Redoing GCSEs for Adults

[Education1]

I happened to see a thread earlier in which mums were discussing how they wish they could get back in to education and complete GCSES (over the age of 19).
I work at a Learn Direct training centre and thought it would be good to share on here that here, if you have not previously achieved A-C GCSE Maths/English, you can complete this for free. This can be done at home or at a learning centre (ours is based in the Midlands) but they are nation wide. The qualification is a Level 2 GCSE equivalent named the Certificate in Adult Num/Lit at Level 1/2
I really would recommend the method and if anyone wants any information just comment the thread :)

What about science GCSE? I can't find this anywhere.

Afraid not. We offer IT courses on spreadsheets, data bases and Word etc.

Depending on where you do it, you can also do a maths and English GCSE itself if you'd like to go further than the adult lit/numeracy for free, with only the exam fee to pay, although you can get a discount if you're on certain benefits or are eligible for L2 funding. I did maths last year (Grade C at higher tier! Yay me!) and am doing English this year.

We have open learning centres here, You can take English. Maths and Computer lesons for about £7 a term.For Maths and English you can do them up to GCSE level and take the exam.

I really wish more people knew about these options :)

I've just passed level 2 in adult literacy. I really enjoyed the course. I did mine through our local surestart centre and some of the other mums there got free creche places.

What do you think would be the best way to reach, for example, mums at home to make them aware of what is on offer? ?

I'm not sure. But we hand out leaflets in our school playground. I volunteer for our local Surestart centre so can often be found handing out leaflets, smiling as sweetly as possible at 9am. I'm also a community learners champion and I'm waiting on some posters to be made up, encouraging mums to join upto some courses. Whether they want to further educate themselves or just get some "me time".

I also volunteer in a local charity shop. If I'm on the till and serve a mum or dad with young kids, I ask if they'd be interested in any courses. I'm terrible. Talk to anyone!

If you have anymore ideas, they'd be most welcome.

Have you had a good return on the leaflets etc? We're doing a similar thing with printed leaflets but currently mail shotting them out. We were thinking of a possible incentive to join up and pass a national test, like vouchers or such... racking my brains!

When we'd completed our course (15 x 2 hour sessions) we got a free trip to Twycross zoo. It was more than enough motivation tbh. As far as I'm aware it was funded buy the local council. Not 100% sure though.

Leaflets do work pretty well but you can't beat word of mouth.

Ah I LOVE that idea! Thanks for sharing all that with me. :)

No problem. If it helps get some mums, like myself, back into learning, I'm happy.

I've managed to persuade a few other mums to return just by them seeing what I've got out of going back into education and how different it is doing it as an adult (no kids throwing chalk at the back of the classroom for a start).

Cake- be sure to mention cake or biscuits and tea on your leaflets. We went through a small mountain of biscuits and a lake of tea when I did a "making your voice heard " course.

Also- IF childcare is available do say so. I didn't do any learning last year as nothing fitted in with preschool times. Previous year or so I had gone course to course with childcare on site.
Peer supporter training, Making your voice heard and then a volunteers preparation course.

Hi, just wanted to ask how would we find out more about this? I know someone who doesn't have any GCSEs and it would really benefit him if he could do this.

Is there an adult education centre locally? That's where I did my maths and currently doing English plus an ITQ in computing. All free, bar exam fees unless you're on benefits, then exams are free too.

I'm not sure, I'll have to double check. Did you have to do the adult literacy and numeracy first before you were able to go on to do the GCSE?

No, I went straight in. :)

Hello

Can some please tell me how to get all the info to do my English GCSE again. Thanks

Suzanne, suggest you start a new thread but try your local FE college. If you got a D or below then you can re-take it for free.

Hi just to but in here and say I did maths and English gcse at our local adult education college - the courses were free I just needed to pay for the exam which was around £45 each

Please pursue this - I cannot express enough how much confidence i gained and how much I turned my life around as a result of doing these courses

I went on to do 2 further courses and am taking a break to concentrate on my new job - planning on doing more courses in the future
Go for it

Hi im interested in doing level 2 maths i already have the English but need another gcse or equivalent to get on a uni course can you help ?
kind regards Alex

Also is there an ICT gcse i could do or equivalent.

You might get more replies if you start a new thread as this one is originally old. However iirc ICT gcse is no longer available . Priority should be your maths which would be free. If you took another subject you'd be expected to fund it unless you qualify for a concession ie. As a JSA claimant . Contact your local fe college for advice as to what may be available.

ajbell This thread is about 5 years old and rather out of date. Level 2 equivalents for Maths (and English) used to be accepted by unis, but am not sure if this is still the case now.
As Liz says your local FE college will be able to help you.