New exam centre for home-schooled children

A new dedicated private exam centre being set up in Cornwall is set to make it easier for home-educated children to complete their GCSEs.

The new centre is called Kowel Gwenen, Cornish for The Hive, and it is being set up in Bodmin by teacher Chrissie Berry to provide more support to families navigating exams.

Cornwall Council said about 2,500 children were currently home-educated in Cornwall.

The local authority said it was "great news" that the provision available to home-schooling parents and their children was improving.

Chrissie Berry, director of the centre, said previously the closest private exam centre had been in Taunton.

She said: "The nearest main centre for students who are in Cornwall is actually Taunton, but for a lot of the young people who are home-educated or don't go to school for whatever reason, that's actually a really anxious and stressful situation.

"I mean, I think everybody can remember doing their GCSEs, or their exams, how anxious that is for everybody anyway."

Tristan's 15-year-old daughter experiences anxiety and is tutored in English and Maths.

She will be among the first teenagers to sit GCSEs at the centre next year.

Tristan said: "For us, and probably with a lot of other parents, the challenge is trying not to change it too much, so we're in an environment where our daughter is happy.

"She knows the people, which is a big part of it as well for us. To have the exam centre here would be amazing."

A spokesperson for Cornwall Council said: "The council has worked hard over recent years to encourage and promote organisations like this to develop provision to support these children and families so they can gain qualifications if they choose to do so.

"Local authorities do not refer or provide home education provision; this is the legal responsibility of parents/carers.

"At the point that parents/carers advise us that they intend to electively home educate, we make them aware of their responsibilities and share information about a range of provision available to them across Cornwall."