Home educating the secondary years in the UK: GCSEs, A-levels and university

There is no legal requirement for a home-educated child to sit exams. Many families still aim for some recognised qualifications, because colleges, employers and universities use them to decide on entry.

• England, Wales and Northern Ireland: GCSEs (usually taken around 16) and A-levels (usually around 18) are the main school qualifications. Many home educators choose international GCSEs (IGCSEs) instead, because more of them are assessed by exams alone.
• Scotland: The main qualifications are National 5s and Highers, awarded by Qualifications Scotland. Home-educated learners can be entered as private candidates through a presenting centre.

Plan qualifications by around age 13 or 14 so you have time to choose subjects, find a centre and pace the work.

A private candidate is a student who isn't enrolled at the school or college where they sit the exam. You choose the qualification and exam board, prepare at home (perhaps with a tutor or online course), then arrange with a centre to enter your child and sit the papers there.

• The family usually pays. Official guidance in England, Wales and Scotland says parents bear the cost of public examinations. Centres set their own fees on top of exam board charges.
• Check what private candidates can take. Coursework and some practical components are difficult to arrange privately. Cambridge says private candidates can't enter syllabuses with coursework submission, and Qualifications Scotland says subjects with internal assessment may not be available unless a centre can make suitable arrangements.
• Access arrangements such as extra time must be arranged with the centre, in good time.
• Wales and Northern Ireland: The Welsh handbook says families pay registration fees and any assessment of coursework by an accredited person. The EA guidelines note that schools in Northern Ireland may sometimes enter a home-educated child at their centre.

Finding a centre is often the hardest part, so start early — ideally the autumn before summer exams.

• JCQ search tool: The Joint Council for Qualifications has a search tool for UK centres that may accept private candidates for GCSEs and A-levels, filtered by postcode, qualification and exam board. JCQ says the list isn't complete and centres aren't obliged to take private candidates, so contact each one to confirm.
• Exam boards: Pearson points private candidates to the JCQ list for UK GCSEs and A-levels; Cambridge explains how to register as a private candidate through a centre for its IGCSEs and A-levels.
• Scotland: Qualifications Scotland advises approaching local schools, colleges, training providers or the council's education department, as early as possible before the academic year begins.
• Your council: Many home education teams keep a list of local centres that have accepted private candidates.

Ask each centre for its fees, entry deadlines, what ID is needed and whether it can accommodate any access arrangements.

In England, some further education colleges accept home-educated 14 to 16 year olds on part-time courses. The Department for Education's 16 to 19 funding rules say it funds colleges for children aged 14 to 16 who are electively home educated, but only on part-time programmes. Places are at each college's discretion and are arranged directly by the family, so contact colleges well in advance.

Full-time enrolment of 14 to 16 year olds at a college is a separate route with its own rules, and older guidance notes that a young person studying full-time at college is no longer treated as home educated. Ask the college how a place would affect your child's status.

In Scotland, the guidance says families usually pay college course fees for home-educated school-age learners unless the council agrees to fund them, though colleges can waive fees in some cases.

• England: Young people can leave school on the last Friday in June if they'll be 16 by the end of the summer holidays. They must then stay in education or training until 18 — for example full-time education such as college, an apprenticeship, or part-time education or training alongside 20 or more hours a week of work or volunteering.
• Wales and Scotland: Compulsory school age ends at 16. In Scotland, the guidance notes that home-educated young people may be eligible for Education Maintenance Allowance if the council approves the home course.
• Northern Ireland: Compulsory school age runs from 4 to 16.

Many home-educated teenagers move to a sixth form or further education college at 16 to take A-levels, Highers or vocational courses, even if they've never been to school before.

Most undergraduate applications in the UK go through UCAS. A home-educated student usually applies as an independent applicant rather than through a school.

• The reference: UCAS says independent applicants must ask for a reference from someone who knows them in an academic or professional capacity — for example a tutor, a former teacher or an employer. It can't be a family member or friend, and applicants can't write their own. The application can't be submitted until the reference is in.
• Entry requirements: Universities set their own requirements, usually based on qualifications such as A-levels or Highers. Contact admissions teams early to check how they treat private candidate results and any subjects your child couldn't take with practical or coursework elements.
• Other routes: Foundation years, Access to Higher Education courses and Open University study are other routes some home-educated students use; check each provider's entry criteria.

A simple portfolio makes college, apprenticeship and university applications much easier. Keep a list of subjects and courses studied each year, exam results and certificates, work samples, reading lists, and evidence of volunteering, work experience, clubs or competitions.

Ask tutors, course providers and anyone who supervises volunteering whether they'd be willing to act as a referee later — and keep their contact details.