During Key Stage 4 (i.e. the last 2 years of compulsory education when young people become 15/16 years of age), young people in schools often carry out work experience placements and usually follow GCSE courses which lead to formal qualifications.
Young people who are home educated can access to formal exams and may be able to undertake work experience.
Examinations
Parents who wish their children to take exams as home educated students may enter them as an external candidates (also called private candidates). However, before any decisions are made about courses and content it is vital to:
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need to find an exam centre (that is, the place to sit the exam/s).
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will find out from the exam centres which awarding bodies (also known as exam boards) they offer - the awarding body sets the exam paper/s.
Parents do need to discuss any plans with an exam centre in good time and it is advisable to do this at least a year before the exam/s in order to ensure that the young person revises the correct work.
Finding an appropriate exam centre can be a challenge depending on which exam/s a young person wishes to take but there are a variety of independent schools and centres that offer places to external candidates.
It should be noted that many exams have a coursework element that will need to be authenticated, potentially by a distance learning provider or the exam centre. Contacting the exam centre well before the course begins is essential to ensure that all these aspects of the qualification process are understood.
Local Exam Centres
Local home educating families have taken exams through:
The Leicester Montessori Sixth Form College
140 Regent Road, Leicester, LE1 7PA
Exams Office Tel. 0116 255 4443
The Leicester Montessori Sixth Form College offers a limited number of places for IGCSEs, an exam which does not require course work. They cannot offer exam places for exams with a practical element. They can however send off course work if completed by a student working with a distance learning provider (only if the student is sitting the written exams with them) (for example the National Extension College (www.nec.ac.uk) or Oxford Home Learning (http://www.oxfordhomeschooling.co.uk/)). (Note: There are other distance learning providers which can be found via the internet.) It is the family’s responsibility to have the work authenticated and for the distance learning college to send it to Leicester Montessori Sixth Form College who send it off to the exam board.
Regent College in Leicester also accept private candidates to take IGSE:
Regent College
Regent Road, Leicester LE1 7LW
Tel: 0116 255 4629
Email: exams@regent-college.ac.uk
Another exam centre in Leicestershire, which Leicester based home educators have used, is:
Student International, 67 Dalby Road, Melton Mowbray, Leicestershire LE13 0BQ
Tel. 01664 481 997
In addition, Leicester City Council has confirmed that the following accept private candidates:
Alpha Tutorials (First Floor), 308 Melton Road, Rusheymead, Leicester, Leicestershire, LE4 7SL
Tel. 0116 266 9800
Dixie Grammar School, Station Road, Market Bosworth, Nuneaton, Warwickshire, CV13 0LE
Tel. 01455 292 244
Dixie Grammar School is willing to accept private candidates for AQA, EdExcel and OCR examinations for the subjects/specifications which their own students take. Early contact with the school by Home Educating Families is recommended to ensure appropriate course and examination arrangements are in place.
It is possible that the following school may accept private candidates but Leicester City Council has not been able to confirm this.
Loughborough Grammar School, 6 Burton Walks, Loughborough, Leicestershire, LE11 2DU
Email: exams@loughgs.leics.sch.uk
Awarding Bodies
It is possible that home educated children may be able to access other qualifications at other locations. Organisations that offer accredited examinations are listed below. Many provide guidance to private candidates and they may be able to help you find an alternative local examination centre to the ones above.
Please note that although these awarding bodies may provide lists of Exam Centres that are registered to offer their qualifications, they may not guarantee that they offer your chosen subject, nor that they will accept private candidates.
AQA
Tel. 01483 506 506 (Guildford)
Tel. 01423 840 015 (Harrogate)
Tel. 0161 953 1180 (Manchester)
Web. http://web.aqa.org.uk
OCR
Tel. 01223 553998
Web.http://www.ocr.org.uk/
EdExcel
Tel. 0845 618 0440
Web. http://www.edexcel.com
CIE
Tel. 01223 553554
Web. http://www.cie.org.uk/
Open College Network – East Midlands Region
Tel. 01332 861999
Web. http://www.ocnemr.org.uk/
Work Experience
For young people and families who wish to access work experience, it may be helpful to discuss any plans with an outside body which is able to verify that appropriate checks have been undertaken for the companies and staff involved in any placements; for example that the correct health and safety regimes are operating, that insurance is in place, that relevant staff have Criminal Record Bureau Checks; and that the placement provides appropriate educational activity.
Parents who wish their children to access work experience should contact:
This organisation arranges work experience for school children and may be able to provide similar services for home educated children. Children from school are covered by their school’s insurance but it is likely that home educated children are not covered in the same way. Therefore, both parents and the potential work experience employer will need to feel comfortable about the placement continuing without this insurance being in place. (This insurance would not be provided by the Local Authority.)
The cost of arranging a placement through a school is in between £50 and £60 and similar costs are likely to apply for home educated young people. If you would like further information you may contact Virginia Toon from LEBC on 0116 240 7250.
Options for young people over compulsory school age
Connexions is the organisation that offers information, advice and impartial guidance to young people aged between 13 and 19 (and up to 25 for young people with learning difficulties and disabilities).
Connexions provide impartial information, advice, guidance and support on education, employment and training and can also help young people with any other issues in their lives; such as problems with housing, money, relationships, drugs and health.
To arrange a call-back from an adviser, telephone 080 800 13 2 19. Calls from a landline are free; calls from a mobile are charged but you will receive a call-back.
You can call the Leicester Office on 0116 262 7254; visit the Connexions Centre at 91 Charles St; or contact them via their website at: www.connexions-leics.org
The website contains lots of useful information for anyone considering their options, whether that is further education or otherwise. The website includes links to CourseFinder, the prospectus that lists courses offered by colleges in Leicester and Leicestershire.
