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Online GCSE course - what to look out for?

12 replies

ItsJustMe88 · 17/02/2024 20:08

Hi all,

My daughter is interested in taking a Psychology GCSE course online and sitting the exam privately. Does anyone have any advice on what to look out for when selecting an online course? There seem to be quite a few different platforms out there - are some better than others or are they all much of a muchness, so to speak?

Any insights gladly received :)

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TheSquareMile · 17/02/2024 20:22

@ItsJustMe88

How old is she, OP?

Is she taking other GCSEs this year?

Is she considering GCSE Psychology because she would like to take the subject at A Level and perhaps at University?

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ItsJustMe88 · 17/02/2024 20:43

Hi, thanks for your reply!

She's currently only in year 8, so we have plenty of time to figure things out still... We were thinking perhaps staggering it so she doesn't need to sit the exam at the same time as her other GCSEs in year 11, so perhaps start a 2-year course in year 9 or a shorter one a bit later.

She's wanting to do it because she's very interested in the subject and her school doesn't offer it. She wants to do it at A-level and apparently become a neuroscientist - though I'm sure her views will change many times before she actually needs to make any of these choices...! I'm aware it isn't needed for A-level, but she is keen to learn something different and her school isn't great, so I'm all for her following her interests independently as long as it doesn't make her life stressful (e.g. if she does a course but doesn't want to sit the exam in the end, that is fine too).

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Saracen · 17/02/2024 21:52

I don't have much experience but... make sure you are reasonably confident at an early stage that you have identified somewhere for her to sit the exam. The last thing she needs is to invest huge energy and money in preparing for a specific exam only to find that she cannot sit that one and should have chosen a different exam board.

Some online schools are not very helpful about this. It will be in the fine print somewhere that parents are responsible for sorting the exam centre, but not all parents realise that in their area there may be no viable options to sit an exam with a particular board and they will either have to travel a long way, or else go with a different exam.

For some subjects such as maths there may not be a huge difference between the syllabuses offered by the different boards, so you could swap fairly easily, but in other subjects you don't want to be changing syllabus late on.

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ItsJustMe88 · 18/02/2024 10:33

Thank you I hadn't considered it might be hard to find the right exam centre... first thing to look at then, good tip!

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TheSquareMile · 18/02/2024 12:16

ItsJustMe88 · 18/02/2024 10:33

Thank you I hadn't considered it might be hard to find the right exam centre... first thing to look at then, good tip!

@ItsJustMe88

https://www.aqa.org.uk/student-and-parent-support/private-candidates/finding-a-school-or-college

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ItsJustMe88 · 18/02/2024 13:11

It looks like NEC offers GCSE courses (including Psychology) with its own exam centres - one is quite near us: https://www.nec.ac.uk/exams-and-assessment/.

Has anyone ever used NEC before? It looks professional and offers a lot of courses.

Exams and Assessment | National Extension College

Information about taking your exams when you study with NEC. NEC has partnership exam centres across the UK and offers support with non-exam assessments.

https://www.nec.ac.uk/exams-and-assessment

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