Qualifications and examinations
Qualifications, examinations and Post-16 Support
Examination arrangements for home educated children
It is important to decide what examinations your child will be taking.
To decide you will need to think about:
- your child’s future aspirations - are exams are part of that journey?
- does your child wish to go onto college and if so what course would they like to do?
- what do they want to do beyond statutory school age?
If you can identify what path your child wishes to take, then you will be able to determine what exams they will need.
Children who are home educated and wish to sit exams are known as ‘external candidates’. You will need to contact an exam centre to register your child as an external candidate to sit their exams. Please be aware is a charge for examinations that you will have to pay. The exam centre may also charge an admin fee.
External candidates are only assessed by examination. No coursework, practical or oral work assessments are accepted. Please check that your child is studying an appropriate syllabus.
The EHE Team will send information about how and when to register interest for your child to sit GCSE’s. This is for children of Year 10 and Year 11 age who are home educated. You will receive the information in the Autumn term.
There is no requirement for home educated children to sit public exams, such as GCSEs, but they can do so as external candidates. If your child decides they want to take GCSEs, then you should make your preparations as early as possible. It is sensible to start planning when your child is 14+ (Year 9).
As the parent/carer, you will have to pay for any examination registration fees, examination centre fees and any special arrangements needed.
Parents should be aware that external candidates cannot always sit the same exams as a pupil in school as there can be no coursework or spoken assessments. If you remove your child from school in Key Stage 4, they may have to change some of the exams they sit (from GCSEs to International GCSEs).
Please be aware that centres which accept external candidates in the Isle of Wight are limited and some subjects can only be accessed on the mainland.
The EHE Team provide information to parents/carers of all secondary EHE students each September regarding the arrangements for EHE students to sit their exams the following year and how to apply as an external candidate. For updates see the ‘Updates for home educators’ page on our website.
A number of local post-16 providers offer limited part-time provision for some home educated pupils in Year 10 and/or Year 11 but only if home education has been assessed as suitable for at least 12 months before the start of the course in September. An exception may be made in certain circumstances if the application is agreed by the LA’s EHE Panel. This is not an alternative to school, as provision is part-time and only a limited number of qualifications are available. This is unlikely to be a suitable option for students with an Education Health Care Plan (EHCP) as funding for additional support is not available.
Post-16 support
The Government has increased the age to which all young people in England must stay in education or training to 18.
This means young people must choose one of the following options:
- Full-time education, such as school, college, or home education (if previously home educated)
- An apprenticeship
- Part-time education or training if they are employed, self-employed, or volunteering full-time (20 hours or more per week)
Island Futures provide independent information, advice, and guidance to young people up to 19 years old (25 for those with a learning difficulty and/or disability) to help them access education, employment, and training opportunities.
Island Futures offer a service to home-educated young people, so please make an appointment if you need any advice.
Island Futures provide a lot of useful information on their web pages and Facebook page, which includes a free weekly opportunities bulletin for young people updated every Friday. Apprenticeship and Traineeship opportunities, along with local jobs, are advertised, and information is available on courses provided by The Isle of Wight College and local work-based learning providers including SMART, CLC, and HTP.
See the Island Futures web pages or Facebook page for more information or how to contact them.