Association of Colleges

Exam fees

The costs of exam fees has steadily risen over the past few years and the reasons and justification of cost increases are still uncertain, despite the research conducted by PricewaterhouseCoopers (2005), PKF (2008) and more recently by the LSC, Ofqual  and PwC (again). Despite the existence of several hundred suppliers of examinations, most are highly specialised and operate a very narrow section of the market, leaving only a handful of large players in the country.

The big question for Colleges is to determine if the exams system is an oligopolistic supply or whether this is, as Government QUANGOs argue, an effective market of free choice.



AoC Reports:
  Exam fees paper
  Late Fees exam paper

Useful statistics on changing trends and the impact of late entries:
QCA Late exam entries campaign, March 2009

Other research:
  The Market for Qualifications in the UK - PWC April 2005
  Review of awarding bodies fees, executive summary - PKF December 2006