I'm a mature student as well, and I want to study mathematics in the UK. I have the same situation about abroad education. Finished the IGCSE's on my own, but took the exams at London Brookes College's exam centre. I was considering to sit my A levels at their college, but I'm reconsidering as I also had issues with them. E.g. they took forever to send me my certificates, and couldn't find them at first (think they were temporarily lost among their files, around 3 months while everyone else received theirs). They also didn't care to put in a carton or something in the envelope to support my certificates in the post, hence they are now bent. I also sat an exam alone in a classroom once, then a group of students outside started to make a lot of noise. No one cared. I tried to concentrate but it was really hard. The same actually happened with a maths exam as well (though there were more candidates for the exam and they seemed to care a little bit more - not that it helped, there was still a lot of noise). I don't understand why they would let us write in a classroom not suitable for exam writing. Another thing I had a problem with is that every time I sent them an email to enquire about something, they would not reply. I would then call them and ask them over the phone, on which they always very rudely replied: 'Okay, you should send an email about that and then we can look into it'. I would tell them that I have sent this email a week ago and then again two days ago. Only when I asked to speak to the principal, they would actually help me. They never let me speak to the principal though. I had enough of them now. I wrote my last IGCSE exam at a small college somewhere else in London, and it was cheaper. I am going to find a more professional college somewhere else to write my A levels at; perhaps Greenes Tutorial College in Oxford, they seem professional and they let private candidates write there. Contrary to what I thought at first, because they are based in Oxford, their exam fees for the IGCSE's and A levels are actually less than London Brookes College's fees. I think the supplementary tutoring and practical courses are also about the same or less. They could also offer help with the university applications. Think they are really professional and know what they are doing, because they are also the oldest one in Oxford apparently. Good luck with your studies!