GCSE exam fees £750

[MrsHGWells]

GCSEs are upon us in the coming weeks - do all pupils need to pay £750 for exam fees . Is this standard practice or negotiable by school? how do parents cover this fee ?

State or private?

We pay for the exams as ds' private school.

This is absolutely not normal! I've been teaching for over 25 years and have never heard of pupils paying all the entry fees. In my part of the UK there are still modular exams, and pupils who resit will pay the resit fee - but as this is only for 1-2 papers it's usually £5-12 a paper at GCSE!

I don't think the parents have to pay in state school. The school covers it

State school no, private schools normally or it's already included in the fees.

I think OP is talking about private schools

If its a private school it will just be added to the bill, like everything else!!

One good point though is they aren't subject to VAT!

If private then totally normal. Seems a lot though how many exams is the child taking. Ours was juts over £500. If you can afford private school fees I think it’s expected you can afford a bit more for their exams.

State school, state pays, private school, parents pay.

If you are doing home ed, then yes you will generally be liable for finding the fees (not in all cases, but in most).
private schools it’s added to the fees
state schools no the gov. Pay.

You don’t pay at state schools, otherwise it’s down to your school

If they are home educated then there is no school to pay them.
In state education, exams are free.
In private schools, you pay for exams.

If in state school, the school/state pay, if private school parents pay if not part of fees, with home education parents pay.

Are you looking into for this summers exams? Will you be entering as a private candidate ? you have missed most deadlines to book on and will be looking at late late fees if you can find any exam centres that have spaces left.

Yes as others say, exam fees are paid by the school in state school; private schools sometimes charge, sometimes it's included in the fees. HE YP and the family will have to pay.

How do they do it? Same way as anything else I guess, they use earned money, or savings, or have someone funding the child's education (grandparent, parent).

Why ? Simply that .. why the inequality that independent pays, and pays and pays? for a state governed exam qualification. The independent schooling system has recently been taxed 20% VAT and yet independents free decisions free up spaces at state school to afford others free spaces & free exams… and VAT targeted on independent schools doe for state school improvement will not see a penny ? Just seems an incredulous scenario .. for a common government qualification.. the system seems completely one sided … what am I missing?

I guess because the families made the decision to step outside the state school system, they can’t then expect to dip back in when it suits them. That’s not how it works. it’s a bit like cancelling your gym membership, training at home, and then turning up expecting the gym to cover your personal trainer fees. Nobody should get the benefits of a system they opted out

If you don't want your DC to take 'goverment (GCSE) exams' then don't put them in for them but surely you'd have to find an alternative exam.

Why? Because it's a private school. All schools have to pay to do public exams, but state schools' money to pay for things comes from the government. Private schools' money comes from the parents. I'm guessing some private schools build the cost of exams into their fees and some charge for it separately.

They're not 'government qualifications', they are managed by the exam boards which are private companies or registered charities who require payment.

In a state school, the school has to pay the exam boards out of their funding. In private schools, the private school has to pay for them. They either incorporate that into their fees, or bill parents individually.

Because you are either in or out. I suppose if you really wanted to you could benefit from private education for most of school and then put your kid onto year 11 in a state school to take their GCSEs but I'm guessing you'd rather pay the £750

Why ? Like others said it’s a private school, families for send their children to private school have opted out of state funded education including state funded exams at GCSE and or A level. On a side note If you were home educating you would be looking at minimum of £200 per subject .

Private school pupils do not have to sit GCSEs. If they do and the school charges for this separately (rather than including them in the fees) then that would be a question to ask the private school.

Children do not need to attend private school - they could attend state and get the exams for free.

Most private school parents (if they are honest), will admit their child would have achieved lower grades if they went to a bog-standard comp.

They want the elevated grades that a private education brings and they must therefore pay for the privilege.

Majority of hardworking parents cannot afford a private school fees. If you also cannot afford them OP then welcome to the ranks of the majority.

My 2 children with SEN would have achieved higher grades and had a nicer school experience if they went private but we couldn’t afford it so they went to state. We were happy overall with their experience and results, private school was never an option so it wasn’t something we were ever bothered about.

Did you not read your contract?

In state, the exams definitely aren’t free, but they’re paid for by the schools, not parents.

(Except in rare cases, for example if attendance falls below a threshold, when parents can be invoiced for exams that the school doesn’t think pupils should be entered for)

She didn’t ask that though. She asked ‘do all pupils pay this’.

I have been a teacher for thirty years.