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A levels as a private candidate: questions about exam board, timeline etc.

So I moved to Germany a few years ago with my family and am now seriously considering taking my A levels instead of the German equivalent (cause it takes so long!). As I am not familiar with the English A level system, I have quite a few questions:

1. Do I need GCSEs as a private candidate?
2. My subjects would most likely be German, maths, further maths, Chemistry/Biology. Does it matter which exam board I take them with? I still have family over in the UK so could definitely take them at a center there.
3. Related to last question: are some exam boards more private-candidate friendly than others, do they, for instance, have more online resources etc.?
4. I am fluent in German, and probably halfway through the A level maths curriculum already. I have also studied a semester of mathematics at a German Uni through a programme, which went really well. Assuming I start further maths and biology from scrap (which isn't quite true) is it realistic to take my exams in November of this year? I have experience self studying 6 to 8 hours a day for over 4 months, so there shouldn't be an issue with motivation and not studying.
5. Any misc. advice?

Reply 1

Sam1341

Hey, I'll try my best to answer some of these, I completed 4 A-Levels last year at school and now doing 1 more in my gap year as a private candidate.

1.) You don't need GCSE's to sit A-Levels, although they may be needed for specific uni courses if you were thinking about this.
2.) The exam board doesn't matter, they are all equivalent.
3.) Some exam boards have more online resources than others, I found AQA to have the most online resources for Chemistry, so i took my a-level with them.
4.) I've not heard of a-level exams being in November before, is this possible? To answer the question, that seems ambitious but not impossible.

5.) Make sure you look into what you actually want to do before picking those subjects, do what you need, and nothing extra as in most cases it wont help you. For example, 99% of UK uni courses won't pick you over someone for having 4 vs 3 A-levels.

Reply 2

PS Reviewer

If you want to sit in November then you would be looking at international A levels. That’s a different setup and you should be able to find somewhere to sit them locally. You would be more limited for exam boards as it’s only really CIE and Edexcel that offer IALs