Home schooled children and university (UCLan)

Hello, don't know if anyone can help or has experience in this?

I have an almost 14 year old son, who is really struggling with high school life due to sensory processing disorder and other diagnosed additional needs and extensive trauma. The academic demands of so many different areas, etc. it's got to the point where we are debating home schooling for his final two years whilst he has counselling and then rejoining at college where he can pick what he wants to do, and they offer much better support. We've spoken to college already to confirm this is possie. We are in the process of EHCPs and he has Ed Psch next month.

My main concern is that if I remove him, and he studies functional skills at home and a limited amount of GCSEs, that it will void his chances of further education if he chose to do that. At this point, he needs to de-stress and putting 10 GCSEs on him just won't achieve that, the exam papers are also very expensive. His interests currently are designing games/computers/designing websites.

His closest university is UCLan, and he would probably stay home for support. If anyone knows or has experience, it would be greatly appreciated. Thanks

Hello, don't know if anyone can help or has experience in this?
I have an almost 14 year old son, who is really struggling with high school life due to sensory processing disorder and other diagnosed additional needs and extensive trauma. The academic demands of so many different areas, etc. it's got to the point where we are debating home schooling for his final two years whilst he has counselling and then rejoining at college where he can pick what he wants to do, and they offer much better support. We've spoken to college already to confirm this is possie. We are in the process of EHCPs and he has Ed Psch next month.
My main concern is that if I remove him, and he studies functional skills at home and a limited amount of GCSEs, that it will void his chances of further education if he chose to do that. At this point, he needs to de-stress and putting 10 GCSEs on him just won't achieve that, the exam papers are also very expensive. His interests currently are designing games/computers/designing websites.
His closest university is UCLan, and he would probably stay home for support. If anyone knows or has experience, it would be greatly appreciated. Thanks

Okay he definitely doesn't need to do 10 GCSEs. Very few home educated children do as many as that. Five is often sufficient but you generally need to work backwards to figure out what he's going to need to meet entry requirements. If you can't afford any, don't panic, there are other ways to achieve the same goals.
So a few questions then:
1) what course does he want to study at uni?
2) is UCLan his first choice simply because it's closest to home? Some unis now do online courses too, so might that also be an option? Or does he definitely want to attend physically?
3) Realistically, how many I/GCSEs can you afford to pay for?

Hello, don't know if anyone can help or has experience in this?
I have an almost 14 year old son, who is really struggling with high school life due to sensory processing disorder and other diagnosed additional needs and extensive trauma. The academic demands of so many different areas, etc. it's got to the point where we are debating home schooling for his final two years whilst he has counselling and then rejoining at college where he can pick what he wants to do, and they offer much better support. We've spoken to college already to confirm this is possie. We are in the process of EHCPs and he has Ed Psch next month.
My main concern is that if I remove him, and he studies functional skills at home and a limited amount of GCSEs, that it will void his chances of further education if he chose to do that. At this point, he needs to de-stress and putting 10 GCSEs on him just won't achieve that, the exam papers are also very expensive. His interests currently are designing games/computers/designing websites.
His closest university is UCLan, and he would probably stay home for support. If anyone knows or has experience, it would be greatly appreciated. Thanks

Hi, I think he was looking at game design, there is one at UCLan. He is a homebody, he has cats he would never leave, and i don't think he would cope without me helping him be organised, and so much change to routine. He may surprise me one day, but for now i know he needs to be based at home. I think he would benefit from social contact with others though on campus, to help build his confidence, but i suppose these decisions are a long way off. The GCSEs all have varied costs and depending on when you book them, that seems to vary too, so i'm quite confused at how much they actually are. If he needs 5, ill find the money for 5 though.

Hey- I'm home-educated. In my experience, you can do just the minimum amount of GCSEs required (check the uni's matriculation). And then do them slooowly, over the course of a few years- I did mine over 3 years (2022 english & bio, 2023 classics, ancient hist & latin, 2024 maths.) i struggle with maths quite badly so i took a whole year to do just that.
Most unis only really need 5, so long as you do maths/english and maybe a science and language- afaik language exemptions do exist in certain cases.
Cost-wise, you'd want to be looking at local exam centres (or private schools) and inquiring there.

Commercial exam centres such as Tutors & Exams (which is what I use for my kids) cost more than sitting them in schools (that accommodate home edders for exams), but it's getting harder to find schools that will take in home edding kids for exams these days.
Roughly £250 per subject is your sort of ballpark figure.
As @elareare has pointed out, exams do not have to be taken in one sitting. For most subjects there are summer and autumn exam sittings, and some IGCSE subjects are even able to be taken modularly now so you can even split a single subject up into 2 parts if you like.
So costs can be spread out accordingly.
For doing Game Design at UCLan, 5 GCSEs (or IGCSEs) including English Language and Maths is sufficient.
He doesn't necessarily have to do A Levels, he could go for a Level 3 Extended BTEC in Game Design in a local college before then applying to UCLan for the degree.
Depending on his choice of GCSE subjects, for some things he's going to be better off doing as IGCSEs rather than GCSEs to avoid practical components which can be hard and/or difficultfor private exam centres to facilitate. English Language is one of them. Science subjects too.

Hello, don't know if anyone can help or has experience in this?
I have an almost 14 year old son, who is really struggling with high school life due to sensory processing disorder and other diagnosed additional needs and extensive trauma. The academic demands of so many different areas, etc. it's got to the point where we are debating home schooling for his final two years whilst he has counselling and then rejoining at college where he can pick what he wants to do, and they offer much better support. We've spoken to college already to confirm this is possie. We are in the process of EHCPs and he has Ed Psch next month.
My main concern is that if I remove him, and he studies functional skills at home and a limited amount of GCSEs, that it will void his chances of further education if he chose to do that. At this point, he needs to de-stress and putting 10 GCSEs on him just won't achieve that, the exam papers are also very expensive. His interests currently are designing games/computers/designing websites.
His closest university is UCLan, and he would probably stay home for support. If anyone knows or has experience, it would be greatly appreciated. Thanks

I am sure your LA would be delighted to get a whiff that you might let them off their obligations, but bear in mind Education Otherwise Than At School - it's not school or 'all on you'. If school is too much then an alternative provision or visiting tutors (funded by the LA) might be the way to go. Or a specialist school. None of this will be offered/suggested so you have a lot to research and dig in for a fight. HE is certainly a possibility but I would strongly recommend getting full information (IPSEA and your local IASS are your best ports of call - IASSs vary in quality, mine was excellent)
I would not delude yourself that 'college' involves better support. Support is always a lottery and FE can be tricksy (funding issues mean they can be rigid, and they can off roll students). It's also likely to be further away which involves travel issues which can add to the load.
It may also be worth bearing in mind that the time scales may be considerably different... and that this is not necessarily wholly against his or your interests in the long term. University admissions are more flexible for students of 21+ and it is only at 25 that EHCPs have to end if they've not already ended due to entering HE) At 25, you will not have an assessed parental contribution to make.
And yes, your son will surprise you if you let him - there will be good surprises and bad surprises! Mine (25) is, after a long saga, now at university, away from home (despite needing a great deal of support and yes, the seeming impossibility of leaving his cats) - an opportunity which came to light as a result of me reading a museum post on Instagram!

im not deluding myself with further education, my other son is already at a very supportive college as he has ADHD.