The exam centres listed here have either accepted external candidates recently, or have indicated that they may do so.
Please feel free to add or edit information - we rely on the home-ed community to keep this up to date. It's easiest to edit if you create a Wikia account first, but you could also just leave a comment below and we'll add any centres mentioned to the main list.
North West
Cumbria
Cumbria Local Authority list of exam centres - the LA have provided a list of centres which has been updated for 2018. Includes Cockermouth school, Furness Academy, Samuel Kings School, Settlebeck High School, Solway Community College, Whitehaven Academy, William Howard School.
Beacon Hill, Aspatria CA7 Will accept private candidates for exam-based subjects only, although an exception may be made if you are studying with a distance learning provider. Exam price: Cost to school + £10 per hour if no school exam is taking place at the same time + admin charge of £40 irrespective of the number of subjects being taken. email beaconhill@beaconhill.cumbria.sch.uk Tel: 016973 20509
Lancashire
Lancashire List - the County Council have helpfully put together a list of schools which accept external candidates.
Richard Rose at Carlisle are not on the LA list but have been very helpful for summer 2016 exams.
Bolton - Tutors & Exams (also in Coventry) have opened a new centre in Bolton. Dedicated exam centre for external candidates with lots of experience supporting home-educated students. Languages, ICT, Computer Science and more. Access Arrangements (SEN) friendly. A great venue with lots of space for large and small exams. There are coffee shops and cafes locally and a room for parents and chaperones to stay close by. There is a public car park at the rear of the building (exam day entrance) and just a 5 minute walk from the public transport links. Telephone 024 76221008. Victoria Hall, Knowsley Street, Bolton, BL1 2AS.
Chorley - Jay-Em Dance Studios - can do AQA and Edexcel and are really friendly (and small!) contact through www.jayemstudio.com
Ormskirk School - special page for private candidates. Contact Jane Covey, Telephone 01695 583040, email manager@ormskirk.lancs.sch.uk
Blackpool
Blackpool Local Authority list of exam centres- looks like they've just copied the Lancashire list, but check for updates!
Blackpool - Spanish Learning Centre offer a wide variety of boards, and can accommodate foreign language orals.
Blackpool - Arnold School - this has now turned into The Arnold KEQMS. Contact Dr Treharne
Blackpool - Tower Learning Centre Private tutorial college, offers AQA, OCR, WJEC and CIE exam boards plus Functional Skills testing.
Oldham Hulme Grammar School written exams plus some A-level science assessments. Language oral exam fees are listed on their fee information page so presumably language exams are catered for also. Have been very helpful to home-ed families in the past. OCR, Edexcel, AQA for GCSE and Edexcel for IGCSE. Do not do CIE. Charges (as of January 2017) are £120 per GCSE / IGCSE. Contacts: Christine Whitworth (Examinations Officer), Jemma Mulhall (Exams Assistant) - Email address: examofficer@ohgs.co.uk
Liverpool
Clarendon College Montessori School - AQA
Wirral - Birkenhead 6th form college - "They offer lots of different exam boards (but not CIE), and recommended that we use Edexcel IGCSEs. Subjects include English, Maths, Chemistry, Biology and History.." The College can only accept external candidates that wish to take written exam. They cannot accommodate science practical’s or any subjects that have a coursework element. However if you are resitting and you have a coursework element/practical endorsement that can be carried forward they can accommodate this. They cannot accommodate Languages which have an oral element. Contact the college to enquire about prices.
Macclesfield
Macclesfield Tutorial College - dedicated site for external candidates. All boards including CIE and November exams. Allows private candidates to sit A-level and GCSE practical and science exams, and language Speaking Assessments. "We are an approved centre for the AQA, Edexcel, OCR, WJEC and CIE examination boards. We accommodate all the standard subjects, and will try to accept entries for the less popular subjects too – just ask. At the examination centre, you are able to take GCSE, IGCSE and GCE (AS and A Level) examinations. The centre has the facilities for science practicals and also most languagehttp://www.privateexaminationcentres.com/ speaking examinations."
Manchester
Manchester - Nexus Education Centre, [Allegedly now closed - to be confirmed] Formerly the Woodsend Centre. IGCSEs (edexcel) and they do AQA GCSEs and A levels as well though not sure about Cambridge. A medical Pupil Referral Unit. Very small unit so not too much like a school. Contact Judy Cuppello. The cost was about £80 per subject. This includes an invigilation fee and you could be in a room on your own. Exam fee plus £20 plus £12 invigilation per paper.
Manchester Hospital School based at the Leo Kelly Centre, 77 Dickenson Road, Manchester, M14 5AZ. Only do summer series, Edexcel not CIE exams and no language orals but very friendly and helpful. Deadline for summer exams is around December 15th when they close for Christmas. Email contact admin@hospitalschool.manchester.sch.uk phone 0161 2252199 (They have increased their fees recently, they now charge a flat £200 per subject. Still very friendly and helpful but sadly not the fantastic bargain they were before.)
Manchester - Trinity High School - special info page for external candidates. Written exams only, AQA and Edexcel. GCSEs and some A-levels. Contact janicecoupe@trinityschool.org.uk "Will take external candidates but only for examinations that they sit, so we did AQA maths AS there (C1 C2 and MS1B) but they don't do A2. They do Edexcel GCSE maths. They only charged us £65 for all three AS maths exam units last year." (As per email correspondence Sept 2017: they don't do the January exam series)
Cheadle College - have accepted HE candidates for 2016.
Wilmslow High - take some home ed students.
Penrith - Ullswater Community College. Website says: "Sorry, we do not offer an examinations service for external candidates. However, if you are 15 to 19 years old and live within 16 kilometres (10 miles) of the school, then we may be able to advise you on possible options. Please email your name, age, the location of your home, telephone number and potential examination needs (subjects and exam boards) to the Examinations Manager at exams@ullswatercc.co.uk "
Workington, Cumbria - KT Tuition ☀http://www.kttuition.co.uk/ Accredited with Edexcel, AQA and OCR for GCSE, A-Level and Functional Skills exams. Offers fast-track courses (from February of the exam year), distance-learning courses, or exam-only options. Prices: £50 for Functional Skills exams, £89.99 for GCSEs and £99.99 for A-levels. Prices per qualification, ie that is total cost regardless of number of papers.
North East
Bradford & Leeds
Woodhouse Grove School, Apperley Bridge, between Leeds and Bradford, offer a good range of boards, reasonably priced and really helpful. We used this centre this summer (2016) and they were fantastic, even being able to accommodate an extremely anxious candidate within very small settings (5 others) at short notice. They offer a look around and we can't recommend highly enough!
CONTACT EXAMS OFFICER, ALISON: 0113 238 6072
Bradford - Catalyst Tutors located near Bradford university. Set up specifically for HE students. Edexcel and AQA exams. Carry out moderated coursework for new GCSEs, science practicals, and BTECS. Tuition available, or just sit exams. You can contact the Head of Centre directly on 07760257814
UNFORTUNATELY CATALYST NO LONGER TAKE EXTERNAL CANDIDATE THEY ONLY ALLOW THEIR OWN STUDENTS TO SIT EXAMS AT THE CENTRE
Bradford College-Located near the university. They offer a limited amount of GCSE subjects for which candidates can sit exams they're not cheap though at around £240 each paper. They also offer some 14-16 courses
Halifax-Calderdale College: offer a wide range of 14-16 courses.
Leeds - Ralph Thoresby School East Yorkshire - Pocklington School. At least Edexcel and CIE
Doncaster
Sir Thomas Wharton Community College, A Cooperative Academy, Tait Avenue, Edlington, Doncaster, DN12 1HH.
- Tel: 01709 864100
- Fax: 01709 864175
In this article about accepting external candidates for NEC, they sound lovely: "Exams officer Jo Shalome says: ‘We work on a “never say no” basis when it comes to private candidates. We know that finding an exam centre isn’t easy, and we want to help people improve their qualifications in any way we can, whether they are full-time students at the school, families who are home-schooling their children or adults who want a second chance at learning. We would only turn a private candidate away if the request came just a few days before the exam date or if the subject the candidate was studying wasn’t one for which we could offer a controlled assessment.’" . Article says they accept external candidates for science practicals.
Doncaster Local Authority helpfully lists some exam centres for home-educated students:
Adwick: Outwood Academy, Windmill Balk Lane, Woodlands, Doncaster, DN6 7SF
- Tel: 01302 722237
- Fax: 01302 337345
Balby Carr Academy- Community Sports & Science Academy, Weston Road, Balby, Doncaster, DN4 8ND.
- Tel: 0845 345 1629
- Fax: 0845 345 1639
Rossington All Saints Academy, Bond Street, New Rossington, Doncaster, DN11 0BZ.
- Tel: 01302 868414
- Fax: 01302 866252
Halifax
Rastrick Independent College. - will do controlled assessments and science practicals, GCSEs, IGCSEs and A-levels.
Pocklington
Pocklington School recommended by private candidates on forums.
Skipton
Craven College - Online courses in Biology, French, German, Italian, Physics, Maths, English
Skipton -South Craven School. Holme Ln, Cross Hills, Keighley, West Yorkshire BD20 7RL, 01535 632861. Only charge basic entry fees. Will accommodate such things as use of word processor at no extra charge if extra invigilatrion not required.
Sheffield
Hillsborough College. Do at least Maths GCSE
Sheffield College - Offer online GCSE maths and English courses for HE students ages 14 and over, with exams there. Cost approx £300 . See https://edyourself.wordpress.com/2015/07/03/sheffield-college-online-maths-and-english-gcses-september-2015/
Longley 6th Form college. Offer Edexcel and AQA. The exams officer is lovely and bends over backwards to help. The exams officer is Lesley Harley <Lesley.Harley@longleypark.ac.uk>. They can book up very early for popular subjects such as Maths and English which many of their own students will also be taking.
York
York Learning - Adult education centre which takes externals for English and Maths GCSE courses. Contact the exams office at exams.yorklearning@york.gov.uk or telephone 01904 554277.