Always Learning

 Registering and Paying for a Private Candidate 

What is a private candidate?

If you’re not in full-time education in a school, college or a similar institution, but want to take one of our courses, you’ll need to find an Edexcel-approved centre where you can take the exams. We sometimes call students who do this 'private candidates'.

A private candidate can be a part-time student, someone studying evening courses, someone taking a correspondence or distance-learning course or someone who is being home-schooled or is self-taught.

How do I register to take exams?

Once you’ve found a centre, they should be able to help you with the registration process.

Registrations for GCSEs, International GCSEs and A levels are often referred to as ‘entries’, so don’t be surprised if exams officers at your centre start talking about ‘making entries’!

To register, you’ll need to provide the following information:

  • Your full name, address, postcode and date of birth
  • A telephone number
  • Details of the subjects for which you want to register, including the 4/5-digit unit codes, any option codes and the 4/5 digit cash-in codes (where relevant)
  • Details of any coursework marks you want to transfer (if relevant)
  • Your Unique Candidate Identifier (UCI) number (if you have one)
  • Your bank details.

Are there deadlines for registering?

Yes. These deadlines are linked to the cost of registration. ‘Late fees’ are charged if you miss the registration deadline.
 
Essentially, you can register to take an exam right up until the date of the exam, but the longer you wait to register the more it may cost you.
 
Please be aware that centres may have different deadlines for you to register for your exams from those published on our website. This is because they need to process your application and make sure your payment has cleared before they register you with us.
 

How much will taking an Edexcel qualification cost me?

The amount you pay will be determined by your centre and may vary.
 
We set a fee for each exam which covers the cost of us producing, dispatching and marking the papers. You can find a list of our entry and late entry fees here.
 
Your centre will charge a fee to cover their administration and the use of any of their facilities or services (such as hiring the exam hall, the cost of the invigilator and any teaching).
 

How do I pay?

Your centre will pay for the registration on your behalf so it is up to them how they charge you. It is likely that centres will ask for your bank details so they can charge you.

What are unit codes, option codes and cash-in codes?

They’re codes for categorising our qualifications and are often referred to as ‘entry codes’.

Your centre can find codes for the subjects you want to take in our information manual.

The image below shows where to find the entry codes in the information manual.


I’ve started a qualification at another school or college. Can I transfer my marks?

If you’ve started one of our courses at another school or college and been given grades for these units, your results will be logged on our databases.

If your new school or college is following the same specification

Your results can be used towards your overall subject grade providing you:

  • have completed any coursework units no more than one year before the date of your exam or resit
  • not have transferred the same coursework marks before.

Every student registered for an Edexcel qualification is given a UCI number. Marks don’t need to be transferred, you just need to make sure that if you’re taking an exam at a new centre you use the same UCI number you were given by your previous centre.

Problems occur when students have two (or more) UCI numbers. In these cases, the UCI numbers need to be merged into one unique number. Your new centre can do this for you.

If your new school or college is using a different exam board or following a different specification

You will need to speak to the exams officer at your school to find out if your marks can be transferred.

Your exams officer will contact the exam board they are using and ask them if you can transfer your marks. The exam board will look at their specification and the specification you have completed and compare the assessment criteria.

Each request will be assessed individually and it won’t always be possible to transfer your marks.

What is a ULN or UCI number?

A ULN (Unique Learner Number) is a 10-digit number that is created by the UK government for all students who are registered to take a UK qualification.

A UCI number (Unique Candidate Identifier) is a 12-digit number that Edexcel creates for all students who are registered to take an Edexcel qualification.

If you’ve taken an Edexcel qualification in the past, it’s likely that you will already have a ULN and a UCI number. You can find your UCI number on your Candidate Statement of Provisional Results (CSPR):



 

If you don’t have your CSPR, you should ask your old school or college for it.

I have more than one UCI number. What do I do?

Your new centre will be able to merge your UCI numbers to create one new one. To do this, they’ll need all of your UCI numbers. If you don’t know what they are, speak to your old centre, which will have them on record.