GCSE exams as a private candidate in London

Can I sit GCSEs as a private candidate in London?

Yes. Anyone can enter a GCSE as a private candidate at any age, without being enrolled at a school or college. London Elite Exams makes the entry with AQA, Pearson Edexcel, OCR or WJEC Eduqas, pays the awarding body fee and secures your seat at a JCQ-registered partner examination centre in the part of London you choose. You sit the same papers on the same dates as school candidates and receive the same certificate from the awarding body.

Entries for the Summer (June) 2027 series are open now, and the standard price applies to bookings completed by the standard deadline shown below. Most of the private candidates we enter for GCSE are home-educated students sitting for the first time, people resitting English Language or Mathematics for a grade 4 or above, adults returning to study, and students taking a subject their school does not offer. The entry works the same way for all of them.

How to enter a GCSE as a private candidate

1. 1Choose your subjects, the exam board and the series. The specification code matters: revise from the same board you enter with.
2. 2Book online and tell us the part of London that suits you. The fee for each subject is itemised before you pay.
3. 3Upload your photo ID and a photograph, and sign the declaration.
4. 4We make your entry with the awarding body through the partner centre before the deadline and send your Statement of Entry with your candidate number, papers, dates and centre details.
5. 5Sit your papers at the partner centre. We send your results on results day and let you know when your certificate is available.

Which GCSE subjects can a private candidate take?

Anything assessed by written papers alone is straightforward: Mathematics, English Language and Literature, Biology, Chemistry, Physics and Combined Science, History, Geography, Religious Studies, Business, Economics, Psychology, Sociology, Computer Science and most modern languages. The sciences have no coursework; the required practicals are examined inside the written papers, so there is nothing to arrange separately.

• Mathematics, Combined Science and the separate sciences are tiered: you choose Foundation (grades 1–5) or Higher (grades 4–9) at entry.
• English Language includes a spoken language endorsement, conducted at the centre and reported separately from the 9–1 grade; a resit candidate who already holds it can re-enter the written papers only.
• Modern languages include a speaking test, conducted and recorded at the centre for the awarding body.
• Subjects with compulsory non-examined assessment (Art, Design and Technology, Drama, Music, PE, Food) need a centre willing to supervise and mark the work: ask us before you plan around one.

The full GCSE subject list, by board and with the fee for each, is on the fees page.

Which exam board should I choose?

The board decides the specification, the papers and the dates, not the standard of the qualification. If you are following a course, textbook or tutor, enter with the board they use. If you are starting from scratch, choose the specification whose past papers you want to practise with and tell us the code when you book.

GCSE resits: summer, and November for English and Maths

GCSEs are linear, so a resit means re-entering the whole subject and sitting every paper again in one series; your earlier grade stays on your record and the better result is the one you use. For most subjects the next chance is the Summer (June) 2027 series.

English Language and Mathematics also have a November series every year, open to candidates aged 16 or over on 31 August of that year, so a missed grade 4 in August can be retaken in the autumn rather than the following summer. Entries for each November open in the summer before it.

Where will I sit my GCSE in London?

At a JCQ-registered partner examination centre in the area you choose: East (Stratford), North-East (Ilford), West (Ealing), North-West (Harrow), North (Camden), Docklands, South (Croydon), South-West (Kingston and Wimbledon), South-East (Greenwich) or Central London. The centre, its address and arrival instructions are confirmed to you in writing once your booking is complete and appear again on your Statement of Entry.

What the fee covers

One published fee per subject, itemised before you pay. It covers the awarding body entry, your seat and invigilation at the partner centre, your Statement of Entry and personal timetable, support up to and on exam day, your results on results day and notification when your certificate is available. Access arrangements and optional add-ons are shown separately on the fees page.

Access arrangements for private candidates

Extra time, rest breaks, a reader, scribe or separate room can be applied for with current evidence of need and of your normal way of working. They are approved by the partner centre and the awarding body under JCQ rules, not by us, and applications must be in well before the entry deadline.

GCSE entry deadlines: Summer (June) 2027

Book before the standard deadline to pay the standard price. Each later window carries the awarding body's late fee, and entries close completely in April.

The standard price applies to bookings completed by the standard date; late and higher-late prices apply after it. No entry is possible after the closing date.