level home ed?

[carolinekingston1968]

hi, I need some advice asap!!
so my daughter is 17 and half way through her first year of alevels (yr12) she was seriously ill and had to take 3 months of school, before this she enjoyed school very much! however after coming out of hospital and back to school she didn't feel the same, the staff at the school were not very sensitive of her situation and even threatened to kick her out because of her time in hospital! she battled through the rest of the year and in her end of year exams got DDD, considering the time off and the little help she had catching up she was pleased with these. after countless meetings (/arguments) with the school she is enrolled into yr13. she went in on the first day and came home crying because she hates it so much and wants to stay at home, she is still determined to go to university and she is sure that she can teach herself the course and get the grades for uni. she said to me that she doesn't feel comfortable in the school and the teachers are not helpful or understanding whatsoever. I am confident in her ability to self learn, and am not worried about the social aspect as she has many friends from her old school and she has a part time job.
I am completely new to homeschooling and need some advice:
how do I go about taking her out of school?
is she allowed to teach herself?
how do I book her alevel exams?
any recommendations for distance schools?
she is willing to pay for learning, how much all this cost?
can she do alevels in one year?
how much time would she need to put aside each week to sit 3 levels in one year?
she currently takes ocr biology, ocr geography and ocr history (Russia, Germany and anglosaxons) and would ideally like to stay with the same exam boards (although geo and history changing wouldnt be a massive deal?
thank you in advance for your help!!!

she can do geography, biology and history online here, although they would be different exam boards, as i haven't seen any that allow you to sit the OCR exam board online. also, i think the subjects she has chosen are 2 year courses (however i may well be wrong!)

There is an internet school called interfaith but it is very expensive.

Hi and welcome to the forum! I am really sorry to hear that your daughter was so poorly supported at school through her illness and isn't happy there. Is she fully recovered now?

I haven't home educated through A levels but some of my teen's friends have, so I know a bit about how it works. I'll try to answer those questions I can, and then you may like to have a look at this excellent introduction to home educating at exam level: he-exams.wikia.org/wiki/HE_Exams_Wiki That wiki has links to a couple of forums where you can ask more questions. I should think that most of the people on those forums will be discussing GCSEs, so make sure to mention your daughter is doing A levels.

how do I go about taking her out of school?
is she allowed to teach herself?
She finished Compulsory School Age at the end of Y11. She can withdraw from school whenever she likes and learn in any way she likes. There are no laws about how she has to do it, and she is answerable to nobody but herself. Technically "home education" refers to parents educating children who are still of CSA. Of course you are still very welcome on this forum and, I am sure, on other home ed forums. But you can safely ignore any references anyone makes to legalities of home ed, as those don't apply to you or her. She could just send a letter to her school telling them she is withdrawing from her course there.

how do I book her alevel exams?
any recommendations for distance schools?
Look at the wiki and take advice on the related forum to see which exams can be done independently. Once she knows which ones she wants, find an exam centre which will accept her to sit each one. This can be tricky, so ask local home educators and also on the national list. You may have to use separate exam centres for different subjects and you may have to travel some distance. If she uses an online school, be sure to establish whether they can tell her where she can sit the exam - it's no good spending time and money working toward a particular exam only to find she can't sit it!

she is willing to pay for learning, how much all this cost?
Costs vary widely. There are three sets of costs to consider:

1. The exam board fee
2. Fee charged by the exam centre
3. Whatever method she uses to learn the material, for example books, tutors, distance learning.

On the subject of finance, unfortunately if you are receiving any benefits (Child Benefit, Tax Credits etc) for her then these will stop if she leaves school/college. This isn't the case for young people who were already being home educated when they reached 16. That's unfair if you ask me, but those are the rules set by DWP.

can she do alevels in one year?
how much time would she need to put aside each week to sit 3 levels in one year?
She's certainly allowed to if she feels capable of it. Whether this is viable and how much time it will take her is very dependent on how easy she finds studying. That is really a question for her and you to figure out. I guess she has a fair bit of catching up to do after getting Ds last year?

Hope that helps a bit! Good luck with it.

To add to Saracen's very full answer you need to make sure that you find an exam centre or course provider that will sign off any coursework or NEA. This is why most people I know who do A'levels at home do so via courses. All of your subjects I believe have some coursework/practical element so do look into that very closely.

My son has recently started at an internet school, but they only teach up to GCSE or else I would recommend them for your daughter. However, I have previously worked for distance education schools in the UK. I taught FE diploma and HND courses, but had the opportunity to look at course materials for A'levels. There were lots of student complaints about the resources and quality of tutor support, which were mostly justified in my opinion. I left this industry because I did not feel it offered a quality service to my students. However, there will be variability in the standards of different online courses so I would just like to advise to shop about if you are thinking of going down this route, and checking independent reviews online. There are lots of free resources available on the internet, and study books available, as well as youtube lessons etc. It is possible to do well at A'level if you are motivated, by study alone. This could be topped up with a private tutor to plug the gaps? Intensive study workshops are usually available in major cities ahead of the exams. I recommend FirstTutors for finding someone suitable to teach your daughter if she needs support. Good luck!

I would really recommend camebridge home school, they offer a levels. Its an online school and kids long in form all over the world. My son has just started doing GCSEs with them and the teachers are great. It's £399 a month.

If her purpose is mostly to get qualifications to enable her to apply to university, and you have funds available, take a look at the Open University. Most universities will accept Stage 1 OU modules as A level equivalents for admissions purposes, and the materials are brilliant and specifically set up for distance learning, plus you also get support from a tutor. It's not cheap but is very good and a very positive learning experience.

She may want to consider taking two years, whether it's for A levels or OU stage 1, though, if she is also balancing a part time job. No reason to be constrained to what she would have done otherwise if she is doing it by herself, and after her illness and all she's been through giving herself enough time to really get to grips with things would be best. No university would hold it against her either.