cant find gcse cert..help

angela_2107

ok, so after finally pulling my finger out my bum i have almost completed my ucas application for sept 2009 start. I spoke to nwho said if my app was submitted asap they would consider it for 2009 start.

Now, i cant find my gcse certs or who i sat them with...i will be a mature student so my old school say they dont have the info. i have called all 4 boards and they all want £30 plus each to see if i sat with them and the process at the moment is taking over 6 weeks on average...is there any other way around this? i know what grades i got in what subjects but no idea who i sat them with.. The school didnt seem to know what boards where for what exams in that year. I really cant muster up £120 plus my ucas app fee - i am on maternity leave and that is more than a weeks maternity pay!!

Any ideas? thanks

MrsManda

Do you still know any of the people from your old school? They may be able to help you with regards to exam boards.
If that's not an option, speak to the admissions tutor at the universites you are applying to and see what their advice is. As you are a mature student and thus probably took your GCSEs awhile ago, they are unlikely to be relevant anyway.

Failing all that, you could make it up/miss them out and put a note about it in your personal statement. I couldn't put some additional qualifications into my application form as UCAS didn't recognise them but they were required for me getting into university. I spoke to the admissions tutor and he advised putting them at the top of the space for my personal statement.

Oldernotwiser

I would agree with the above except I do think you might be asked for them in subjects like English and Maths. However, I would also ask your school whether any of the teachers who were there in your day, or earlier, could answer the question. I get the feeling that you've spoken to a rather unhelpful receptionist who can't be bothered going out of his/her way to help you find the information.

Would you have put the information on an application for your current job or on an old CV?

boo304

I had the same problem when I enrolled at university. Unfortunately they will need to see your exam certificates otherwise they won't enrol you. And if you don't have them for the start of term, it will cause you problems with your student finance as the university can't confirm to them that they enrolled you, so they won't pay you!

Your school will only keep them for 5 years after you've left (that's what I was told by my school).

On the plus side though, your university should only need to see the certificates for the stated entry requirements. So for mine, they only stated that they needed GCSE's in maths and english. You might fall lucky and have sat maths and english with the same board, thereby only paying one fee. My advice is to call the admissions department for your course and ask them which gcse's you will need to provide proof for. good luck!

Char_pdc

Hey

When I got my GCSE result from the school, they came printed out on little bits of paper organised by exam board. Did you have these? If so, while they are not proof of results, they will allow you to find which exam board you were with so they could reorder the certificates.

I hope I don't offend you with this OP. You say you are a mature student but you don't say how old. When you sat GCSEs you were (presumably, please correct me if I'm wrong) still at school? Is it possible a member of your family has the certificates? It would save you money if they did!

hth

Gingernutmeg

I lost my A-Level certificates in a house move and bought replacements from the exam boards, thinking that I'd have to show them when I applied for uni (I was a mature student too). I wasn't ever asked to produce even photocopies of either my GCSE or A-Level certificates, so if you can find out the board you sat them with then I'd put them on your UCAS form and leave it at that for now. If you're asked to produce the certificates at a later date then you can buy replacements - hopefully at that point you'll at least have a student loan so they'll be a bit more affordable to you.

edited to add: The only situation where you might have to produce them is for something like a teaching course. However ... I know of people who were sitting GCSEs in English, Maths and Science in their third years so that they could get onto PGCE courses. Obviously they were proficient in English etc having come in through Access courses, but they didn't have the necessary certification. Universities can be more flexible than you think when it comes to issues like this, especially when it involves mature students, so it's always worth calling and explaining the situation.

Awec

Some universitys (like mine) will ask to see it when you register on your first day.

I had to bring GCSE cert, A level cert and a copy of the letter which showed that the student loan company would be paying my fees.

minxystar

I had the same problem last year when applying for my nursing course. I had no certificates for my GCSEs or A levels and as I left school 17 years ago they had no records and had changed exam boards since then also. I did know my grades though.

Eventually I got the school to write me a letter on headed notepaper saying my subjects, grades and when I got them. This was then given to Uni when I started in September and as I've heard nothing since I guess it was ok!

Might be worth a try if you can get someone from your school administration team to do this for you? Also, ask the school which exam boards they use now as that might jog your memory or give you a starting point as to where to look. Contacting old school friends or teachers might also shed some light on this for you.

Good luck - I know how frustrating it is as I was still waiting to get my certificate problem sorted 6 weeks before I was due to start Uni!

Stardust

Maybe try to find what the uni wants, because mine wasn't interested in seeing any certificates - GCSE, A levels or otherwise.

3nicky1

Some uni's will insist you produce them when you enrol - mine does and it can be a problem as there are many mature and overseas students who have problems getting copies of their certs.
However they dont normally need to see them until enrollment which although means you stil have to get the certs it would buy you some time.

vanpiggy

My uni never asked to see results at enrolment as they did a random check of 10% of students half way through the year.

I would advise against making up what exam board you took them with though! I think getting in touch with old school friends sounds like a sound place to start, putting the correct exam board down on your UCAS form and then investigating your chosen unis policy once you're done. You have plenty of time before enrolement so don't panic!!!

Best of luck in applying for your chosen course! :-)