GCSE - Is it possible to enter privately?

[JumpandScore]

For example, if I wanted to study for History GCSE, could I just enter myself without doing an official course? How does the coursework/controlled assessment work?

Also, when I was doing O-Levels/CSEs it was common for parents who thought their DC had been entered for the wrong one to pay for them to sit the other one too. For example DH was entered for CSE maths by the school, but his parents thought he could pass O-level and paid for him to enter that too. He then sat the paper(s) at school, with the pupils the school had entered for O-level IYSWIM.

It looks like DS1 will be entered for the foundation paper in a couple of subjects where he would have like the opportunity to try for higher than a C. Is it possible for us to pay so he can enter the higher paper too?

No, Foundation and Higher paper exams are at the same time on the same day.

You could possibly pay to sit e.g. IGCSE where the exam dates might be different, but then the syllabus would be different too.

If you think he can cope on the higher paper, then download a higher paper off the internet, get him to sit it in exam conditions and if he gets a high C/B then you could use that to try to persuade the school to switch tiers.

Not feasible, as NG has explained.

It's very early for exam entries though. I would advise contacting the Heads of Department for the subjects in question and hearing their views on which papers your DS should sit, and also to understand their policy.

Every school is a bit different in how the tackle the foundation/higher question.

You can do a history IGCSE if you want. Nearly all IGCSEs are exam only. This is what home educated kids usually do. It can be tricky to find an exam centre which takes independent candidates, so the usual advice is to start with that step. You may end up going some distance to find a centre. Come over to the Home Ed board if you want advice about doing this.

In your DS's case it is probably unwise to take on IGCSEs on top of his other work. It would create a lot of extra work for him to study an additional syllabus. Might be OK for a very ambitious child who loves to study and whose school doesn't offer a subject they really want.