A levels practical endorsement as a private candidate

Which other A levels are you looking to take and with what objective? A specific degree course?

Email the Unis you want to apply to - if you are doing A levels independently or by distance learning, many Unis will excuse you from doing the practical element.

I'm going to take Maths and further maths. Planning on doing computer science in uni.

Hi everyone,

I am new to A levels, I'm 23 rn and I'm thinking of taking the online course and doing the exam as a private candidate. I'm planning on taking physics as one of my subjects, but I found out that we're supposed to take a practical endorsement exam if we want to apply for uni. I have a couple of questions that I'm confused about.

1) Since, the A level is two years, which year do we have to do the practical endorsement exam?
2) Is the practical endorsement exam for each science subject separate or is it all bundled into one? For example; (bio, chem and physical together or we can choose based on which science subject we took?)
3) I heard that we have to do 12 practical activities for 3 days as part of the exam. I have no idea what 12 practicals are and what to do for 3 days. Are there any institutions that'll help us or brief us about what happens and what we're supposed to do?

If anyone knows anything, that'll be a lot of help. Thanks in advance.

Hi, I recently took chemistry, biology and physics as a private candidate. If you need the practical endorsement, you will typically book in with your exam centre for a practical week that they offer (you need to be observed by a tutor doing some practical work) and do all the practicals in one week per subject - each subject has 12 practicals. It sounds a lot, but it's just to give a range to demonstrate competence in a range of different practical skills/analyses (you can get a lot of the write ups done within that week and then you generally have another couple of weeks to finish the write ups - the assigned tutor from the exam centre will mark them and submit your pass/fail, plus any evidence they need to submit, to the exam board). See this as an example: https://filestore.aqa.org.uk/resources/physics/AQA-7407-7408-PHBK.PDF The practicals/skills are pretty standard across the common A-Level exam boards. Once you know which exam board you're doing, you can look up the practicals on their web site (also the specification, mark schemes and examiners' reports to help with learning and revision). The practical endorsement is not an exam, it is pass/fail; it is there to get you to be competent in practical science and then there are questions on the written exam on practical experiments. You are able to ask questions - I would say it is encouraged in the early practicals, to make sure you learn the techniques and so you can operate safely.

Note that there is an additional cost for the practical endorsement. I used Tutors & Exams as my exam centre and they had practical weeks you could book. I have no one else to compare them with, but they seemed to know what they were doing. Check out some exam centres and see the fees they charge for your exams.

Also, depending on time and your experience with the subject, as a private candidate, you can take the A-levels in one year, if you so choose.

Happy to answer any other questions about doing science as a private candidate.

Thanks for the info. I'll make sure to look it up. Also, did you happen do the practical endorsement exam in the final year of A levels or the first year?

Hello , I am really interested in sitting the exam papers and practical endorsement privately for alevel biology and chemistry. Can you send the link to the tutors and exam place ?

Hi everyone,

I am new to A levels, I'm 23 rn and I'm thinking of taking the online course and doing the exam as a private candidate. I'm planning on taking physics as one of my subjects, but I found out that we're supposed to take a practical endorsement exam if we want to apply for uni. I have a couple of questions that I'm confused about.

1) Since, the A level is two years, which year do we have to do the practical endorsement exam?
2) Is the practical endorsement exam for each science subject separate or is it all bundled into one? For example; (bio, chem and physical together or we can choose based on which science subject we took?)
3) I heard that we have to do 12 practical activities for 3 days as part of the exam. I have no idea what 12 practicals are and what to do for 3 days. Are there any institutions that'll help us or brief us about what happens and what we're supposed to do?

If anyone knows anything, that'll be a lot of help. Thanks in advance.

It costs £350 for an A-Level but Practicals cost just over £100 per practical each and you can do any examboard but not IAL or CIE.

Campbell Harris takes 100s of Private Candidates each year. The college is located on 185 High Street Kensington, London W8 6SH. It is just a short 2 minute walk away from the tube station: High Street Kensington.

Here are the exams offered:
https://www.campbellharris.co.uk/exams-offered

This explains the process of entering for exams:
https://www.campbellharris.co.uk/how-to-register

Here are the exam venues:
https://www.campbellharris.co.uk/exam-venues

Hi, I recently took chemistry, biology and physics as a private candidate. If you need the practical endorsement, you will typically book in with your exam centre for a practical week that they offer (you need to be observed by a tutor doing some practical work) and do all the practicals in one week per subject - each subject has 12 practicals. It sounds a lot, but it's just to give a range to demonstrate competence in a range of different practical skills/analyses (you can get a lot of the write ups done within that week and then you generally have another couple of weeks to finish the write ups - the assigned tutor from the exam centre will mark them and submit your pass/fail, plus any evidence they need to submit, to the exam board). See this as an example: https://filestore.aqa.org.uk/resources/physics/AQA-7407-7408-PHBK.PDF The practicals/skills are pretty standard across the common A-Level exam boards. Once you know which exam board you're doing, you can look up the practicals on their web site (also the specification, mark schemes and examiners' reports to help with learning and revision). The practical endorsement is not an exam, it is pass/fail; it is there to get you to be competent in practical science and then there are questions on the written exam on practical experiments. You are able to ask questions - I would say it is encouraged in the early practicals, to make sure you learn the techniques and so you can operate safely.

Note that there is an additional cost for the practical endorsement. I used Tutors & Exams as my exam centre and they had practical weeks you could book. I have no one else to compare them with, but they seemed to know what they were doing. Check out some exam centres and see the fees they charge for your exams.

Also, depending on time and your experience with the subject, as a private candidate, you can take the A-levels in one year, if you so choose.

Happy to answer any other questions about doing science as a private candidate.

How and where did u practice the experiments for your practical exams?

Email the Unis you want to apply to - if you are doing A levels independently or by distance learning, many Unis will excuse you from doing the practical elements

Hi, I recently took chemistry, biology and physics as a private candidate. If you need the practical endorsement, you will typically book in with your exam centre for a practical week that they offer (you need to be observed by a tutor doing some practical work) and do all the practicals in one week per subject - each subject has 12 practicals. It sounds a lot, but it's just to give a range to demonstrate competence in a range of different practical skills/analyses (you can get a lot of the write ups done within that week and then you generally have another couple of weeks to finish the write ups - the assigned tutor from the exam centre will mark them and submit your pass/fail, plus any evidence they need to submit, to the exam board). See this as an example: https://filestore.aqa.org.uk/resources/physics/AQA-7407-7408-PHBK.PDF The practicals/skills are pretty standard across the common A-Level exam boards. Once you know which exam board you're doing, you can look up the practicals on their web site (also the specification, mark schemes and examiners' reports to help with learning and revision). The practical endorsement is not an exam, it is pass/fail; it is there to get you to be competent in practical science and then there are questions on the written exam on practical experiments. You are able to ask questions - I would say it is encouraged in the early practicals, to make sure you learn the techniques and so you can operate safely.

Note that there is an additional cost for the practical endorsement. I used Tutors & Exams as my exam centre and they had practical weeks you could book. I have no one else to compare them with, but they seemed to know what they were doing. Check out some exam centres and see the fees they charge for your exams.

Also, depending on time and your experience with the subject, as a private candidate, you can take the A-levels in one year, if you so choose.

Happy to answer any other questions about doing science as a private candidate.