Studying A-Levels Part-Time in London
Part-time A-Level study means taught classes in a room with a teacher, scheduled around a job or another course. It is not distance learning, and the difference matters more than the price does.
At a glance
- 3 hours per subject per week
- 30 teaching weeks
- Weekend and weekday evening blocks
- Same specification, same papers
Studying A-Levels part-time in London means attending taught classes outside conventional school hours, here, three hours per subject per week across thirty teaching weeks, in weekend blocks or weekday evenings, while sitting exactly the same specification and the same papers in the same series as a full-time student.
What "part-Time" Actually Describes
Part-time refers to your contact hours, not to the qualification. There is no part-time A-Level. There is one A-Level per subject, one specification, one set of papers and one grade, and the awarding body has no interest in how many hours a week you were taught.
What changes is the timetable and the balance of responsibility. Three hours a week per subject across thirty weeks is ninety taught hours in a year. Whatever a given A-Level demands in total, the difference between that total and ninety hours is work you do on your own.
That is the honest trade. Part-time study costs less and fits around a job. It also puts more of the burden on independent work, which is why it suits some people very well and others not at all.
The Timetable
Each block is three hours. One subject occupies one block a week for thirty weeks.
| Block | Time | Typically suits |
|---|---|---|
| Saturday morning | 10:00 – 13:00 | Students working weekdays; those combining two subjects across a single day. |
| Saturday afternoon | 16:00 – 19:00 | A second subject on the same day, or students with morning commitments. |
| Sunday morning | 10:00 – 13:00 | A third subject, or a repeat slot for a clashing combination. |
| Sunday afternoon | 16:00 – 19:00 | A fourth subject; completes the weekend-only option. |
| Weekday evenings | Monday to Friday, 18:00 – 21:00 | Students already at a school or college during the day, and adults with fixed daytime work. |
Four weekend blocks means most subject combinations fit without a clash. Teaching takes place across nine teaching rooms and one science laboratory. Both routes are set out on the study options page, and each has a page of its own.
Part-Time Is Not Distance Learning
This distinction gets blurred in advertising and it should not be. They are different courses with different failure modes.
Distance learning sends you materials and marks work you submit. There is no scheduled contact, no room, and no obligation on either side to be anywhere at a particular time. It is cheaper and more flexible, and it depends entirely on your own scheduling discipline.
Part-time taught study puts you in a room on a fixed timetable with a teacher and other students. Work is set, collected and marked against the awarding body mark scheme. Missing a session is visible.
There is also a practical difference that matters for sciences and Computer Science: a distance provider cannot conduct a practical endorsement or supervise a non-exam assessment, because those must be assessed by a centre. A taught centre with a laboratory can.
Who Part-Time Study Fits
Working Adults
Evening blocks from 18:00, or weekend blocks, mean no annual leave is required to attend. There is no upper age limit on entry to an A-Level.
The constraint is usually not ability but the twelve to fifteen hours a week of independent work that two or three subjects generate.
Students Already at School or College
Evening study alongside a daytime programme is common, usually to add a subject the school does not offer, or to resit one subject while continuing others.
One rule to note: you cannot be entered as both an internal and a private candidate at the same centre in the same series, so entries need to be arranged deliberately between the two institutions.
Resitters
One or two subjects rather than a full programme, targeted at a specific grade gap. Three hours a week per subject for thirty weeks is a substantial amount of teaching for a single resit.
A science resitter holding a practical endorsement Pass needs written-paper teaching only, and should be paying the written-paper rate.
Is One Year Realistic Part-Time?
For a resit, usually yes. You are rebuilding a specification you have already covered once, and ninety taught hours plus your own work across a year is a serious amount of preparation for one subject.
For a subject you have never studied, part-time in one year is demanding and depends heavily on the subject and on your background. This is the case where the free diagnostic assessment earns its keep: sitting a past paper in September tells you honestly where you are starting from.
The alternative for a genuine standing start is the accelerated one-year full-time route, two subjects at £820 a month, three at £1,080, four at £1,300, which compresses the whole A-Level into an academic year with substantially more contact time.
What we will not do is tell you that one year part-time from nothing is comfortable. For most subjects it is not.
What Part-Time Study Costs
No deposit and no registration fee. Exam entry is included, with a tuition-only price for candidates entered elsewhere.
| Subjects | Monthly ×10 | Termly ×3 | Paid in full |
|---|---|---|---|
| One subject | £299 | £950 | £2,690 |
| Two subjects | £569 | £1,800 | £5,100 |
| Three subjects | £819 | £2,600 | £7,350 |
| Four subjects | £1,069 | £3,400 | £9,600 |
| One science with a new practical endorsement | £365 | £1,160 | £3,280 |
| Computer Science with the NEA delivered | £340 | £1,080 | £3,060 |
A hardship rate lets you pay the pay-in-full price in monthly instalments, £269 a month for one subject rather than £299, on request and without documentation. See the full fee schedule.
Questions
Questions About Part-Time Study
Attending a scheduled taught class of three hours per subject per week, for thirty weeks, plus independent work between sessions. Written work is set, collected and marked against the awarding body mark scheme.
The qualification, specification and papers are identical to those a full-time student sits. Nothing on the certificate records how you studied.
Three taught hours per subject per week here, which is ninety taught hours across a thirty-week year. Two subjects is six hours a week; four subjects is twelve.
Independent study sits on top of that, and it is the larger number. Anyone quoting you a total that consists only of contact hours is not describing the whole commitment.
For a resit, generally yes: you are rebuilding material you have covered before.
For a subject you have never studied, one year part-time is demanding and subject-dependent. The accelerated full-time one-year route exists for that case, and the free diagnostic assessment is how we work out which of the two is honest for you.
No. Distance learning sends you materials and marks submitted work, with no scheduled contact. Part-time taught study is a fixed timetable, a room, a teacher and a class.
The practical difference matters for sciences and Computer Science: a distance provider cannot assess a practical endorsement or supervise a non-exam assessment, because both must be conducted by a centre.
Yes, and it is the main reason the evening and weekend timetables exist. Evening blocks run 18:00 to 21:00 Monday to Friday; weekend blocks run morning and late afternoon on both days.
The realistic limit is not attendance but independent study. Two subjects alongside full-time work is a common and manageable combination; four is a considerable undertaking.
Yes. Evening study alongside a daytime programme is a normal arrangement, usually to add a subject or to resit one.
Arrange the exam entries deliberately. You cannot be entered as both an internal and a private candidate at the same centre in the same series, and duplicate entries across two centres cause problems at results. Tell both institutions in writing what the other is doing.
Only the schedule. Three hours per subject per week either way, same specification, same teaching, same marking, same exams.
Weekend blocks run Saturday and Sunday, 10:00 to 13:00 and 16:00 to 19:00. Evening blocks run 18:00 to 21:00 on weekdays.
Up to four on the published rates, and the four weekend blocks mean most combinations fit without a clash.
Four subjects is twelve taught hours a week before any independent study, so it is a genuine commitment rather than a formality.
Both. Part-time A-Level groups mix recent school leavers, students studying elsewhere during the day, and adults returning to study, because that is who the timetable suits.
Teaching is pitched at the specification rather than at an age group.
Tell us in advance where you can. Materials and set work are made available, and where a session is central to the specification we will identify what needs to be covered and how.
Repeated absence is the main reason part-time study fails, and it is worth being realistic about your schedule before enrolling rather than after.
Yes. Same specification, same papers, same series, same grade boundaries. The certificate does not record the mode of study.
For sciences, the practical endorsement is completed on the same basis and reported the same way, Pass or Not Classified.
Where there is space in the block, yes. Ask before your circumstances change rather than after you have missed sessions.
The fee does not change; the two timetables are priced identically.
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