Where to look
The Oxford Open Learning Trust cannot find an exam centre for you. However, there are many ways of finding exam centres, you just need to be resourceful and sometimes quite persistent in the number of calls you may have to make. The centres marked on our centre finder map in blue or Tutors and Exams will usually help for any subject but they may not be convenient for you and they will be the most expensive.
If you wish to shop around then the first place you should try is the most convenient school or college. Being in their local community may be a key factor in a school’s decision to accept your request. Your local school or college may not be on our exam centre database if none of our students has ever contacted them before. That does not necessarily mean that they won’t help you and they should always be where you try first.
- One of the most successful ways to find an exam centre is to contact your old school, your child’s school, or any school that you have any sort of contact with, however tenuous. Schools will often accept ex-pupils or people who are known to them in some way, even though their policy is not to accept Private Candidates in general.
- Private tutorial colleges are the most flexible exam centres. They will usually take you for any exam and can often help with Special Needs, but they also tend to be the most expensive. Look on Google for private tutorial colleges in your area and use the blue centres or Tutors and Exams on our centre finder map. Mention that you are with us and you may get a discount.
- Independent schools, private schools, academies and faith schools are often more helpful than overstretched state-maintained schools and some welcome Private Candidates as a means of contributing towards their budget. They are also likely to be the most familiar with IGCSE exams.
- Oxford Open Learning maintains a very comprehensive exam centre finder https://www.oxfordhomeschooling.co.uk/exams-home/map/ of places that have agreed to help our students in the past. Please remember however that things change from year to year and subject to subject for many reasons which are beyond our control and which we may not have heard about. If a centre declines your request for whatever reason, do not spoil things for other candidates by making a fuss.
Edexcel IGCSE
IGCSEs have the same status as GCSEs and they are inter-changeable for all further educational requirements. Oxford Open Learning mainly uses IGCSE courses and unlike AQA exams, they can be taken in many overseas countries; either in international schools or via the British Council. Edexcel have a list of international centres on their website.
IGCSEs are mainly used by Private and Independent Schools. They are not Government funded and are therefore not generally offered to students in UK state schools. This means that some exams officers may not be aware that Edexcel has made it possible for any centre which is registered for Edexcel exams to also offer IGCSEs to our students, if they wish. The IGCSE exams are on every school’s electronic “Base Data” and no special forms or permissions are required to book them.
If the centre that you contact has any questions or doubts, our exam officer here (Jenny Booth; 01865 798022, jenny@ool.co.uk) will be more than happy to contact them and explain.
Armed Forces
Students in the Armed Forces can follow the above procedures or you may be able to sit at your own AEC as long as it is registered with the exam board that you are studying under. Most AEC’s are registered for CIE exams but often not for Edexcel or AQA..
Please make enquiries at your base, but be aware that your AEC must make the entry for you, simply agreeing to host the exam will not work. Always double check with Oxford Open Learning to avoid problems later, especially if you are abroad or are about to be posted.
All Students
Please do not contact any exam centre until you are fully aware of your entry details and exam procedure and have read the information below;
Very Important Guidelines for keeping your Exams Officer happy
- Follow the instructions we send out carefully and make sure that you know your exam board and specification entry code. Do not approach an exam centre with no information or the wrong information. You will find everything you need to know about booking on this website, in the exam information we send out or in the Introduction to your course.
- Once you have found a centre, please do not keep pestering your exam officer with questions which can be answered by reading your course folder, this web page, the exam board web pages or the information we send to guide you through the exam process. If in doubt contact our office or your tutor first.
- Make sure that you provide your exam officer with a reliable contact phone number and your email address. Exams officers who have to spend hours trying to speak to a private candidate understandably get very frustrated. Always give them Oxford Open Learning’s phone number (01865 798022) as well as your own details, so that they have at least one reliable contact during office hours.
- Do not be late for exams or fail to turn up without telling anyone. If you are withdrawing from an exam or are unable to get there on the day, please make it a priority to tell your exam centre. Exam officers get extremely stressed if they have to delay the start of an exam for their own students while they try to make contact with a missing private candidate.
- Always pay your fees even if you do not sit the exam. The exam officer will often have had to do as much work for candidates who have withdrawn as for those who sit their exam.
- Please treat your exam officer with courtesy and respect. They are not obliged to help you and if they do they are trusting that you will not take up a disproportionate amount of their time.
- If you provide an email address or a stamped addressed envelope the exam officer will always be able to send your results to you even if you are unable to collect them in person. Results are not given out on the telephone.
- Please always say “Thank you”. Exams officers go to a lot of trouble to help our students and they do this voluntarily, they are in no way obliged to help you or any other Private Candidate.
