Privately taking A levels

Basically I want to do an A-level in economics. I don't think I can go back to college and do it in one year. And the tuition fees are expensive as I am 18 now so the fourth year of college would cost a lot of money.

So I'm thinking of doing them privitely alongside a part time job. However I was wondering whether, to spread the costs, I would be able to take one or two of the modules (3 in total for the course I'm looking at) in one year and one or two in the year after. Or do I have to do them all at the same time to have completed the course and receive a grade?

If you want to do a full A level it should be a two year course even if you do it from home, unless you choose a fast track option in which case you would do all the modules for the entire A level in one year. This would be hard though so most distance learning courses offer two year courses.

As long as you complete all the modules within two years you should be fine. (I say this because most universities prefer you to have completed in two years, if you're thinking of uni.)

You will need to find an exam centre to sit the exams at and to mark any coursework, so you can clarify with them exactly when you can do the modules.

If you want to do a full A level it should be a two year course even if you do it from home, unless you choose a fast track option in which case you would do all the modules for the entire A level in one year. This would be hard though so most distance learning courses offer two year courses.

As long as you complete all the modules within two years you should be fine. (I say this because most universities prefer you to have completed in two years, if you're thinking of uni.)

You will need to find an exam centre to sit the exams at and to mark any coursework, so you can clarify with them exactly when you can do the modules.

Basically I want to do an A-level in economics. I don't think I can go back to college and do it in one year. And the tuition fees are expensive as I am 18 now so the fourth year of college would cost a lot of money.

So I'm thinking of doing them privitely alongside a part time job. However I was wondering whether, to spread the costs, I would be able to take one or two of the modules (3 in total for the course I'm looking at) in one year and one or two in the year after. Or do I have to do them all at the same time to have completed the course and receive a grade?

Okay so i completed 2 years of my A levels and achieved ACE, however i think i can do much better, say i did a 3rd year but resat individual modules , will i end up boosting my grade or would i have to resit the whole A level?

U.K. A levels taken this year and before are modular and you can resit any individual unit to try to improve your grade.


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Thank you very much! This can be done as an internal or external candidate, it doesnt matter right?

Yes you can do it internally or externally. But resitting coursework or practical units can be difficult as a private candidate and if any of your subjects have been reformed it may prove more difficult than usual to find centres accepting private candidates for the old (legacy) exams. Your current school/college would be a good place to ask first.


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Since i did maths & further maths & they havent changed , everyone would be doing those exasm , its only Physics i need to ask about & im not resitting no courseworks , empas or isas , its only exams. What does it mean by internal candidate?

An internal candidate is someone attending the school or college for lessons.
An external or more accurately a private candidate is someone studying independently at home and is not attending school for lessons.


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Yes you should be fine for any maths units. Physics might be trickier but it's a popular A level so I'd expect it to be on offer somewhere. I also think schools that don't normally accept private candidates might be more helpful to former students during this reform period but you don't know until you ask.
An internal candidate is someone attending the school or college for lessons.
An external or more accurately a private candidate is someone studying independently at home and is not attending school for lessons.


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Well idk if they will accept me as an internal candidate because of these funding issues & they say ill have go additional courses?

I don't think they will accept you as an internal candidate just to retake a few exams for the funding reasons you mention. There are strict rules on what you have to be doing for a school/college to claim funding for teaching you. Also they will not be teaching the old physics specification next year.


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