Exam Centres in Wales
These exam centres have either taken external candidates in the past, or have indicated that they would consider it.
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South Wales[]
Monmouth - Home Ed Partners GCSEs, with controlled assessments, and IGCSEs. Cost of sitting an IGCSE is approx. £115 per subject (exam fee plus invigilation of £20 per hour). Edexcel and WJEC only currently. Will consider Access Arrangements. Rosemary, who runs it, is very pro-HE and will look at all sorts of ideas to see if they can be accommodated. The plan is to add things like ECDL and BTECs if it can be done. Exam subject courses are run for regular attendees and distance learners.Candidates can be entered as internal rather than external, but would mean they would need to attend some study sessions and not be registered at another centre. This does, however, open up the chance of GCSEs which are not normally available to private candidates e.g. Food Tech and Child Development. Works with Monmouth Montessori School to take home ed pupils on a part-time basis in order to facilitate particular subjects/exams. Age isn’t particularly relevant to them as they’ll facilitate when the student is ready rather than by age or school year
St Claire's, Porthcawl Newton, Porthcawl, CF36 5AS. Tel: 01656 782509. Email: info@stclares-school.co.uk (No current info on prices)
Swansea Sixth form College, 18 Mansel St, Swansea, SA15SG. Tel: 01792 535 000. Exam booking info here GCSEs, IGCSEs and A levels. WJEC, AQA and Edexcel. Foreign languages with speaking exams, including Chinese, French, German, Spanish and Italian. GCSE English with speaking component. They often accept assessments that require coursework. Science practical endorsements. Fees from £165 per GCSE/IGCSE and £90 per paper for A levels. Friendly and helpful.
[3A Tutors Bristol Good reputation among home educators and might be the closest option for some in Wales. 1A High Street, Staple Hill, Bristol, BS16 5HA. Tel: 0117 910 9931. Email: enquiries@3at.org.uk Most exam boards. GCSE, IGCSE, A level and Functional Skills (maths). Mock exams. Can accommodate orals for foreign languages (French, German, Spanish, Italian, Portuguese, Russian, Polish, Arabic and Chinese are listed on website). Provides A level science practical endorsements through the University of Bristol.]
Kings Monkton School, Cardiff - Tel 02920 482854 - Currently have availability for Summer 2023 (as at 21 Jan 23). Very helpful staff.
Centres that have accepted private candidates in the past
Bridgend College - Cowbridge Rd, Bridgend, CF31 3DF. Tel: 01656 302 302. Email: hello@bridgend.ac.uk (Not accepting in June 2021).
St Julian's School, Heather Road, Newport, NP19 7XU. Tel: 01633 224490 (Not accepting in Oct 2018)
West Monmouth School - Blaendare Road, Pontypool, Torfaen, NP4 5YG. Tel: 01495 762080 Email: enquiries@westmonmouthschool.com (Not accepting in Nov 2018).
Pembrokeshire College LearnOnline, Pembrokeshire College, Haverfordwest, SA61 1SZ. Tel: 01437 701 490. Contact: Matthew Norman – m.norman@pembs.ac.uk (not accepting post summer 2023)
Mid Wales[]
Llandidloes High School, Llangurig Road, Llanidloes, Powys, SY18 6EX.
Contacted in July 2021, the headmaster replied with: "I am pleased to say we are happy to accommodate home educated pupils. In addition to exam entry fees, if we need to employ an invigilator, this is currently charged at £12 per hour. If another exam is already taking place at that time, there is no invigilation fee (i.e. we do not make a profit from home educated pupils' exam entries)." He said they were registered with all the major exam boards, and had supported some candidates through the TAG process in 2021. As of Oct 21, they can facilitate French and Spanish language GCSEs but only for the WJEC (CBAC) specification.
Sep 24 update: no language exams, Summer sitting only, any exam paper only based exam for all major boards supported.
Centres that have accepted private candidates in the past'Coleg Powys, Newtown Llanidloes Road, Newtown, Powys,SY16 4HU. Tel: 01686 614 200. Have supported home educators to take IGCSEs in the past.
North Wales[]
Creative in Learning, Mold, Tel: 01352 755 141. Private tuition centre that is also registered as an exam centre for WJEC GCSEs and (recently) Edexcel GCSE and IGCSEs. Info we have on arrangements:
- They are happy to accept private candidates on an exam-only basis (ie not linked to a tutoring arrangement) for any Edexcel or WJEC GCSE that does not have NEA elements.
- They can arrange English Language speaking assessments, but do not have arrangements with tutors for things like foreign language speaking elements.
- They can facilitate access arrangements, which are assessed on a private basis, with additional fees direct to the assessor.
- They charge a £75 fee to cover admin and invigilation, plus the exam board fee
- All exams are taken at the centre in Mold. They have a limited space in which to take exams and will operate on a first come-first served basis.
Sep 24 update: fees may have gone up; some exams may now also taken in St Asaph.
Centres that have accepted private candidates in the past
Ruthin School, Mold Road, Ruthin, Denbighshire, LL15 1EE. Take a small number of IGCSE candidates yearly and happy to accommodate various papers. Check A levels. Apply early. (Didn't accept private candidates for 2021 (exams officer sick), and ejected candidates in 2020).
St David's College, Gloddaeth Hall, Llandudno,LL30 1RD. Currently a work in progress, but if a trial is successful, they *might* consider taking private candidates in the future. They accepted for 2019, not for 2020. No response for 2021 yet.
Coleg Cambria stopped accepting private candidates, although has in the past.
No support for private candidates
The Marches, Moreton School, The Howells (now Myddleton) in Denbigh, Oswestry School and Ellesmere College didn't take external candidates the last time they were contacted.
(Oct 21) Llanfyllin School are unable to support private candidates (possible exception for ex-pupils who are sitting the same exams the school offers).