Wales

WALES

Exam Specifications in Wales

Education in Wales is devolved, so it has a Wales-specific school curriculum and Wales-specific exams (just like Scotland and Northern Ireland). The exams taken at the end of secondary school are still called GCSEs but they have several key differences to the GCSEs available in England.

• They are only available from the Welsh exam board WJEC (CBAC): https://www.wjec.co.uk
• They can only be sat in exam centres in Wales.
• They are graded on an A*-G scale, not numbers
• Some are modular (taken across more than one exam sitting - e.g. half the exams at the end of year 10 and half at the end of year 11).
• The majority of subjects have some form of NEA (non-exam assessment, like coursework or a practical test).
• Exams are available in either English-medium or Welsh-medium versions.

A levels in Wales are also different to the ones available in England and most are also modular.

(Note that WJEC has two divisions - the one producing exams to the Welsh specifications, WJEC CBAC, and one that produces exams to the English specifications, called WJEC Eduqas. It is important to know which version you are dealing with! WJEC Eduqas exams meet the same rules as other exam boards in England and so are mostly based on written exams all taken in one sitting just like AQA, OCR or Edexcel GCSEs).

This gives more detail on the differences between exam systems in Wales and England: https://qualifications.wales/information-support/qualifications-available-in-wales/gcses-as-a-levels/

New specifications from first sittings in 2027

From first teaching in September 2025, a range of new Made-For-Wales qualifications have been introduced, with new specifications for GCSE subjects introduced in either September 2025 or September 2026, and then VCSEs (Vocational Certificate of Secondary Education) from September 2027. You can read more about that here: https://www.wjec.co.uk/home/qualifications-in-development/made-for-wales-wave-1-2/

This means the last exams for the current specifications will be in 2026 (for subjects introduced in 2025) or 2027 (for subjects introduced in 2026). All of the new GCSEs have some assessed NEA except for Maths, which is all based on written exams, and Computer Science, which has a computer based assessment instead (which can also be difficult for centres to offer to private candidates).

State schools in Wales have to use the Welsh GCSEs if one is available in the subject they are teaching. However not all subjects are offered, so schools may also be registered with one or more of the English exam boards if they teach subjects like Psychology, Classical Civilisations, Astronomy or Latin at GCSE.

What does this mean for Welsh Home Educators?

It means that usually the exam specifications used by schools in Wales are not easily accessible outside of school (an exception might be if you have been tutored for that course all the way through, by a tutor associated with an exam centre).

Most home educators in Wales will use either International GCSEs or the GCSEs used in England, just the same as home educators over the border.

This means that if a child leaves school partway through year 10 or 11 they will likely need to change specifications to ones that work for home education, and that any modular exams they have already taken (for instance at the end of year 10) will not be able to be carried forward.

Funding in Wales

Wales is unique in the UK in that it does currently (2025) provide some funding to LAs in order to support home educators in their area (there is no guarantee this will continue). This is not a huge amount - overall, it works out to around £150 per home educated child per year in 2024 - and it is up to each LA how they choose to use it. Some put on activities, offer vouchers or give free leisure centre memberships, but some LAs will offer reimbursement of exam fees for home educated children in year 10 or 11, or even offer some funded exam related tutorial classes. A few LAs in Wales have set up their own exam centres for home educated children, or run one in partnership with local settings. This offer is likely to be limited, but it is worth asking your LA what, if anything, they can help with.

Exam Centres in Wales

Just as in England, there are a variety of private exam centres, tutorial centres that offer exams, and some schools that are registered with the main exam boards from England and international boards in order to support private candidates. However it is less likely that a local school will be able to help private candidates, as they may only do the WJEC specifications (and they may not be aware of the problems with these for home educators) - so in some areas of Wales it can be harder to find a local centre.

These exam centres have either taken external candidates in the past, or have indicated that they would consider it.

Please feel free to add or edit information. We rely on the home-ed community to keep this up to date. You will need to create a Wikia account first.

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, Cambridge 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. Oct 25: No language exams, Summer sitting only, any exam paper only based exam for all major boards supported (including CAIE). Will prioritise home educators in Powys so depending on numbers may not be able to accommodate from out of county - will confirm this December/January time. The school is struggling with the volume of requests so please only contact if you have no viable alternative.

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.

Rydal Penrhos School , Colwyn Bay. Recently ('24) opened up to private candidates, all major boards, no NEA. Full details available on the website. (updated Oct 25)

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).