Terms & Conditions

Terms & Conditions for Private Candidates

IMPORTANT REMINDER: we do not offer predicted or centre assessment grades for private candidates. If you would like to contact our exams department please do so thorough the form at the bottom of this page.

1. Accuracy of Entry Codes

It is vital that you provide clear unambiguous information with regard to the examinations you wish to be entered for. This means correct unit codes and (where relevant) option details. This is especially important in subjects with many different options such as Government and Politics, History, and Religious Studies. Please note - if information supplied by prospective candidates is missing or in any way misleading or ambiguous, the entry will not be accepted. If you provide us with an entry option code which is valid and unambiguous but you only discover on the day of the examination, when you are attempting to work through your question paper, that you have provided a code which is incompatible with the topics/themes/subject areas you have actually studied and therefore prepared for, there is nothing that we will be able to do rectify the situation. Entry fees will NOT be refunded under these circumstances.

2. Payment

When you register online for your examination(s), we will check your previous examination documentation (where relevant) plus your photographic ID. Once this has been done you will be sent an invoice which you should then use to make payment via  bank transfer by the deadline shown on the invoice. The registration will only be confirmed once payment has been received in full.

Deferred payments or instalments will not be accepted under any circumstances. If additional units or subjects are required after the initial registration of entries, these must be paid for in full (inclusive of any late entry fees where relevant) before the initial entries are amended.

3. Requests for refunds due to examinations entered but not taken

To defer your examinations until the next available session: once we have your request in writing it will automatically be granted with no extra charges incurred. No fees will be refunded for the aborted examination, equally there will be no administration fees or other charges charged for postponing your examinations to the next available session. The deadline to notify the Examinations Officer for your deferral is 1st April. Please note: if you postpone your examinations beyond the next available session, you will forfeit the entry fees you will have paid for the session – there will be no refund, and the entry fees linked to any future examination session after the next available session will have to be paid in full, at the rates which apply at that time.

Refunds will NOT be issued in the event of cancellation or failure to turn up for the examination at the correct time under any circumstances. In the event of exceptional circumstances – for example, a period in hospital which prevents the candidate from taking an examination – the entry will be deferred to a future examination session, which takes place no more than one year after the examination which was booked at the time the entries were registered and paid for. The deadline to notify the Examinations Officer for your deferral is 1st April. In the event that a candidate wishes to delay an examination beyond this period, then any future examination entries will have to be paid for, at the rate applicable at that time.

3. Access Arrangements

Prospective private (external) candidates who require extra time in their examinations should in the first instance telephone our exams office (020 7221 6665 ext 116) to ascertain the up-to-date position with regard to available space. We commonly receive more applications from private candidates requiring extra time than we can accommodate, even where the candidate is able to provide correct documentation. If we still have places for candidates requiring access arrangements, you will be asked in due course to provide ALL of the following documents: 

  1. The most recent Educational Psychologist report for the candidate, including results of all tests.
  2. The Joint Council for Qualifications (JCQ) Form 8 (all three sections 1, 2 and 3) which should have been completed and signed by an appropriately qualified specialist assessor at the candidate’s previous school or college as part of their application for additional time in examinations on behalf of the candidate. Unsigned forms will not be accepted; an electronic signature is acceptable. You must also provide a copy of the qualification certificate of the assessor who signed the completed Form 8. Additionally we require a completed and signed current JCQ Data Protection Notice.
  3. Examples of recent pieces of written work by the candidate, preferably in the subject(s) the candidate is seeking to take at David Game College as a private (external) candidate. In order to comply with JCQ regulations external candidates MUST attend college and sit mock examinations or timed controlled assessments with the access arrangement in place so that the college can confirm the access arrangement remains appropriate.

We regret that we are unable to accept any applications from potential private (external) candidates who require a reader or a scribe, as our internal candidates have priority on these services, and we do not have access to an unlimited number of rooms and invigilators during examination periods.

IMPORTANT: under no circumstances will we accept applications from potential private (external) candidates who bring us out of date and/or incomplete documentation, promising to rectify the situation at a later date. Likewise, any requests for access arrangements linked to a medical condition must be backed up by a valid, up-to-date consultant doctor’s certificate or hospital letter which describes the circumstances in as much detail as possible, and makes clear how the examination performance will be affected by the medical condition and/or any side effects caused by drugs which have been prescribed. A GP letter is not sufficient, and will not be accepted; the evidence must come from a consultant specialist dealing in the particular medical field for which the access arrangement is being sought.

No applications for access arrangements will be considered after the deadline shown in the sections on how to enter for AS/A level and GCSE/IGCSE examinations.

It is regretted that we cannot guarantee that we will accept every application from potential private (external) candidates requiring access arrangements. Our decision whether to accept a particular application is final and is non-negotiable.

4. Timetable Clashes

Clashes between examinations taking place solely at David Game College will be resolved by the Examinations Officer (Miss Choudhury), and the solution will be indicated clearly on your Statement of Entry before it is posted to you. We will not consider any applications from prospective private (external) candidates who wish to take some examinations with us and other examinations which clash at a different school or college within the same examination session. Please be aware that we will only accept an application if all the proposed examinations are indicated on the entries section of our website as ones which are available to private (external) candidates intending to use David Game College as an examination centre.

We can only resolve clashes between AS/A level and/or GCSE/IGCSE  examinations; prospective private (external) candidates who have university examinations which clash with the examination(s) a candidate wishes to take at David Game College should not apply to us as we will not accept the application. If a candidate registers with us as a private (external) candidate and withholds information from us about examination entries elsewhere which cause a clash, there will be no refund of entry fees at David Game College if the candidate is unable to arrive at David Game College at the time indicated in the David Game College Private Candidate Handbook which will be enclosed with Statement(s) of Entry. It is the responsibility of any prospective private (external) candidates to ascertain the dates of any university examinations and check that they do not clash with the proposed examinations here before applying to us. A candidate who arrives late for the examination(s) at David Game College due to a clash with a university examination or examination at another school/college will not be guaranteed to be allowed the full time of the examination, and – depending upon how late he or she arrives – risks being marked absent on the official examination attendance register and not being allowed into the examination room at all. Again, in such circumstances there will be no refund of examination entry fees paid to David Game College.

5. Coursework / language oral tests / language listening comprehension tests / practical subjects

We will not consider applications from private candidates for coursework components, language oral tests (languages not available on the our website), language listening comprehension tests, examinations requiring a DVD player, science practicals or Art and Design. Applications from AS and A Level candidates who wish to carry forward coursework marks from previous examination sessions, and who are able to supply valid documentation at the time of entry will be considered; please refer to the paragraph on this point towards the top of the AS/A level entries page.

6. What is covered by your examination entry fees?

When you register as a private candidate at David Game College, you will be entered for the correct examinations in the name given in your proof of identity; and we undertake to:

  1. Provide you with your Examination Statement of Entry ("timetable")
  2. Solve any timetable clashes for examinations at David Game College.
  3. Send you any relevant pre-release material at the earliest possible opportunity
  4. Organise all your examinations efficiently
  5. Ensure that your scripts are sent by secure delivery methods to the examination boards
  6. Provide you with your results on the relevant day(s), plus information on post-results services
  7. Provide you with any post-results services you may request once these have been paid for

7. What is NOT covered by your examination entry fees?

It is NOT our responsibility to recommend textbooks, or to provide you with specifications ("syllabuses"), past papers, mark schemes or examiners' reports. These can be downloaded from www.aqa.org.ukwww.edexcel.com or www.ocr.org.uk as appropriate.

Please note that as an external (private) candidate we are not in a position to comment on your academic progress, so we do not provide references for private candidates. In the event that a private candidate misplaces their Statements of Results after we have provided the documentation, we are always prepared to provide the information to any employer, course director or other interested party who may request it, but no references.

8. Courtesy

On rare occasions, we encounter people (in person or on the telephone) who fall short of accepted standards. All applicants should be aware that no centre is obliged to take on a private (external) candidate and that examination boards will not intervene if a centre refuses to accept an individual as a private (external) candidate. As with all other examination centres, we reserve the right to refuse to accept a prospective private (external) candidate and we are not obliged to give a reason if we decide not to accept an application. Our decision whether or not to accept an application from a private (external) candidate is final and non-negotiable.

Prospective private candidates will be asked to sign a declaration that they have read and understood the above Terms and Conditions before payment is accepted and entries are registered.

Hussaina Choudhury
(Examinations Officer)

exams@davidgamecollege.com

Private Candidate Enquiry

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