Private Exam Centres

Just wondering how private exam centres work.

Are you able to simply request to only do an exam + coursework and nothing else? Can you teach yourself and then just ask to do an exam at a private exam centre?

Can you go to a college/sixth form whilst doing this?

Any centre can accept you as a private candidate, it is just that most schools and colleges don't as private candidates are a lot of work (hence the prices centres charge). As long as a centre is registered with an exam board (and virtually every centre in England will be registered with AQA, Edexcel and OCR as a minimum) then they can accept you for any course, regardless of whether they teach that course or not.

If you are a private candidate, the only service the centre offers is the exams, they don't teach you at all. It is normally almost impossible to find a centre to accept you for GCSE controlled assessment or A level coursework (unless if is with AQA) as the centre has to authenticate the work as yours (and how can they tell as they don't know you) and mark it. AQA has special arrangements for private candidates for A level but there still needs to be someone reputable who authenticates the work.

There is nothing to stop you being entered for exams at 2 - or more - different centres in the same exam season, so yes, you can be enrolled as a college at the same time. In fact, your best bet is to get that college to let you take the extra exams there too.

The entry deadline for this summer was 21 March, you can still enter but the prices have doubled.

Thanks Data for bringing the Data as always. I'm thinking about doing so next year, when I go on to do A-Levels I would like to do GCSE Computing before I go on to A-Level Computing, as my school doesn't offer it currently. No local colleges offer it at GCSE, so I'm thinking about doing it at a private college whilst I do AS, then in my A2 year do AS Computing.

It does require coursework but it's all computer work and all computer files hold the original creators account name, so my name, I'm assuming that'll allow me to do my coursework with them? GCSE Computing is OCR, but AQA also do Computer Science so what are these AQA special arrangements?

Also how much is the average fees for 1 GCSE qualification with 3 units, 1 of them coursework?

The GCSE involves controlled assessment which has to be done at the centre under supervision so is going to be almost impossible to achieve.

I've checked AQA's website and neither GCSE Computing nor GCE Computing is available to private candidates, presumably because they are not happy that it can be properly supervised. I suspect that OCR GCSE may prove to be equally difficult to achieve because of the need to do the controlled assessment in centre.

On the upside, You don't need to have done GCSE Computing to do A level - GCSE Computing has only recently been (re-)introduced so most people start at A level. If you want to prepare yourself you could study some of the GCSE content, but there is no need to take the GCSE.