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Exams

Once you have decided to home educate your child, you should be aware that you assume sole financial responsibility. This includes the cost of any public examinations.

The internal assessment component of many standard qualifications and courses, such as National Vocational Qualifications and GCSEs, can make it difficult for home educated children to access some qualifications.

There are a number of different examination boards that offer GCSE qualification with different syllabuses. It is crucial that before starting on a particular GCSE course, you identify a centre, such as a school or college, that will accept your child's examination entry. You may find it helpful to consider the following:

  • If you have an existing and positive relationship with a school or college you may wish to ask if they can enter your child for the exams. You should also ask whether they will be willing to undertake to assess any coursework.

  • If you do not have any relationship or contact with a school or college you will need to contact an Examinations Board. They may be able to arrange a local centre on your behalf. If you do this you should also ensure that the board can arrange for any coursework to be assessed.

Examinations Boards can supply syllabuses and copies of previous exam papers at nominal cost or they can be downloaded from the board’s website.

GCSE courses are usually studied over two years but can be completed in a single year. Examination entries need to be finalised in the January prior to the exam (in June).

We are unable to conduct any quality assurance or checks for exam centres. We are therefore unable to provide a list of exam centres available.

Some secondary schools and colleges may offer support to external exam candidates. The local authority is not provided with this information. Parents and carers should therefore contact schools and colleges directly.

GCSE examination boards