GCSE's - What you need to know

Updated September 2004

Having said this, there are also lots of young people who want to take GCSE's - sometimes for their own satisfaction, sometimes because they are needed as a stepping stone to a higher qualification. It is commonly said that 3 A' levels and 5 GCSE's are a requirement for entrance to a university. Whilst this is not always the case, and many universities will allow an Access course in place of the traditional qualifications, many still require these 'traditional' qualifications.

The purpose of this page is to help those who are home educating or are home educated start looking at how they can take GCSE's.

In September 2004, when this page is updated, there are three main ways for a home educated young person to take GCSE's.

1. They can take evening classes where they study alongside others, and it is the responsibility of those running the course to enter the students for an exam.
2. They can take Correspondence or Long Distance Learning courses where they can study with the aid of a tutor. Whilst the course organisers will assist in finding an examination centre, it is still normally the responsibility of the student to find an examination centre.
3. They can study alone using any materials available to them and using a course syllabus as a guide. They will, however, be responsible for finding an examination centre themselves.

The following is a brief breakdown of the pro's and con's of the various methods.

Evening Classes

Most areas run evening classes where home educated young people may study. However, there are often difficulties in that the colleges are often reluctant to accept under 16's on the courses. Those that do run them often require the permission of the LEA, despite being aware that the parent has taken responsibility for the education of their child. It is worth noting that colleges vary widely in their attitudes, and if one does not help, try approaching another. (One thing we are aware of is that many young people have a desire to learn British Sign Language. Colleges/evening classes will not accept under 13's for this since the RNID will not allow them to take the examinations until they are older than 12; often those over 12 will be asked to have an adult accompanying them, even if the adult is not taking the course. Those children who are deaf would have special arrangements made for them.)

There is also a varying attitude to paying for these qualifications. Under current funding procedures, LEAs fund under 16s and the Learning Skills Council fund over 16s. It has been known for the LSC to fund an under 16 in college, but you have to show special circumstances...but there are not many people who have benefitted from these special circumstances at the time of writing. The LEAs usually refuse to supply funding to children under 16 attending college...unless that child has been excluded from mainstream schooling. Elective home education rarely receives the same funding.

Therefore, you need to check when considering an evening class whether:

• a) you will be required to pay anything, or
• b) you will be required to pay the same, subsidised rate that adults pay, or
• c) you will be required to pay the full cost of the course. This latter can cost a lot - I was quoted £3,000 for the year from one college regardless of how many qualifications were being taken, and £1,400 from another college for two A level subjects.

Correspondence or Long Distance Learning Courses

There are several reputable organisations which run courses. Some of them just supply the learning materials, some provide tutor support as well. However, you will still need to contact the examining board yourself to get a list of venues in your area which accept external candidates. Once you receive this, you then arrange with a venue and request that you sit your exam with them. Contact details for examining boards at the end of this page.

Course fees for distance learning courses vary but typically will cost upwards of £200 for each GCSE subject.

The National Extension College does come recommended by home educating families, and Education Otherwise has a concessionary rate whereby all subjects will receive a discount of £30. It is worth remembering though that the NEC also have other special offers from time to time so keep checking their website or subscribe to their newsletter if you are interested. To obtain this concessionary rate, you will need to have your EO membership number.

Sheffield College do GCSE English (and now AS English Literature) by distance learning via the internet for young people aged 14 and above. This is a new venture by Sheffield College and we do not have any reports on the course at this time. The advantage appears to be that they assist in ensuring that their students can complete the speaking and listening part of the English GCSE.

The International Centre for Distance Learning is a site which lists most of the UK centres offering distance learning courses. GCSE and specialist courses are listed.

The Open Learning Centre International have a variety of courses leading to qualifications including GCSEs and A' Levels. They also run all sorts of courses from academic subjects to things like counselling, beauty and stress management courses.

A number of links to distance learning centres are available here, but EO is not in a position to vouch for how up to date this information is.

Private/External Candidates

This section is being added to as we find out more information from individual examining boards.

There are two stages to taking a GCSE as a private candidate.

1. You must make sure that the GCSE you wish to take is available to private candidates. Many GCSE's are not available as the boards consider that the coursework element is too difficult for a private candidate to undertake, and therefore have made them unavailable. Entry information for private candidates is available on the website.

2. You have to find a venue which will allow you to sit the examination. Most of the examining boards will provide you with a list of venues which have said they will accept private candidates. However, experience has shown that although some venues say they will accept private candidates, in practice this means that often they will only do this if they are running the same GCSE you are wanting to take. Therefore, if you wish to take, for example, sociology and that venue is not doing sociology, they may not accept you. A further problem which has been encountered is that the venues may only accept those private candidates who are their own ex-students retaking exams they have failed. The Exam Boards apparently do not have any powers to force centres to take in private candidates. However, there are numerous schools and colleges in each area, and although it is not always easy, it is usually possible to find a venue within reach. For a printed list of venues which may accept AQA private candidates contact AQA.

The syllabus for all GCSE's which are part of the national curriculum will be the same for each examining board. However, the board may present the syllabus and their exam paper slightly differently. This means that you are able to begin studying for these GCSE's before make the decision as to the examining board you are going with. You must remember though that where coursework is required, it would be well to make the decision as early as possible to give yourself plenty of time to do the required coursework.

Subject matter for GCSE's which are not part of the national curriculum may vary. The individual syllabus needs to be studied in detail.

Costs for taking GCSE's as a private candidate do vary. The examining boards charge between £15 and £20 per subject. The examining centre is the one who charges you, and they will normally add an administration charge. Administration charges have been known to vary from between £5 per subject up to £30 per subject.

International GCSE

Edexcel have just announced their new IGCSE which, although mainly aimed at foreign students taking GCSEs abroad, are making the qualification available to independent schools. The benefit of an IGCSE is that there is no coursework involved. Edexcel are willing for private candidates to take this qualification if they can find a venue. There is a page listing centres which will take private candidates here. At the present time we only have details of four centres where it may be possible to sit these examinations:

The Cambridge Centre for 6th Form Studies, 1 Salisbury Villas, Station Road, Cambridge, CB1 2JF. Contact Name: Colin Jarman on telephone: 01223 716890.

Wessex Tutors in Southampton are also taking private candidates for the IGCSE. Contact details are Wessex Tutors, 44 Shirley Road, Southampton, SO15 3EU. Contact Name: Jill White on telephone: 02380 334719.

Campbell Harris Tutors, 185 Kensington High Street, London, W8 6SH. Contact: Mark Harris.
Telephone: 0207 937 0032

The Little Arthur School will apparently sell packs to help you with the IGCSE and, as a registered centre, you take the exam there with them. This is in the Isles of Scilly but from Summer 2005 should have an examination centre in Rochdale.

"Christian Education in Deeside have decided to set up a centre in Rochdale which will allow home educators to sit International O levels, GCSE's and International A levels. It will be possible to sit exams from Summer 2005, but the agreement we have with Cambridge will be that candidates will become members and will therefore be able to sit exams at our centre. They will not in effect be classed as private candidates. Candidates will still be responsible for preparing themselves for the exam. The centre is being run on a non profit making basis and any one will be able to use the centre. The centre will be located in Rochdale and it is hoped that costs will come down as more parents use the centre. We are a group of home educators who feel this will provide an invaluable service to the Home Education community.It has grown out of our own need to access a centre for our own children. If anyone is interested please e-mail me. If anyone is interested in sitting exams in 2005, you need to be registering as soon as possible."

Details of other centres will be recorded here as information becomes available.

To learn about which subjects are available and other documentation, visit the IGCSE website.

AQA

AQA website has available for download in pdf format the syllabus (now called specification) of all their examinations. On most of the GCSE qualifications, page 8 of each specification, it specifically states whether the particular GCSE is available for private candidates; however some subjects have the private candidate rules on page 11. A difference may be that there are two options for each specification; despite most of the qualifications now requiring coursework, it is still the case that often only one option is available to private candidates. In most cases, AQA will mark coursework for private candidates.

It should also be remembered that many of the exams may be taken at foundation, intermediate or higher levels. This is to allow those who have differing ability levels to achieve a qualification. Checking the individual specification will show the difference.

AQA used to have an Open Centre in London, but with effect from June 2004 this has closed, despite many representations from the HE community. Apparently this is due to the decreased numbers of people wishing to take exams at the centre.

The Open Learning Centre International in Carmarthen are also willing to take AQA private candidates from all over the country. They may be contacted on 01267 235268

AQA was formed by the merger of AEB, NEAB and SEG examining boards. With effect from 2003, they are running exams under their own name (AQA) rather than the individual old boards for all exams. Due to this change, there are no past papers available for purchase from AQA. However, they have produced a book of specimen papers for each subject, and most subjects have teacher's guides as well. Individual book publishers are also publishing new books aimed towards the new examinations, although no details are available as of this date (December 2003). Some past papers and example questions to help students test their knowledge are available although these will be seen under the old examining board names:

Maths and English
Maths
RE
Geography, Science, English, DT, History, French, Sociology, IT, German, Spanish - Various different exam board specimen papers
French - EdExcel papers
Maths - Links to several sites
Maths

Examining Boards

AQA - There are two main points of contact for private candidates. If you are in Gloucester, Oxford, Northants, Cambridge, Norfolk and south of these counties, you should contact:

AQA, Devas Street, Manchester, M15 6EX Telephone: 0161 455 5482

If you live north of the counties listed above, you should contact:

AQA, Stag Hill House, Guildford, Surrey, GU2 7XJ Telephone: 01483 477993

OCR, 1 Regent Street, CAMBRIDGE, CB2 1GG Telephone01223 552552, Fax 01233 552553 Email

GCSE's, AS/A Levels, GNVQ's and AVCE's

Vocational Qualifications and Key Skills - Telephone: 02476 470033

EdExcel, Stewart House, 32 Russell Square, London. WC1B 5DN. Telephone: 0870 240 9800 Email

WJEC - (Welsh Joint Education Committee), 245 Western Avenue, Cardiff, CF5 2YX. Telephone: 02920 265000

Council for Curriculum, Examinations and Assessment (Northern Ireland), Belfast, Northern Ireland. Telephone 028 9026 1200