ex or similar). Cross out neatly instead.
• No mobile phone or any other electronic device in the hall. Bringing one in is an offence that can be punished.

Pack the night before

• Admission card. Check your name, index number and subjects on it as soon as you get it.
• A national identity card or the identification your admission card asks for.
• Two or three blue or black pens that you have already written with.
• Pencil, eraser, sharpener and a ruler; geometry instruments for Maths.
• A simple analogue or digital watch. Not a smart watch: it is an electronic device.
• Water and something small to eat, for the days with a morning and an afternoon paper.

School candidates get the admission card through their school. If you changed school this year, or you are sitting as a private candidate, sort the card out early: it is the one thing nobody can fix for you on the morning.

The days with two sittings

History (10 December), Maths (14 December) and Science (16 December) each have a morning and an afternoon sitting. On those days the multiple-choice paper is in the afternoon for History and Science, after three hours of writing. Eat at the break, drink water, and do not go over the morning paper's answers with friends: it changes nothing and costs you the afternoon.

In the hall

• Arrive early enough to find your room and seat without rushing.
• Write your index number wherever the paper asks for it, on every sheet.
• In the MCQ paper, read the question to the end before the options. Underline "not" (නොවන / නොවේ) when you see it.
• Answer every question. Come back to the ones you skipped before time is called.

The full time table

Every date and time is in the O/L 2026 time table post, with the official PDF, issued on 6 October 2026.

A last practice question before the day