This resource sets out what private-candidate exam entries and online courses actually cost in 2026, centre by centre. All fees retrieved 26 September 2026 from published centre price lists and course pages.
What "Cost of Resitting" Actually Means
Resitting a GCSE as an adult involves three potential costs. First, the exam centre fee, which includes the board entry fee, administration, invigilation and a seat on exam day. Second, optional tuition, either an online course or private tutoring. Third, materials such as revision guides and past papers.
Most adults resitting GCSEs are private candidates, which means you arrange your own exam entry directly with a centre approved to accept external candidates. Schools that accept private candidates and dedicated exam centres publish fee lists for individual subjects. You pay the centre, and the centre pays the exam board on your behalf.
Online courses typically charge separately from exams. Lift College's Study option for GCSE Mathematics and GCSE English Language is £39.99 per month when you pay today (£44.99 after a 7-day free trial), and exams are arranged separately unless you choose the Plus Exams option, which includes exam entry and booking at a Tutors & Exams centre.
How Much Do Private-Candidate Exam Centres Charge for GCSE Maths?
Standard GCSE Maths private-candidate fees across centres with published prices sit between £225 and £325. The table below shows fees retrieved 26 September 2026 from centre websites and published fee lists.
Swipe to compare →Scroll sideways to compare →
| Centre Family | City/Region | GCSE Maths Standard Fee (£) | Source Type |
|---|---|---|---|
| Excel Exam Centres | London (6 sites) | 225 | Primary |
| Exam Centre Birmingham | Birmingham | 240 | Primary |
| A-Team Academy | Birmingham | 250 | Primary |
| Exam Centre London | East London | 250 | Primary |
| ARC Exams | Birmingham | 260 | Primary |
| A-Team Academy | Manchester | 275 | Primary |
| David Game College | London EC3N | 290 | Primary |
| A-Team Academy | London (7 sites) | 300 | Primary |
| Live to Learn | Exmouth, Devon | 300 | Primary |
| Tutors & Exams | Network (10 sites) | 316.10 | Secondary |
| A-Team Academy | Liverpool | 325 | Primary |
| Macclesfield Tutorial College | Macclesfield, Cheshire | 215 (ex-VAT) | Primary (ex-VAT) |
Excel Exam Centres operate six London sites (Stratford, Walworth, Dalston, New Cross, Catford, Sydenham) with uniform pricing: GCSE Maths and English Language £225, all other GCSE subjects £200. Late entries add £60, higher late £120, and very high late £180.
ARC Exams in Birmingham (Bordesley Centre, B11 1AR) charges £260 for GCSE Mathematics (AQA 8300) and £255 for English Language (AQA 8700). Combined Science is £435. ARC's published fee list includes late and very late columns.
A-Team Academy operates a network of centres with regional pricing. Birmingham sites (Sheldon headquarters and Soho Road Handsworth) charge £250 for Maths, English Language and single sciences. Manchester (Cheetham Hill) charges £275. London sites (Ilford flagship, Walworth, Stratford, Dalston, New Cross, Catford, Leyton) charge £300. Liverpool charges £325. A-Team Academy states that London fees are approximately 20 per cent above the Birmingham base.
David Game College in London (31 Jewry Street, EC3N 2ET) charges £290 for most GCSE subjects in November 2026 and Summer 2027. Combined Science is £430, and languages with speaking components are £380. Late entries are £425 (£500 for languages).
Exam Centre London (East London) charges £250 for AQA GCSE Mathematics 8300 (standard deadline), £320 for late entry, and £395 for very late. English Language with speaking is commonly £250. Combined Science (Pearson Edexcel 1SC0) is £390.
Exam Centre Birmingham lists GCSE Mathematics Summer product at £240. The collection page states fees from £225 per subject.
Live to Learn Tutoring in Exmouth, Devon (34 Rolle Street, EX8 2SH) publishes fees for Pearson Edexcel GCSEs only. Summer 2026 GCSE Mathematics 1MA1 is £300, English Literature 1ET0 is £275, and Combined Science 1SC0 is £400. English Language GCSE did not appear in the extracted GCSE table.
Macclesfield Tutorial College (20 Cumberland Street, Macclesfield, Cheshire SK10 1DD) publishes fees ex-VAT. GCSE subjects with no controlled assessment, orals or practicals are £215 ex-VAT. English Language including oral is £320 ex-VAT. Dual Science Trilogy is £430 ex-VAT. VAT applies on top; the inclusive total is unknown without applying the current VAT rate.
Tutors & Exams operates ten centres across Birmingham, Bolton, Coventry, Doncaster, High Wycombe, Mitcham, Newcastle, Romford, St Neots and Taunton (Wessex). The primary Tutors & Exams fee PDF returned HTTP 403 on 26 September 2026. Fees quoted here are secondary, via a Cognito.org blog post (verified July 2026) citing the Tutors & Exams Fees 2025/26 PDF effective 1 September 2025. GCSE Mathematics is £316.10, English Language £305.20, Biology exam-only or English Literature £261.60, Combined Science £523.20, and languages with speaking £414.20.
The ratio of the highest to lowest standard fee in the primary-sourced band is 1.44 (£325 ÷ £225). Regional variation reflects centre location, facility costs and local demand. London and Liverpool fees sit at the upper end of the range.
English Language and Other Subjects (Selected Centres)
GCSE English Language private-candidate fees follow a similar pattern to Maths. Where centres publish both subjects on the same price list, English Language fees are often identical or slightly lower, unless speaking components add administrative cost.
Excel Exam Centres charge £225 for GCSE English Language, the same as Maths. ARC Exams charges £255 for English Language (AQA 8700), £5 less than Maths. A-Team Academy Birmingham charges £250 for English Language and single sciences, the same as Maths. Exam Centre London typically charges £250 for English Language with speaking. Macclesfield Tutorial College publishes £320 ex-VAT for English Language including oral, compared with £215 ex-VAT for subjects without oral components.
For Combined Science, fees are higher because the qualification comprises two GCSEs and requires double the exam time. ARC Exams charges £435 for Combined Science. Excel Exam Centres charge £375 for Double Science. David Game College charges £430. Exam Centre London charges £390 for Combined Science (Pearson Edexcel 1SC0). Live to Learn charges £400 for Combined Science 1SC0. Tutors & Exams (secondary source) charges £523.20.
For languages with speaking exams, centres charge more to cover the administrative and invigilation costs of the oral component. David Game College charges £380 for languages with speaking (standard deadline) and £500 for late entries. A-Team Academy Manchester charges £495 for French or Spanish. Tutors & Exams (secondary source) charges £414.20 for languages with speaking. Excel Exam Centres charge £300 for foreign languages with speaking.
Where a centre's fee list does not publish a subject, that does not mean the centre will not accept entries for it. Some centres ask candidates to contact them directly for less common subjects.
Online Course Costs vs Exam-Only
Online courses for GCSE Maths and English Language typically charge separately from exam fees. Some providers offer exam-inclusive packages, but most expect you to arrange your own exam entry with an approved centre.
The table below shows published course prices retrieved 26 September 2026.
Swipe to compare →Scroll sideways to compare →
| Provider | Product | Published Price | Exams Included? |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lift College | GCSE Maths / English Language | Study £39.99/month when you pay today (£44.99 after a 7-day free trial) | Study: no. Plus Exams: yes, entry and booking at Tutors & Exams centre included |
| CloudLearn | Online GCSE courses | £410 per course (full course fee) | No; site states they help book exam at a centre |
| ICS Learn | GCSE Mathematics | £338 (page also shows £375 and £48/month framing) | No; exam fees paid to exam centre |
| Oxbridge Home Learning | Maths IGCSE (featured GCSE course) | £395 | Unknown from extracted data; treat as course fee only |
| Wolsey Hall Oxford | GCSE Level courses | Course fee unknown without calculator; £95 non-refundable registration fee published | No; exam fees paid directly to exam centre |
Lift College's Study option for GCSE Mathematics and GCSE English Language is £39.99 per month when you pay today, or £44.99 per month after a 7-day free trial. You get full access to the course for the AQA specification, tutor marked assignments and support from a named UK tutor. Exams are arranged separately. The Plus Exams option includes exam entry and booking at a Tutors & Exams centre, alongside the same course access. Paid yearly, the Study plan is £359.99 a year when you pay today. See the course page for the plan that includes your exam entry.
CloudLearn charges £410 per course at full price, or monthly instalments, and £460 for Science (checked 21 October 2026). Exam fees are extra, and the site states they help you book an exam at a centre.
ICS Learn's GCSE Mathematics page shows £375, or a £63 deposit then £52 a month on credit, subject to status (checked 21 October 2026). Exam fees are not included and are paid to the exam centre.
Oxbridge Home Learning (Oxbridge) lists its GCSE Maths course at £495 (checked 21 October 2026). Exam fees are not included in that course fee.
Wolsey Hall Oxford requires you to use their fee calculator to get a per-subject GCSE course fee. A £95 non-refundable registration fee is published on their fees page. Exam fees are paid directly to the exam centre.
If you already know the content and only need exam entry, you can pay the centre fee alone (typically £225 to £325 for Maths). If you want structured tuition, budgeting for both course and exam fees together is the practical approach.
Regional Fee Snapshot (Named Centres Only)
London has the highest concentration of fee-publishing exam centres in this dataset. Excel Exam Centres operate six sites across East and South London at £225 for Maths and English Language. A-Team Academy London operates seven sites (Ilford flagship, Walworth, Stratford, Dalston, New Cross, Catford, Leyton) at £300 per subject. David Game College in the City (EC3N 2ET) charges £290. Exam Centre London (East London, exact street unknown) charges £250. Tutors & Exams operate centres in Mitcham and Romford, applying the network fee of £316.10 for Maths (secondary source).
Birmingham has published fees from ARC Exams (Bordesley Centre, £260 for Maths), A-Team Academy Birmingham (Sheldon headquarters and Soho Road Handsworth, £250), Exam Centre Birmingham (£240 for Maths), and Tutors & Exams Birmingham (£316.10 Maths, secondary source).
Manchester has A-Team Academy Manchester (Cheetham Hill, £275 for Maths, English Language and single sciences) and Tutors & Exams Bolton (network fee £316.10 Maths, secondary).
Liverpool has A-Team Academy Liverpool (47 North John Street, £325 per GCSE subject).
Exmouth, Devon has Live to Learn Tutoring (34 Rolle Street, £300 for GCSE Mathematics 1MA1, Pearson Edexcel only).
Macclesfield, Cheshire has Macclesfield Tutorial College (20 Cumberland Street, £215 ex-VAT for GCSE subjects with no controlled assessment, orals or practicals).
Tutors & Exams also operate centres in Coventry, Doncaster, High Wycombe, Newcastle, St Neots and Taunton (Wessex), all applying the same published network fee list (£316.10 Maths, £305.20 English Language, secondary source).
This snapshot covers centres that publish fees online. Many schools accept private candidates on a case-by-case basis without publishing fee lists. The JCQ private-candidates page lists 190 centres confirmed to accept private candidates this year. Not all publish fees publicly.
Board Entry Fee vs What You Pay the Centre
When you pay a private-candidate exam centre, the invoice covers the board entry fee, administration, invigilation and a seat on exam day. The board entry fee is the amount the centre pays to AQA, Pearson Edexcel, OCR or Eduqas/WJEC to register you for the exam.
A Leading Tuition blog post (retrieved 26 September 2026) cites the AQA UK centre entry fee as £51.20 per subject for November 2026 GCSE English Language and Mathematics. That is the board fee only. Centres add their own costs on top.
Excel Exam Centres charge £225 for GCSE Maths and English Language. The difference between the board fee (approximately £51) and the centre fee (£225) covers the centre's administration, invigilation staff, facility hire, insurance and margin. That difference is approximately £174.
Centres also charge late fees if you miss the standard entry deadline. Excel Exam Centres add £60 for late entries, £120 for higher late, and £180 for very high late. ARC Exams publishes late and very late columns on their fee list. David Game College charges £425 for late entries to most subjects (£500 for languages with speaking). Exam Centre London charges £320 for late GCSE Maths and £395 for very late.
The board publishes standard, late and very late deadlines in their Key Dates calendar each year. Missing the standard deadline can add £60 to £135 to your total cost depending on the centre and how late you enter.
Sitting A Levels too? We ran the same check on A Level fees for summer 2027: see our A Level private candidate fees survey of 30 exam centre sites.
Methodology and Limitations
This resource compiles fees from published website price pages, downloadable PDFs, the JCQ private-candidates page, exam board signpost pages, Lift College live course pages, and one clearly labelled secondary source (Cognito.org blog quoting the Tutors & Exams 2025/26 fee PDF).
All fees retrieved 26 September 2026 (Europe/London timezone).
Methods not used include phone research to centres, Freedom of Information requests, systematic scraping of all 190 JCQ-listed centres, geographic distance analysis or isochrone mapping, and partnership capacity datasets.
Limitations:
The primary Tutors & Exams fee PDF (FEE-LIST-2026-27 and Fees-2025-2026) returned HTTP 403 to automated retrieval on 26 September 2026. Tutors & Exams fees quoted here are secondary, via the Cognito.org blog post (verified July 2026) citing the Tutors & Exams Fees 2025/26 PDF effective 1 September 2025. The Tutors & Exams fees page and locations page confirm network-wide pricing.
The JCQ centre finder is interactive; no public bulk CSV or API was found. The national private-candidate count of 190 confirmed centres is the JCQ published total, updated December/January each year.
Many schools accept private candidates on a case-by-case basis without publishing fees online.
Macclesfield Tutorial College fees are published ex-VAT. The inclusive total is unknown without applying the current VAT rate.
Wolsey Hall Oxford's per-subject GCSE course fee is unknown without using their fee calculator.
This compilation covers 30-plus centres with published fee data across 10-plus cities. It does not survey all 190 JCQ centres. Fees at unlisted centres may fall outside the £225 to £325 band, and some centres may charge less or more depending on location and facility costs.
How to Budget a Maths or English Language Resit in 2026
Start by deciding which board and specification you will sit. GCSE Mathematics has AQA 8300 and Pearson Edexcel 1MA1, plus specifications offered by other boards. GCSE English Language has AQA 8700 and Pearson Edexcel 1EN0, plus specifications from other boards. Most online courses follow AQA or Pearson Edexcel because those boards have the largest private-candidate uptake.
Find an approved exam centre that accepts private candidates for your chosen board. Our step-by-step guide to how to resit GCSEs as an adult covers entry deadlines and the November and summer series. Use the JCQ private-candidates page to locate centres near you, or read the Lift College resource on UK exam centre access for private candidates for a detailed breakdown of how to find and contact centres.
Check the centre's published fee list if available. If the centre does not publish fees online, email or phone to ask for the standard fee, late fee and very late fee for your subject. Ask whether the fee includes the oral component for English Language, or whether practicals are included for sciences.
Watch the entry deadline. Missing the standard deadline can add £60 to £135 depending on the centre and lateness tier. Board Key Dates calendars publish deadlines for November and Summer exam series.
Decide whether you need an online course or can self-study with revision guides and past papers. If you choose an online course, budget for both the course fee and the exam fee unless the course includes exams (such as Lift College's Plus Exams option).
For Lift College GCSE Mathematics or GCSE English Language, the Study option is £39.99 per month when you pay today, with exams arranged separately. The Plus Exams option includes exam entry and booking at a Tutors & Exams centre. You can start a 7-day free trial of either plan. No credit checks. Cancel any time in the first 7 days and you will not be charged.
Start your 7-day free trial of GCSE Mathematics
Related guides:
Notes
This resource was compiled from published centre fee lists, board signpost pages, and course provider websites retrieved 26 September 2026. Fees may change. Always check the centre's current price list and confirm availability before entering.
Want the exam booked for you? You can resit GCSE Maths online with Lift College: AQA 8300 with a named UK tutor, and on +Exams your entry and centre fees are included.
Resitting English? You can retake English GCSE online with Lift College: AQA 8700 with a named UK tutor, sat in the November or May/June series.