Studying WITHOUT a formal education system. What is it called? How do I do it?

I saw someone mention in a comment section maybe a month or two ago, that they studied GCSE's without going to a specific school/college/even online. They said they just booked exams, bought the books they needed for the curiculum, and got a private tutor once a month to mark their work.

I've been given some advice to do some extra GCSE's ALONGSIDE my Access to HE course, that I start next year. But! It's like £400-800 (depending on if you get the exams in the package)

(First paragraph below is just an explaination of my financial circumstances for the rest of the post. You can skip it if you like.)
I've been given debt by my council for council tax. But I've always been on benefits, and they took care of it from my 18th birthday. (They say I owe them over £600. Down from a debt (over LESS THEN, THE ALLEGED, TWO YEARS I wasn't paying them and "everyone has to pay council tax. Even if they're on benefits." But that dude who outright swore at me on the phone is a whole other story) £6000. And then when I was moved onto UC, they didn't pay my rent, when I contacted them (after they'd been paying it for over a year, directly to my landlord), they just said that it had been scheduled, so it must've gone out, and didn't allow it to go any further essentially. I also admittedly moved homes and lost my phone, so bought a new one. Just stopped paying the bill. But I only had maybe two or three payments left on it. Meant to pay it back, but life got in the way for a while and I take accountability for just forgetting.

But! The point is, my credit score is bad and I can't get a course sold to me over time. Unless I pay a hefty amount. I want to do two GCSE's without a college. That with retaking Maths, double science, English language and starting the Access course is just not something I can do. But I can buy books. And hire a cheap tutor once a month to go over concepts I'm not sure on, IS feasible. And over time I can save money for exams.

So, I can't find it online. Can someone help me out, please? 😅 What is it called? How easy, apart from self-control, is it to do? Is it cheaper? Or am I missing other costs?

Thank you in advance!

Reply 1

OsteoBlasting

Original post by OsteoBlasting

I saw someone mention in a comment section maybe a month or two ago, that they studied GCSE's without going to a specific school/college/even online. They said they just booked exams, bought the books they needed for the curiculum, and got a private tutor once a month to mark their work.
I've been given some advice to do some extra GCSE's ALONGSIDE my Access to HE course, that I start next year. But! It's like £400-800 (depending on if you get the exams in the package)
(First paragraph below is just an explaination of my financial circumstances for the rest of the post. You can skip it if you like.)
I've been given debt by my council for council tax. But I've always been on benefits, and they took care of it from my 18th birthday. (They say I owe them over £600. Down from a debt (over LESS THEN, THE ALLEGED, TWO YEARS I wasn't paying them and "everyone has to pay council tax. Even if they're on benefits." But that dude who outright swore at me on the phone is a whole other story) £6000. And then when I was moved onto UC, they didn't pay my rent, when I contacted them (after they'd been paying it for over a year, directly to my landlord), they just said that it had been scheduled, so it must've gone out, and didn't allow it to go any further essentially. I also admittedly moved homes and lost my phone, so bought a new one. Just stopped paying the bill. But I only had maybe two or three payments left on it. Meant to pay it back, but life got in the way for a while and I take accountability for just forgetting.
But! The point is, my credit score is bad and I can't get a course sold to me over time. Unless I pay a hefty amount. I want to do two GCSE's without a college. That with retaking Maths, double science, English language and starting the Access course is just not something I can do. But I can buy books. And hire a cheap tutor once a month to go over concepts I'm not sure on, IS feasible. And over time I can save money for exams.
So, I can't find it online. Can someone help me out, please? 😅 What is it called? How easy, apart from self-control, is it to do? Is it cheaper? Or am I missing other costs?
Thank you in advance!

To clarify, I want to do the Access course, redo Maths, English language and double science, WITH TheDistanceLearningCentre. But they do a limited amount of GCSE's. And is the only college I can see that's reputable, accepts bad credit AND is super cheap. I know the Open Study College accepts somewhat bad credit. But mine is red. I called them. They gave me a price of like £80 a month for one course. I want to do two, PLUS the others. I just don't see how I can do it.