When you sit exams through a school, the cost is usually invisible. As a private candidate, you pay for each entry yourself, so it helps to know what you are paying for and why two subjects that look similar can be priced quite differently.
The figures below come straight from the Private Exams Centre fee table. They show how much it costs to sit a GCSE privately, what an A Level adds to the budget and why some entries cost several times more than others in the same subject.
Exam boards charge a fee for every entry. Schools usually cover this for their own students, at least for a first attempt. A private candidate is not on a school roll, so the entry has to be paid for directly.
JCQ, the body that coordinates exam rules across the main boards, notes in its guidance for private candidates that each centre sets its own entry fees and internal deadlines for private candidates. That is why prices vary from one centre to another. A centre's fee normally covers the exam board's charge plus the work involved in making your entry, running the exam under official conditions and handling your results.
The table below shows a selection of fees from our published price list for entries made before the first deadline. Every subject, code and fee is listed on our exam fees page.
As a rough guide, written GCSEs such as History, Psychology and Business are £215 to £225, GCSE Maths is £250 and GCSE English Language £230 to £250. Most language GCSEs are around £305. A Levels without coursework or practicals are mostly £380 to £405, with Further Mathematics at £440.
The same subject can be priced differently depending on the board. IGCSE Biology is a good example: Pearson Edexcel (4BI1) is £210, while Cambridge (0610) is £280. Neither is better than the other, but if you have not yet chosen a board, cost is a fair factor to weigh alongside the course material you have.
Entries that include a speaking assessment cost more. Languages are the obvious example, and GCSE English Language shows it clearly: £230 for a retake that carries forward an earlier spoken language result, against £250 for the entry with speaking.
Some A Levels include coursework, which has to be supervised and authenticated before it can be submitted. Compare these two entries for AQA A Level History:
History retake, where you carry forward a previous coursework mark: £450
History with NEA, where you complete the coursework with us: £890
If you have already completed coursework in a previous year, ask whether you can carry the mark forward. It can make a large difference to the total.
Science practicals need a laboratory, equipment and an experienced teacher to supervise and assess them. That is reflected in the fees:
Our A Level practical endorsement course runs over five days per subject at £900, and our GCSE practical sessions are £250 per subject over two days.
An adult who needs both subjects for a nursing or teaching course might book AQA GCSE Mathematics (£250) and AQA GCSE English Language as a retake (£230). Booked before the first deadline, that comes to £480. Left until the late fee period, the same two entries would cost £320 and £325, making £645.
A home educating family choosing Pearson Edexcel IGCSEs might book Mathematics A (£230), English Language A (£210), Biology (£210), Chemistry (£210) and Physics (£210). The total is £1,070.
Some families choose Science Double Award (£310) instead of three separate sciences. With Mathematics A and English Language A, that gives four IGCSE grades, because the Double Award counts as two, for £750.
Every fee on our list has three bands: the standard fee, a late fee and a high late fee. For the June 2027 series, the bands change on these dates:
Standard fees apply until 15 February 2027.
Late fees apply from 16 February 2027.
High late fees apply from 16 April 2027.
For GCSE Mathematics, that means £250, then £320, then £395. Booking early is the simplest way to save money, and it also gives you time to fix any mistakes in your entry. Current dates for every series are on our exam entry deadline page.
Not every candidate will need these, but it is better to know about them before you start:
Coursework supervision and marking: £450 per piece of coursework (a £250 marking fee plus a £200 teacher service fee covering at least four hours).
Special consideration applications: £100 per application, if you need to apply because of illness or another serious issue at the time of an exam.
Post results services: fees for reviews of marking and similar services are listed in a separate document linked from our fees page.
Before the first deadline, a GCSE, IGCSE, AS or A Level entry can be refunded minus an administration charge of £30 per paper. After the first deadline, no refunds are given. The full details are in our refund policy, so read it before you book.
Book before the first deadline. This alone avoids late and high late fees.
Check the number of subjects you really need. Many colleges and employers care most about English and Maths.
Ask about carrying forward coursework or practicals if you are resitting.
Compare boards where you have not yet committed to a course.
Check your entry details as soon as you receive them, so you are not paying to correct mistakes later.
If you are unsure which entry matches your course, email info@privateexamscentre.co.uk with your subject and board before you book.
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Updated 17-October-2026
