How can i haggle the price down for exams i can get cheaper, but its too late to book

at11

Hi,
I am at University and plan to sit an A Level in Mathematics in January,
So i researched what to do and i just book with a college/school as an external private candidate and pay the fee.

I spoke to the exam body for the exams im sitting, and they said they charge £15.50 for each paper to mark , give results , etc, but the college/school you sit the exam at charge different rates for using there facilities

So i stupidly left it very late to book the exam - deadline was friday gone, and found one college that charge £150 for the three exams, but a different college that charge only £75 for three exams!

I tried booking with the £75 college but there deadline passed weeks ago, so even after pleading, the exams officer still refused,
So i realised i had to resort to the £152 college,

So im now booked in there and paid by cheque, but it just grinds me that im paying double for the same thing, and that IF i was two weeks earlier, i would have paid £75!

But i was wondering what others thought of trying to haggle with the college im booked in with

- i was thinking i could email them saying how a local college to them have quoted me over half the price they charge for the same service, and somehow demand them to match the price or at least give a more competitive price,

I am registered disabled (wheelchair) so could this give me any grounds to request a better price?

I dont want to quote the better price i found for them to say 'go on then, book with them!' or ' the deadline has passed, you wouldnt be able to book with them', etc

i was thinking saying in n email something like "i recently booked 3 exams with you but have found a local college that charge half of what you do, i think it would be fair if you were to offer me a more competitive price, based on your greatly inflated price"

- wpould you word this differently?

and maybe say " being a disabled student, i already have limited funds, so would appreciate your compassion."


- sorry if this is the wrong section to post this, and if so please advise where i should re-direct it

leckl

First of all congratulations on even finding a college to sit as an external student, no colleges around here take externals.

I work at a very large college in the exams department, the fees for exams are for example edexcel £15 per unit so for three exams that would be £45, when we used to take external candidtaes we also charged £100 on top for admin charges, extra invigilator etc if required.

The deadline for entries at £15 was last week, the exam fee is now double so anywhere you used now would be at least £30 per unit.

I would personally say that i would just accept the fees and use it as life experience, the fees would have been the same regardless of any disability or income etc.

Good luck

kkgree1

I agree completely with leckl. Unfortunately, as you have found there are so few centres that now take external candidates that costs vary widely. I work for a centre that does take external candidates. We have been full for over 3 weeks now for the January session (regardless of the deadline). If we had the space, we could fill it two or three times over with the number of enquiries we get.

We charge £70 per unit (£210 if you're taking three units) so I think you have a fair deal with the centre charging £150. If you are concerned about the cost, you could withdraw from the January session and re-enter with the other college in June.

System

"i recently booked 3 exams with you but have found a local college that charge half of what you do, i think it would be fair if you were to offer me a more competitive price, based on your greatly inflated price"

Thank you for your correspondence. We are quite willing to refund you the costs of your exams to allow you to sign up with the cheaper college. As for your disability then we would comply with the Equality Act and provide extra time etc as befits your disability but this doesn't stretch as far as giving discounts for disabilities or lack of money.

Regards

The College

at11

thanks everyone for you replies, you all make very fair points.

your helping me appreciate what i got, it just annoys me when i 'could'have spent half the amount, but its a lesson learnt.


As we have some experts here, i was wondering what allowance i would be given in regards to my hands/writing,

i will be sitting AS level Mathematics, which i am told is 99% number answers, which is ok, but when i have to write more than a senence or two my hands beome too weak to write legibly,

if AS Maths does include writing text or if my hands weaken during the exam that i need help, what is allowed/available?


thanks

System

I would think that you need to talk to the college before the exams to allow them to investigate and arrange whatever might be necessary.

When I say 'before' I'm thinking now to allow them time and also they might require some confirmation of your disbilities and abilities toprovide any assistance.

Hardup_Hester

Where I work, we would provide a 'writer' for you, but we would expect you to pay for the person's time.
Hester

leckl

The centre needs to put access arrangements in place, they should have been requested and completed before 21 October for January exams http://www.jcq.org.uk/attachments/published/1741/AA%20regs%202012-2013.pdf

As you are an external student the practice is supposed to reflect your normal working practice, which they are not aware of. Dependant upon your needs you could have extra time, pratical assistant etc.

Please ring the centre asap.

duchy

Am I the only one who finds it slightly sickening that the OP wants to play the disabled card and ask for a discount on the grounds of disability (and therefore that money would come out of the college's limited funds for disabled support) when they admit the only reason for that particular "need" was their own laziness in not applying early enough. Extra time or a scribe are an entirely different issue however and that is what you should be contacting the college about -Today !
If poor organizational skills are a part of your disability then that is what DLA is for -to cover extra costs those without a disability wouldn't have-like paying late fees . My son has ASD and organizational skills are a big issue and he gets support for it at college but I'd be horrified if he tried to pull what you are suggesting. It's a good life lesson-You snooze-you lose !

Good luck in the exam !

daisiegg

Hardup_Hester wrote: »

Where I work, we would provide a 'writer' for you, but we would expect you to pay for the person's time.
Hester

The OP would need to be assessed by an external assessor to see whether s/he was entitled to any access arrangements such as a scribe/reader/rest breaks/extra time etc. This has to be done officially and I would imagine OP would have to pay to have this assessment. You can't just say 'I've got weak hands, give me a scribe' and get one. It needs to be done officially.

vanoonoo

hi - can I just ask why you feel the need to sit an alevel when already at uni? I'm just nosey