Can You Resit GCSE Maths and English Online?

If you need a grade 4 in maths or English and want to resit GCSE online, the short answer is yes: you can sit a Pearson Edexcel International GCSE from home, with a live Pearson invigilator watching over your webcam. UK GCSE resits with AQA, OCR, Edexcel or WJEC, and Cambridge IGCSEs, are still sat in person at an exam centre, so going online means choosing the International GCSE instead.

Pass My GCSE sets out both options on its page about how to resit your GCSEs, so you can compare the centre route with the home route. This post is a simple checklist to work through before you book.

Why a Checklist Helps

At Functional Skills Level 2, we know that lots of adults put off a resit because it feels like too much to organise. Sitting an exam at home takes some preparation, but none of it is complicated.

It also helps to know the online route is open to anyone. You don’t need evidence or a reason to sit at home. If you are still deciding whether it suits you, Pass My GCSE’s page on distance learning GCSEs explains who tends to choose it, from adults who can’t take time off work for every paper to home-educated learners.

Choose Your Subject and Tier

There are 17 International GCSE subjects you can sit online, and maths and English are some of them. Here is what you need to decide for each:

• Maths A: choose Foundation tier (grades 5 to 1) or Higher tier (grades 9 to 4) when you book.
• English Language A: no tier to choose, and you type your answers on your laptop.
• English Literature: no tier either, and it is also typed onscreen.

If English is the one you need, the page on the GCSE English Language exam online explains its two parts. The first covers non-fiction texts and transactional writing, and the second covers poetry, prose and imaginative writing.

Check Your Photo ID Is In Date

You need valid, in-date photo ID. That means a passport, a national identity card, a driving licence or a UK citizenship card. Check the expiry date now, because your ID is checked twice:

• After you book, Pass My GCSE’s exams team asks for a photo of your ID, along with the details Pearson needs, and sends them with your entry. Pearson won’t give you access without proof of ID.
• At the start of each familiarisation session and each exam, you hold your ID up to the camera for Pearson’s invigilator.

Gather Four Devices

This is the item people most often get wrong. You need four separate devices, not just a laptop:

• a laptop with a webcam, plugged in at the mains
• a phone with Pearson’s app on it
• a backup recorder, charged and ready
• a second phone, so your responsible adult can call Pearson’s helpline

If you don’t own all four, ask family or friends early about borrowing one.

Add a Printer and Scanner for Maths

Maths A is paper-based. The questions appear on your screen, but you write your answers in a printed answer booklet, then scan and upload it straight after the exam. So if maths is on your list, you need a printer and a scanner that both work. There are two papers, each lasting 2 hours, and you can use a calculator. You may also need mathematical instruments, so have them ready.

The page for the GCSE maths exam online lists the topics too: number, algebra, geometry and statistics. English Language A and English Literature are typed onscreen, so you won’t need the printer for those.

Set Up a Quiet, Private Room

You need a quiet, private room where you can shut the door. A shared space that other people walk through won’t do. Pearson invigilates every exam live over your webcam, so your exam is run to the same standard as at a centre.

Ask Someone to Be Your Responsible Adult

A parent, guardian or other responsible adult needs to be involved on the day. It can’t be your tutor or teacher. Their job is to:

• be there when you log in
• stay available outside the exam room for the whole exam
• supervise any toilet break
• call Pearson’s helpline if your connection drops

Pearson’s own guide to Pearson Edexcel remote invigilation adds that this adult can help with setting up and submitting, but must leave the room during the live exam and stay within earshot. Toilet breaks are allowed, but the timer doesn’t stop, so it’s worth planning around that.

Book In Time for Familiarisation

Before your exam, you complete Pearson’s familiarisation at home, in your own time. It is compulsory. It checks your room, equipment and connection, and lets you practise the set-up, such as printing answer booklet pages, typing practice answers and submitting them. It isn’t a mock and it isn’t marked.

Pass My GCSE sends you everything you need for it. Don’t leave it to the last minute, though: if you don’t complete familiarisation, Pearson removes your entry and there is no refund.

Know the Series and Start Times

International GCSEs run in the Summer and November series, so you can’t sit them at any time of year. Exams start at 09:00 or 13:30 UK time. If you live abroad, you can sit wherever Pearson offers remote invigilation, but the start time is still UK time.

For a step-by-step look at sitting your exams online, Pass My GCSE’s guide covers booking, your entry with Pearson as a remote invigilation candidate, the ID checks, familiarisation and results day.

Make Sure Your Course Accepts It

International GCSEs are graded 9 to 1, like GCSE, and accepted by colleges, universities and most employers. Pearson describes its internationally recognised International GCSEs as globally recognised qualifications. They follow their own specification and aren’t regulated by Ofqual, and some courses ask for a UK GCSE. Check the entry requirements for your course or job before you book.

Conclusion

Once your ID, devices, room, responsible adult and course check are sorted, the hard part is done. Pass My GCSE is one of the only providers in the world offering Pearson Edexcel International GCSE exams online, and it enters you with Pearson as a remote invigilation candidate. When your checklist is complete, you can resit your GCSEs from home and focus on what matters most: your revision.

Frequently Asked Questions

Do I Need a Reason to Sit My Exam at Home?

No. The online route is open to anyone, and you don’t need evidence or a reason.

Can I Sit English Literature Online as Well?

Yes. It is typed onscreen, with no tier to choose. The page on the GCSE English Literature exam online explains its two components, from poetry and modern prose to modern drama and literary heritage texts.

Can I Sit a Mock Exam Online First?

No. Mock exams can’t be sat online, and invigilated mocks take place at a centre. Online courses include practice mocks you can do at home.

What Happens If My Resit Grade Is Lower?

You won’t lose your higher grade. You can choose to use the higher grade you achieved, so there is nothing to lose by trying again.

Is There a Limit on How Many Times I Can Resit?

No. You can retake a GCSE as many times as you need to until you pass, and there is no age limit either.

Is Functional Skills Level 2 Another Option?

It can be. Functional Skills Level 2 covers maths and English only, can be taken all year round and is equivalent to a GCSE grade 4 (C). Which route suits you depends on what your course or employer asks for, so check first.

Written by

PassFunctionalSkills Team

We help thousands of students get their Functional Skills Qualifications.