Exam Booking Procedure

General Procedure

Oxford Open Learning will write to all students who we believe are sitting exams in the summer series in the preceding December. We will give you detailed instructions and supply all the coursework forms.

If we do not know when you are sitting your exam, or you do not follow our instructions, then we cannot help you and things can go badly wrong. Please always keep us informed of your intentions.

Exams with no Coursework

All the Edexcel IGCSE courses that we offer, and most of our A Levels, do not have coursework.

The Introduction to your course will make it clear whether your course has Board-examined Coursework or not. Please be aware that your Tutor-marked Assignments are not Coursework.

If an exam does not include any coursework then the procedure is very simple. You fill in the exam centre’s own entry form, pay the fee, get a confirmation of entry and then remember to turn up at the right time for any orals and your written exams. No other exam board forms are required, although Oxford Open Learning will need Form 3, see below, to find your exam centre and make any enquiries on your behalf.

Exams with Coursework

AQA Science GCSEs and some A Levels include coursework. You must follow the detailed procedures and form filling required by AQA very carefully to avoid problems on results day.

Board-examined Coursework is not the same as Tutor-marked Assignments.

For students sitting exams in the summer series, we automatically write to you in December with full instructions and the requred forms. If you change your exam date or wish to sit at any other time than May/June you must tell us in good time as it is your responsibility to ensure that you have all the necessary paperwork.

Below are the stages of the procedure you must follow to register for your exam:

1. When you have made your exam booking with a centre you must also fill in a Private Candidate Coursework Information Form. For ease of reference, this form is known by us as Form 1, but not by exam centres or the exam board. Give one copy to your exam officer (at your exam centre not at Oxford Open Learning) and send one copy to Coursework Processing, AQA, Devas Street, Manchester, M15 6EX. NB. please tick box 3 and write “with Oxford Open Learning” on the bottom of the page.  Do not send this form to Oxford Open Learning or attach it to your final coursework or you may not get a coursework mark with your final grade.
2. Your coursework has to be authenticated by your Oxford Open Learning tutor. This will not happen until the tutor has seen at least 4 Tutor-marked Assignments. Make sure you have completed these well before you need to start your coursework.
3. You can send draft coursework or Practice Investigative Skills Assignments (ISAs) to your tutor for comments and guidance. Make sure you allow plenty of time to do this. Coursework rules are shown on the back of the Enrolment Form that all students must sign before they can begin our courses.
4. All final coursework must be with your Oxford Open Learning tutor for authentication by the 30th March at the latest. Do not work to the AQA deadlines, ours have to be earlier. Do not send any final coursework to your Oxford Open Learning tutor unless it is accompanied by the Private Candidate Coursework Record Form(known by us as Form 2) signed by you and attached with a treasury tag. History A-level has its own unique version of Form 2, so make sure you have the correct one.
5. We will send a third form to you, known as the Permission Form (or Form 3). Please return it to us promptly. Although Form 3 does not form part of your exam booking, it is needed to ensure that your coursework is sent to the correct centre, and if we have to make any enquiries on your behalf.
6. Other forms, for example, the History A2 Personal Enquiry form, will be sent to you at the appropriate time by Oxford Open Learning, as long as we know when you are sitting.

Winter Exams

The procedures for winter exams are exactly the same as for the summer series. However, students wishing to sit at any time other than the summer series will be responsible for meeting the deadlines themselves, and for ensuring they have the correct forms. Oxford Open Learning will assist, but if you choose to sit at any time other than summer we do not guarantee automatically to send out information and forms.

Our coursework deadline for winter exams is the 30th November. Work received by tutors after this date is unlikely to be authenticated in time as the Christmas holidays and Christmas post will intervene.