England

Anglia Polytechnic University , Cambridge Anglia Polytechnic sent The Guide a lovely reply worth quoting in full: Our regs state that we need evidence of ability to benefit and cope so we can be fairly flexible as this does not have to be in the form of "standard" educational qualifications. We try to treat all applications on their own merits. The evidence can come from any source(s) but in most cases it does come in the form of "standard" educational qualifications. (Normally we require evidence of attainment that is normally evidenced via GCSEs.) Home educated students would have to be very explict in providing evidence of GCSE level attainment/abilities-especially English and Maths Some courses have professional body requirements (which may include GCSE etc) and we are bound by these. Balliol College, Oxford Home educated applicants lacking GCSE and/or A level exam records are at a disadvantage; "[w]e are however accustomed to considering applications from students in a wide range of educational systems and would make every effort to understand individual circumstances." Balliol adds that they "would always be willing to consider applications from home-educated students." Christ's College, Cambridge Christ's has had three home educated applicants in the last few years, all of whom passed the interviews but did not do sufficiently well on their exams to have their places confirmed. "One problem we found is the difficulty in getting a reliable independent academic reference, though in some areas of the UK the Local Education Authority will have an official whose duty it is to monitor home-educated students and who can often be very helpful." Fitzwilliam College, Cambridge Fitzwilliam's secretary writes, "Before we would be able to consider an application from a 'home taught student' we would need to be assured that their studies/qualifications thus far provided the required ground work to enable them to tackle the Cambridge course satisfactorily." In addition to exam results, Fitzwilliam requires an academic reference and two interviews. "The 'subject' interview would be conducted by the Director of Studies and will focus upon material germane to that subject. Topics may be drawn from the A-level syllabus, or (if in the case of a non-A level applicant) from issues in that subject which are in the public domain at the time. Therefore candidates would be well advised to keep up to date with topics in their field, and which may be of wider public interest or debate. Often, the candidate will have an opportunity to identify an area of their studies which they may wish to discuss. So the lead-in question 'what are you working on at the moment' is not an ill-informed question from an interviewer, but offers an opportunity for the candidate to specify what he or she wishes to talk about. Once identified, interviewers will seek to ask questions that will require the individual to think laterally, recognise conflicting viewpoints, and to be able to offer sensible suggestions about how such intellectual debate and questions might be resolved. The 'tutorial' interview is a more general current affairs-type issue and/or the candidate's own specified interests and hobbies. This interview is usually conducted by an Admissions Tutor or another tutor of the College. Both interviews last for about half an hour each. In some subjects we ask for copies of recent essays to assist us in our decision making."

Greyfriars College, Oxford Greyfriars has not yet had any home educated applicants, but writes: "We would not discourage applications from home-schooled candidates....The usual criteria would apply: we would consider such candidates' written work, personal statement on the UCAS form, and predicted and final A-level results. The interview would also weigh in the balance. GCSEs can be a useful indicator of academic ability, but are not essential to the evaluation process." Lady Margaret Hall, Oxford Lady Margaret expects home educated applicants to have taken their A levels; the GCSEs, if not taken, could be replaced by examples of written work. Lady Margaret has had few such applicants and "would assess each case individually." New College, Oxford New College has no policy on home educated applicants, but "would be unhappy to be unable to admit them" and thus "would have to tailor some sort of examination to whatever individual cases we got." St. Edmund's College, Cambridge St. Edmund's devotes itself to students over 21 years of age, and therefore does not put as much emphasis as is usual on exams, because "we feel that it is very important to consider each candidate as an individual, examining their achievements in detail, along with their personality and suitablility for studying in the unique environs of Cambridge University." Home educated applicants who have had their A levels should be fine; however, the Veterinary Science and Medicine programs require GCSE tests in addition to the A levels, so HEers lacking such records are at a disadvantage. "Apart from these exceptions, there is no reason whatsoever why a home-schooled applicant would be viewed negatively by this institution." St. Hilda's, Oxford, Oxford St. Hilda's writes that "[o]ne of the advantages of the Oxford system is that it treats all applications individually, and an application is usually considered very carefully by more than one tutor. The personal statement and reference is considered alongside qualifications and predictions. St. Hilda's would give careful consideration in the same way to a home educated applicant. We would need to see evidence of academic ability and achievement and examples of written work are often requested, depending on the subject applied for." University of Bath, Bath Bath requires, of applicants to its technical programs, various specialised exams. Other applicants should have their A levels; Bath did not say so in so many words but did say that the problem they've had with "the relatively few home-educated applicants we have had is that they seem sometimes to offer a large number of low-level qualifications, and this is not adequate. But all applications are individually considered, so we are happy to receive them or advance enquiries first." University of Bradford, Bradford, West Yorkshire UBradford writes: The situation here with respect to "home educated" applicants and the University of Bradford is that: 1. All applicants would be required to apply via the centralised system that exists within the UK, ie., they would need to make a formal application via the "Universities and Colleges Admissions Service". Applications are not made direct to a particular university. 2. all applicants will be considered on merit and there would be no discrimination based on educational background. 3. The candidate would be expected to satisfy the standard (and published) academic entry requirements for any course and thus the mode of education would be irrelevant. 4. factors other than academic qualifications are taken into account when considering a candidate, ie., for health related courses, is there evidence that the individual has a caring aptitude, can work one-on-one with people, has good communication skills, can work as part of a team. Thus, the admissions tutors will look to see what, if any, relevant activities the applicant has involved him/her-self in. University of Buckingham, Buckingham Buckingham has not had any home-educated applicants yet, but the acting Vice-Chancellor writes that while "I would guess that most homeschoolers would indeed have entered for formal awards, this not being a problem in the UK,...[w]here an applicant does not have formally recognised academic or scholastic qualifications,...the University of Buckingham is prepared to offer places where there is satisfactory alternative evidence of ability." The worthy Vice-Chancellor then proceeds to subtly encourage applications, writing that he can "well imagine that the University of Buckingham would prove attractive as a University to homeschoolers...." ~ Back to the list ~ Back to the front page