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Can I pay for my GCSE'S as a mature student without undertaking two years of study?

Hey, I'm 20 years old and lack any decent formal qualifications (various GCSEs at around grade E) I'm interested in doing my GCSEs or any other equivalent qualifications. I am however unemployed and therefore lack the funds to do a full course at my local college centre. So I was wondering if anyone had any information on whether you can just pay individually to sit GCSE examinations without having to do a 2 year course or a fast-track course (ie, study independently at home and supplying self with own resources through libraries, revision sites, appendixes, previous specifications). If anyone has any information on how to go about entering exams not through a formal course it would be much appreciated. I'd like to know which examining boards would allow this, fees, how to go about applying to take exams in a centre etc.

I am also interested in any information anyone may have on open access courses: how much they cost, where they can be done, duration etc.

I live in N.E Lincs where there are two colleges and a university centre.

Any information you can supply would be much appreciated, thank you :smile:
Hello Josh. Does your college not offer a one-year GCSE program? I am currently enrolled onto one of these. Also, have you spoke to the college? I know it differs from one institution to the next but my college does not charge me any fees for my place on the course and I am 24 and work part-time. Most colleges wave fees if you are on JSA or unemployed, I think. Also, GCSE courses such as the one I am on do not run over 2 years; we condense the material down into one academic year as it would take too much funding to run it over 2. Completing GCSEs in one year is also completely manageable.

Regarding examinations then yes you have to find a local college or school that will take you as a private candidate and then contact the exam board I believe, although you would have to research this as I have never sat an exam as a private candidate. :smile:
Original post by eirnjosh
Hey, I'm 20 years old and lack any decent formal qualifications (various GCSEs at around grade E) I'm interested in doing my GCSEs or any other equivalent qualifications. I am however unemployed and therefore lack the funds to do a full course at my local college centre. So I was wondering if anyone had any information on whether you can just pay individually to sit GCSE examinations without having to do a 2 year course or a fast-track course (ie, study independently at home and supplying self with own resources through libraries, revision sites, appendixes, previous specifications). If anyone has any information on how to go about entering exams not through a formal course it would be much appreciated. I'd like to know which examining boards would allow this, fees, how to go about applying to take exams in a centre etc.

I am also interested in any information anyone may have on open access courses: how much they cost, where they can be done, duration etc.

I live in N.E Lincs where there are two colleges and a university centre.

Any information you can supply would be much appreciated, thank you :smile:


Hi Josh

You can take GCSE at any age. To be a private candidate you need to find a centre that will accept you for your examinations. This is easier said than done. Try your old school or college they may help you. AQA and Edexcel have ok lists of schools and colleges that accept private candidates but the lists can be out of date and you would have to phone around till someone says yes.

You have missed the deadline for entry into June 2012 exams. This means you would have to be a late entry this increases the cost as the examination boards double their charges to the centre. Note on 21st April the charges go up again to the very late fee bracket.

The other area you may have a problem is with coursework, you may be able to carry grades across from previous years but trying to get new coursework authenticated and marked as a private candidate is a minefield. You may find IGCSE an easier option as they can be done without coursework

Hope this is helpful
Hi, I did an Access to Higher Education course last year and I can't say enough good things about it! It's a one year, part time course, when I enrolled (and as far as I know it's still the same) you don't have to have any previous qualifications and you don't have to pay for it. I don't think all colleges do them so you'd have to phone around to find out, but I'd definitely recommend this route.

http://www.accesstohe.ac.uk

Good luck :smile:
Reply 4
go stack shelves in tesco
Original post by eirnjosh
Hey, I'm 20 years old and lack any decent formal qualifications (various GCSEs at around grade E) I'm interested in doing my GCSEs or any other equivalent qualifications. I am however unemployed and therefore lack the funds to do a full course at my local college centre. So I was wondering if anyone had any information on whether you can just pay individually to sit GCSE examinations without having to do a 2 year course or a fast-track course (ie, study independently at home and supplying self with own resources through libraries, revision sites, appendixes, previous specifications). If anyone has any information on how to go about entering exams not through a formal course it would be much appreciated. I'd like to know which examining boards would allow this, fees, how to go about applying to take exams in a centre etc.

I am also interested in any information anyone may have on open access courses: how much they cost, where they can be done, duration etc.

I live in N.E Lincs where there are two colleges and a university centre.

Any information you can supply would be much appreciated, thank you :smile:


If ur confident enough to study it on ur own then all u need to do is buy the textbooks....book an exam centre....and revise its as easy as that. All the revision material such as videos on a particular topic and past papers can be found on the internet.
Just this morning I went to a college and booked 5 IGCSE's to be sat for the May/June 2018 exams (London location).
I'm 22 and never had the chance to do GCSE's when i was younger BUT IT'S NEVER TOO LATE! If you've got any questions feel free to message me :wink:
Original post by LordFifth
If ur confident enough to study it on ur own then all u need to do is buy the textbooks....book an exam centre....and revise its as easy as that. All the revision material such as videos on a particular topic and past papers can be found on the internet.
Just this morning I went to a college and booked 5 IGCSE's to be sat for the May/June 2018 exams (London location).
I'm 22 and never had the chance to do GCSE's when i was younger BUT IT'S NEVER TOO LATE! If you've got any questions feel free to message me :wink:


I wonder if the OP managed to make some progress on this in the last five and a half years... :wink:
Original post by Duncan2012
I wonder if the OP managed to make some progress on this in the last five and a half years... :wink:


LOOOOOOL i only just saw the date! Well it could still be useful info for some1 else. Hope he/she is doing well.
Reply 8
Original post by LordFifth
LOOOOOOL i only just saw the date! Well it could still be useful info for some1 else. Hope he/she is doing well.


This was definitely very useful to me I’m trying to gind and source of information about this you see I’m not English and I don’t know how things work in here I do have a bachelors degree in biology from my country but was told it’s the equivalent to a diploma in here and I still need to do gcse in English math and science...why did you choose to do IGCse not Gcse? And can you please list the titles of the books you are using to study or website or YouTube channel I appreciate any help as I don’t know anything so any thing you think of will be great help for me
Original post by Dederose
This was definitely very useful to me I’m trying to gind and source of information about this you see I’m not English and I don’t know how things work in here I do have a bachelors degree in biology from my country but was told it’s the equivalent to a diploma in here and I still need to do gcse in English math and science...why did you choose to do IGCse not Gcse? And can you please list the titles of the books you are using to study or website or YouTube channel I appreciate any help as I don’t know anything so any thing you think of will be great help for me


So basically the only main difference from what i understand is that IGCSE does not have any coursework and purely exam based, which for mature students like us is better since u only have to study on ur own and just sit for the exam. Some people may say IGCSE is harder but i don't really believe that. Next you've got to choose which exam board u want to do (Edexcel, AQA, Cambridge and maybe others) im doing Edexcel. I don't really go to a particular youtube channel i just search for the topic i need clarification in. For past papers and which books i'm using just go to the exam boards website and both should be there. Hope this chunk of info helps and if anybody else has anything to add feel free.
Original post by Dederose
I still need to do gcse in English math and science...why did you choose to do IGCse not Gcse? And can you please list the titles of the books you are using to study or website or YouTube channel I appreciate any help as I don’t know anything so any thing you think of will be great help for me


The reason that people have chosen IGCSE over GCSE in the past is that there was that coursework is very hard to achieve as a private candidate and IGCSEs always have no-coursework option for every subject. Now far fewer GCSES have coursework (and some subjects never did) so that doesn't necessarily hold true. I'd go with GCSE if you can as it is easier to find a centre to accept you.

For Maths there is no coursework for any option so I'd pick the most populat GCSE Maths specification as it will be easiest to find a cenrte and there are loads of resources - that's Edexcel's IMA1 http://qualifications.pearson.com/en/qualifications/edexcel-gcses/mathematics-2015.html Lots of books around just look on Amazon for the Edexcel GCSE spec from 2015.

For Science there is no longer a single general Science GCSE so you'd either have to go a for 2 GCSE sized Combined Science GCSE or IGCSE Double Award or just pick a Science (e.g. Biology) and take that. This is the first year of the new GCSE Sciences without coursework so there are fewer resources around and I'm not sure whether it is necessary to have evidence you've done the practicals (even though they don't contribute to your grade) so it might be safer to take IGCSE. Again Edexcel is the most widely used board so I'd go for that whether you go for double Science http://qualifications.pearson.com/en/qualifications/edexcel-international-gcses-and-edexcel-certificates/international-gcse-science-2011.html or an individual Science.

p.s. Get looking for a centre now as centres have to make entries with the exam board for this Summer by mid February and it may take you a while to find a centre.
(edited 6 years ago)
So is it possible to just pay for the exam alone or must I pay for the course too?

If so, how do I go about just paying for an IGCSE exam in Physics?
Original post by Jimmy Two-Times
So is it possible to just pay for the exam alone

Yes.

Original post by Jimmy Two-Times
If so, how do I go about just paying for an IGCSE exam in Physics?

Find an exam centre (=any secondary school or college) willing to accept you as a private candidate, pay them and then it is all sorted through them.
Original post by Compost
Yes.


Find an exam centre (=any secondary school or college) willing to accept you as a private candidate, pay them and then it is all sorted through them.


Thanks. You'd think an answer as simple as this would be easy to find on the Interwebs -- not so much.

You've saved me a tiny fortune.
Original post by Jimmy Two-Times
Thanks. You'd think an answer as simple as this would be easy to find on the Interwebs -- not so much.

You've saved me a tiny fortune.


IGCSE Physics is available twice a year:

January (entry deadline mid October) https://qualifications.pearson.com/content/dam/pdf/Support/Examination-timetables-for-Edexcel-International-GCSE/1901_intGCSE_final.pdf
Summer (entry deadline mid February)
Original post by eirnjosh
Hey, I'm 20 years old and lack any decent formal qualifications (various GCSEs at around grade E) I'm interested in doing my GCSEs or any other equivalent qualifications. I am however unemployed and therefore lack the funds to do a full course at my local college centre. So I was wondering if anyone had any information on whether you can just pay individually to sit GCSE examinations without having to do a 2 year course or a fast-track course (ie, study independently at home and supplying self with own resources through libraries, revision sites, appendixes, previous specifications). If anyone has any information on how to go about entering exams not through a formal course it would be much appreciated. I'd like to know which examining boards would allow this, fees, how to go about applying to take exams in a centre etc.

I am also interested in any information anyone may have on open access courses: how much they cost, where they can be done, duration etc.

I live in N.E Lincs where there are two colleges and a university centre.

Any information you can supply would be much appreciated, thank you :smile:


If you are unemployed you should be able to get college courses for free
If you are unemployed you should be able to go to college for free
Original post by paulyboy4
If you are unemployed you should be able to go to college for free


Thread was made 10 years ago. 🤦*♂️
The post before this one was 3 years ago. 😐
Original post by eirnjosh
Hey, I'm 20 years old and lack any decent formal qualifications (various GCSEs at around grade E) I'm interested in doing my GCSEs or any other equivalent qualifications. I am however unemployed and therefore lack the funds to do a full course at my local college centre. So I was wondering if anyone had any information on whether you can just pay individually to sit GCSE examinations without having to do a 2 year course or a fast-track course (ie, study independently at home and supplying self with own resources through libraries, revision sites, appendixes, previous specifications). If anyone has any information on how to go about entering exams not through a formal course it would be much appreciated. I'd like to know which examining boards would allow this, fees, how to go about applying to take exams in a centre etc.

I am also interested in any information anyone may have on open access courses: how much they cost, where they can be done, duration etc.

I live in N.E Lincs where there are two colleges and a university centre.

Any information you can supply would be much appreciated, thank you :smile:

Hey. You can do any GCSE at any age independently as a private candidate. There are books to support your subject and exams. To find an exam centre you can do a search for your local centre. Sometimes there are not local local so you may have to travel but yes they are available without doing a 2 year course. Some subjects are available in November and January as well as the summer so you may not have to wait till next year. Look up wikki exams they will have loads of info for private candidates.

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