Exams as a private candidate

With recent news of GCSE and A level exams having been cancelled again this year and students being awarded grades by teacher assessed assignments instead, students across the UK are no doubt feeling a range of mixed emotions.

Some students will be relieved about the cancellation of a formal exam sitting whereas others who were looking forward to showing off their knowledge in a more structured assessment process will be feeling disappointed. However, the government promise that there won't be an algorithm to assess grades this year has surely come as a relief to most!

Teachers will instead be relying on a range of evidence in assigning student grades such as in-class tests, essays, mock exams and other written coursework as well as potentially using optional exam questions set by the exam boards. Ministers have promised that students will be assessed on what they have been taught rather than what should have been covered in line with the curriculum, to account for the impact Covid has had on students' education.

While the assessment process seems to allow for a high degree of flexibility and might be a preferred assessment method for many students, there has been growing concern about the impact this will have on private candidates.

Those students who are not on roll at a school, for one reason or another, will be assessed in the same way as other pupils this year but many students are worried about being adversely affected due to the lack of teacher assessment available to private candidates and the lack of exam centres willing to take them on.

Last year many of the more than 20 000 students in the country who were not affiliated with schools or colleges were left without qualifications because having studied independently, outside a school environment, they could not be given teacher assessed grades. Home education advocates are therefore quite understandably feeling very worried about the prospect of a repeat of last year.

At the St Albans Tuition Centre, we appreciate that education and schooling look different to different people. Not all students are able to attend a conventional school setting, for a variety of reasons, and some may therefore need to find an alternative setting and procedure for taking exams.

We have been a registered exam centre since 2018 and have helped hundreds of students take exams and gain qualifications, both in GCSEs and A levels, in a large range of subjects.

We are delighted to be able to serve the homeschooling community in the St Albans area and further afield, students who are excluded from or not able to attend mainstream schooling and those who are looking for a more bespoke examination service that allows students' individual needs to be met.

We are working closely with the exam boards this year to offer a fair and flexible assessment process to private candidates and we have a team of tutors who are able to assist in teaching students the syllabus, moderating work and helping with any gaps in students' knowledge. Our exam status also allows us to process access arrangements for all exams ensuring students with special educational needs are given a fair opportunity to gain a qualification.

For more information on how we can help private candidates give our friendly team a call on 01727 260 239.