Can I still get qualifications if I'm home-schooled?

Question

I've been home-schooled for around a year and I'm confused on how to take my GCSE's. I'm in the UK.

Answer 1

Yes, you can.

If you want to do GCSEs, you simply do them as an external (i.e. private) candidate. Often home-educated kids prefer to do the IGCSEs (International GCSEs) though as doing so is heaps less complicated; mainly because, unlike the domestic variant of GCSEs, the international versions involve no coursework and, therefore, don't involve the time, hassle and expense of you having to find someone - acceptable to the exam board - to oversee and mark your coursework for you!

(The IGCSEs are recognised just the same as GCSEs by colleges, uni's etc so no worries there; in fact increasing numbers of private schools in the UK are abandoning GCSEs and now only doing the IGCSEs instead: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/educa...  )  

Anyway contact the exam boards for more detailed advice and information: http://www.cie.org.uk/qualifications/aca...

http://www.edexcel-international.org/qua...

Also: http://www.theexampapers.com/igcseboard....

http://www.projectigcse.co.uk/

Alternatively you can go through one of the distance-ed providers such as Oxford Homeschooling:  http://www.oxfordhomeschooling.co.uk/  You'd still have to organise your own place at an exam centre etc but they do keep a list of places that have accepted private candidates to sit exams in the past etc etc.

Your other option is to skip GCSE/IGCSEs altogether and go straight on to A Levels, BTec, NVQs etc (possibly via a local college) or you could get some 'paper qualifications' by doing an Open University course.

As far as I know, the only qualification that, as homeschoolers, we can *not* currently do is the IB (International Baccalaureate)

Answer 2

Well, I know that you can, since I've seen many, many posts to that end.  However, I'm in the US and our educational system is completely different than yours (we don't have GCSE's), so I'll let someone from the UK continue that thought :)