Subjects

Which syllabuses and subjects are available to external candidates / private candidates? 

Join the HE Exams community to get support from fellow home-educators. There is a Facebook group: Home Education UK Exams & Alternatives, and an email group, the HE Exams Yahoogroup. 

When making subject choices with an eye on university entry, the Russell Group advice may be useful:  

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GCSEs

Many of the new 9-1 GCSEs are now available to private candidates.  The main exceptions which present difficulties are:

All GCSE sciences - there are core practical activities which are not assessed, but the exam centre has to sign off saying that you have done them, or had the opportunity to do them in the centre.

Geography GCSE - compulsory fieldwork activities have to be signed off. The fieldwork is not assessed - it doesn't form part of the grade, but the head of the exam centre has to sign a declaration that you have undertaken two separate fieldwork sessions.

English language GCSE- has a speaking and listening component which most centres won't offer.

If the subject you want is not available as an exam-only GCSE, you can usually sit an International GCSE instead.  These are equivalent to GCSEs and are accepted by all universities and colleges as such; you do not need to be at all concerned about their status.  Many independent schools enter their students for IGCSEs as routine.  For more discussion and references, see the page on IGCSEs.

For practical subjects such as Physical Education or Dance, you are unlikely to find any centre which will accept external candidates for the Controlled Assessment element. Instead, home-ed students generally take Alternative Qualifications such as sports and coaching qualifications accredited by the National Governing Body in their sport. Please see the Alternative Qualifications page for more.

GCSEs without controlled assessment:

• Maths - all boards.

• Classical Greek

• Psychology

• Sociology

• Latin

• Religious Studies

• Modern Languages - no coursework but there are compulsory speaking and listening tests, which can be hard to arrange. This is the same for new 9-1 GCSEs and International GCSEs. Including:-
• Japanese
• Greek (Modern)
• Russian
• French, German, Spanish
• Arabic
• History - new GCSEs for examination from 2018
• Business
• Statistics

IGCSEs

If a subject is not listed here, it may well still be available to external candidates.  For more information see the individual subject pages as listed on the Main Page of this wiki. Scroll down to see IGCSEs offered by by Edexcel and CIE.

CIE

List of CIE IGCSE exam subjects which are open to external candidates as of Summer 2013:

Accounting 0452
Afrikaans - First Language 0512
Arabic - First Language - 0508
Art and Design 0400
Bangladesh Studies 0449
Biology 0610
Chemistry 0620
Chinese - First Language - 0509
Computer Science 0478
Development Studies 0453
Dutch - First Language - 0503
English First Language 0500
English Literature 0486
Environmental Management 0680
Geography 0460
German 0505
French - First Language - 0501
History 0470
Islamiyat 0493
Latin 0480
Mathematics 0580
Additional Mathematics 0606
ICT (0420)- involves a practical which can be difficult, but not impossible, to arrange.
International Mathematics 0607
Pakistan Studies 0448
Physical Science 0652
Physics 0625
Religious Studies 0490
Science (Combined) 0653
Science Coordinated (Double) 0654
Travel and Tourism 0471

Second Language Subjects - all involve a compulsory oral element and so can only be taken if you can find an exam centre willing to assist with this. However, if your children are lucky enough to be bilingual, ALL of the First Language subject exams are open to private candidates with NO oral component. There is a wide range of those languages open to PCs.

Edexcel

Most of the subjects listed below are International GCSEs (IGCSEs), although there are a few coursework-free GCSEs such as maths and psychology.

All Edexcel International GCSEs are linear, which means you need to take all the exams in the same exam session.  

[Edexcel IGCSEs - Complete list] - for some less common qualifications not listed below, you can check if it is available to private candidates by opening the Specification and searching for 'private candidates'. 

Maths GCSE

Maths International GCSE and Further Pure Mathematics IGCSE

Physics International GCSE

Chemistry International GCSE

Biology International GCSE

Business Studies International GCSE

Human Biology International GCSE

Economics International GCSE

English Language International GCSE

English Literature International GCCSE

Geography International GCSE

History International GCSE

Science - Combined Double Award and new single Combined Science

Religious Studies International GCSE 

Psychology GCSE

AQA

AQA has its own list of AQA qualifications available to private candidates, so check for updates.

AQA Certificates - available specifications

Further Mathematics (8360) (AQA Level 2 Certificate)

Preparation for Working Life full course (4801) (Level 1/2 Certificate)

Preparation for Working Life short course (4800) (Level 1 and Level 2 Certificate)

AQA Free- Standing Maths Qualifications:

FSMQ - available specifications

Foundation Level - Money Management (4981)

Foundation Level - Using Spatial Techniques (4982)

Foundation Level - Using Data (4983)

Higher Level - Financial Calculations (4984)

Higher Level - Shape and Space (4985)

Higher Level - Data Handling (4986)

Higher Level - Algebra and Graphs (4988)

Advanced Level (pilot) - Data Analysis (9993)

Advanced Level (pilot) - Hypothesis Testing (9994)

Advanced Level (pilot) - Dynamics (9995)

Advanced Level (pilot) - Mathematical Principles For Personal Finance (9996)

Advanced Level (pilot) - Decision Mathematics (9997)

Advanced Level (pilot) - Calculus (9998)

AQA Functional Skills

English Level 1 (4720)

English Level 2 (4725)

ICT Level 1 (4527)

ICT Level 2 (4528)

Mathematics Level 1 (4367)

Mathematics Level 2 (4368)

AQA GCSEs

AQA list quite a few GCSEs as being available to private candidates, but realistically many will not be an option because of controlled assessment.  Nevertheless, it's worth reading through the requirements just in case:

[GCSEs available to private candidates]

The following AQA GCSEs are definitely available to private candidates and are regularly taken by home-educated students:

Maths GCSE/IGCSE Further Mathematics (Level 2 Certificate/IGCSE), FSMQ

Psychology GCSE - 8182

Sociology GCSE - 8192

Religious Studies (GCSE no controlled assessment for either A or B)

General Studies GCSE (no controlled assessment)

Statistics GCSE - 8382

WJEC
Level 1/2 Certificates

Latin  3 Choices: Latin Language, Latin Language and Roman Civilisation, Latin Literature

Psychology

OCR

Law GCSE (no controlled assessment)

Classical Greek GCSE (no controlled assessment)

Latin GCSE (no controlled assessment)

Religious Studies GCSE (Spec A or B)