iGSCSE home ed. Anybody doing this?

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Would very much appreciate hearing from anyone currently home-educating to iGCSE level.

We are considering it pulling out of Y11 but have never done it at any stage before.

Thank you in advance for any help.

Thank you very much winetime. That's very encouraging. I hope he does well. Am about to call LEA.

Will they put me in touch with the EHE?

why are you calling the LEA? Dont, not until you explain why here!!!

i just did. I was trying to find the EHE. But I don't really know what that is?

It was a mistake I think?

But he said just email me with everything and gave me an email address. I didn't give any details. No address or spelling of name or anything. So I think I might be forgotten about. Am not going to email.

Just had a conversation long enough to establish there will be no help with finding an exam centre and no help with costs. So that's that I think.

RockRose tell me what I've done wrong...

No, nothing, it is just that the LEA will want to come out and see your son, have a look at what he is doing etc, etc, and alot of home educators don't feel the need to have anyone doing that. Especially if you have had problems whilst he is in school and maybe they have been ignored or not dealt with?

Once you send your de-reg letter to the school (it is only the school that you need to inform) then the LEA will get in contact with you. They are not much help with regard to exams, centres etc, it is all done off your own back, so many people don't see the point in having much to do with them.

You are within your rights to refuse a visit or course, so think very carefully about how you wish to play this.

Is it home ed groups you are after or something else?

Oh forgot to ask, are you in England, as scotland has different laws about HE?

That's great RockRose, thanks. We're not enrolled anyway so it seems LEA has nothing to offer. I will go the totally independent route. We're in England.

My experience with the LEA has probably been different from most - we didn't hear anything from them for 9 years after we de-regged ds. Apart from occasional letters from the school nurse, the first we heard was when an EHE { electively home educated } officer turned up at my door. I refused to let him in { was very cross that he just turned up }.

I subsequently agreed to a home visit - they weren't insistent about this at all, but we had nothing to hide and thought they might be useful. This turned out to be the case as we were really struggling with finding an exam centre and going through the exam entry process - they registered a local centre just for ds and the wonderful exams officer at that centre did all the exam entry paperwork for us.

I have to say they really were life savers - the fact that we had a local centre really cut down on exam stress for my ds.

The EHE team here may well be the exception but they were very supportive and helpful about the whole HE process. The local HE group actually runs from their building !

Yes, good idea.If your DS is not in a British school (did I read that somewhere up the thread?) then you don't have to do anything. You can always look on your county council website regarding Home education and see what they have on there.

If you get on the yahoo group amongst others you will find EVERYTHING you need to take exams etc without the hassle of the LEA wanting to get involved.

WineTime - yes, there are reports of some really good, helpful LEA's, but I think they are few and far between.

Some state schools will also take external students for exams.

My kids aren't HE, although I still feel very tempted. Actually letting my son do OU Science and Maths courses could be a way forward if I do pull him out of school.

More thanks. I can't open the link MrsW but that's just my dodgy internet so hopefully tomorrow.

Mummytime ours won't, simply because it's not GCSE but IGCSE. "That's for you to arrange privately" apparently. I don't mind that, but I did need to find out if there could be any support at all.

The OU Science sounds v tempting but he's not old enough yet. Also he couldn't do MST121 yet, which is the first one I think? He hasn't learned enough.

Rockrose, yes, he's not in a school in the UK. So I think I am slightly "freer".

I must say, now that I've started exploring these options and talking about them with you it's made me realise that the world doesn't end if you walk away from traditional ed. It's very liberating!

My DC started OU under 15 so yours is certainly old enough. My DS is about to finish his 6th short sci course and qualify for a cert in contemporary science. S104 looks a good course but it is a 60-pointer, so not recommended for a first one.

The first maths course is MU123 (which covers up to about AS level - trig but no calculus) and it assumes no prior knowledge. My DS (almost 16) and an EHE friend (only just 15) are about to finish its predecessor. Have you looked at the Maths Choices website? It includes self-assessment tests so you can work out which level you are at. The assessment includes reflection on your learning, so it is more than just learning how to apply abstract mathematical rules.

All level 1 OU courses include an element of study skills. In particular, they are very clear on how to score marks in assignments and how to write essays. The main problem I find (on M150) is that students ignore the instructions.

Hi there, I don't know if it's any help but my daughter (age 14) has just taken IGCSEs in Biology and Geography, and GCSE Maths.

We used Cambridge (CIE) for the IGCSEs. I'm not sure why really, I think because there was a general feeling that they are better thought of than edexcel, but I don't think it really matters. Also the schools we found near us who would admit her as a private candidate do CIE.

We did AQA GCSE for maths becuase there's no coursework so it's easy to sit as a GCSE.

We had no tuition at all. We bought a book for each subject and worked through it. I'm not in a position to afford tutors for anything so it put us the position where we had to give it a go!

As it's exam only, we have no idea yet how she did! But she thinks the Geography went really well and the Biology not so well, so we'll see. Maths is modular and she got 100% in the first module and 98% for the second so she can do pretty badly in the one coming up next week and still do well - we basically know she's passed that already.

Generally, I'd say it was much easier than we anticipated. We did it in a year from start to finish with really not much work at all. This last month has been hard going revising for them, but up until then she probably only did about half an hour a day on each subject, if that, and not every day of the week. So you'd easily cover subjects in a year.

Just ask if you want to know anything else!

Thanks music! and congratulations. I didn't realise CIE are better thought of than Edexcel.

I have had a day off from it, or rather, a day doing various essential things to do with relocating. I feel frustrated that my local recommended centre is closed for half term. I also feel frustrated that my son will be of no help in descussing syllabus so far, but that's part of the reason we're considering it, I suppose.

Deuchs, I am interested in the idea of OU physics. I thought there was an age limit of 16. No idea why, am obviously wrong. And how could there be anyway?

The OU deal is that they accept 16+ without question. Under 16, they're supposed to interview (can be on phone) to ask why he wants to do it and make sure it is him (not you) that wants to study and that he is motivated and able to complete the course.

Unfortunately, different regions do not behave in exactly the same way - some can be discouraging to u16 (on the basis that they do not want them to fail). In your position, I'd argue about coming back from abroad (therefore not being in the school system) and being almost 16 (as well as highly motivated, time to study as much as he wants, etc.).

If DS is particularly interested in Physics, looking at the BSc Physical Sciences is a good place to start. But it would make sense to take MST121 first (to get the hang of OU study) - the Maths Choices website will help you work out if he is ready for it or if he'd need to start on MU123.