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Sixth Form · Years 12–13 · Ages 16–18

Online A-Levels. Classes of 8.

Pearson Edexcel International A-Levels, taught live in small collaborative groups with specialist subject teachers. Official exams can be sat from home. Sixth Form Admissions Open.

✓ Modular units, banked as your child goes, with resits available

✓ An approved UCAS centre, filing applications and references

✓ A DfE-registered British independent school, accredited by ISA and COBIS

Accredited & Recognised By

Programme overview

The A-Level programme at a glance

Qualification

Pearson Edexcel International A-Levels, with OCR and AQA for selected subjects.

IAL · OCR · AQA

Ages and years

Key Stage 5, Years 12 and 13, ages 16 to 18.

Two-year programme

Subjects

Three A-Levels as standard, with an AS-Level option for a broader Year 12.

Three subjects

Assessment

Modular units taken when a student is ready, banked as they go, with resits available.

Modular

Lessons

100% live, in classes of six to eight. 5 hours per subject each week, 15 hours across three A-Levels.

Live teaching

Exams

January and May/June sittings, with the option to sit from home under remote invigilation.

Sit from home

University support

An approved UCAS centre: personal statements, references, interviews and international applications.

UCAS centre

Recognition

Accepted by every Russell Group university and recognised worldwide.

Global

How we teach

How A-Level lessons work

Classes of 6 to 8, cameras on

Small enough that every student is asked something in every lesson. A-Level grades are built on extended writing and worked problems, and both need a teacher who can see the work as it happens.

Doing, not watching

Four to five hours of live instruction per subject each week, structured around discussion, collaboration and problem-solving. Students are working in the lesson, not receiving it.

Subject specialists, including examiners

Taught by fully qualified, highly experienced British-curriculum teachers who specialise in the subject they teach — including practising A-Level examiners.

CAT4 potential, tracked against performance

Every student is baselined on entry, giving a predicted grade based on ability rather than past results. Teaching is then measured on the distance travelled beyond it.

Individual Student Passport

For students with specific access needs, a brief goes to every teacher setting out exact triggers and accommodations.

Parent reporting

Weekly insight, termly consultations and a single point of contact for the family.

Who we teach

Who our online Sixth Form is built for?

A Sophia Sixth Form class might hold a striker at a Premier League academy, a student in Singapore wanting British A-Levels without leaving home, and a student placed with us by a local authority.

They arrive for different reasons and get exactly the same thing: three A-Levels, a class of eight, subject specialists, full UCAS support. One standard, no streams.

Elite and academy athletes

Full-time training does not mean a reduced education. The same three A-Levels, the same subject specialists, the same university support — timetabled around training rather than against it.

Relocating families

A move changes your address, not access to quality education or to your exam board. Same curriculum, same teachers, same syllabus — no local centre to find, nothing restarted.

Returning after time away

Coming back does not mean starting again. Lessons are recorded, units already banked still count, and the return is paced by the student — not by a timetable that carried on without them.

Year 13 entry and resits

Work already done still counts. Banked units transfer, so a student joins for the final year or lifts a single grade — rather than repeating a year to fix one subject.

When school stopped working

Small enough that no one disappears. A class of eight where a teacher knows within a lesson whether your child has understood — and no corridor, no year group, no building to get through first.

Home-educated students moving into formal qualifications

Formal exam entries and a school reference through our approved UCAS centre — the two things a private candidate cannot file alone.

Subjects

A-Level subjects and exam boards

A-Level subjects offered by Pearson EdExcel, OCR and AQA, taught by specialists in their own field. Most students take three, chosen against the entry requirements for the courses they are aiming at. Groupings and common combinations are set out below.

Medicine, Engineering and the Sciences

✓ Biology

✓ Chemistry

✓ Physics

✓ Mathematics

✓ Psychology

✓ Geography

Computing, Data and Technology

✓ Computer Science

✓ Mathematics

✓ Physics

✓ BTEC Esports Level 3

Business, Finance and Management

✓ Business Studies

✓ Economics

✓ Mathematics

✓ Psychology

✓ Politics

Law, Politics and International Relations

✓ History

✓ Politics

✓ Geography

✓ Sociology

✓ English Literature

✓ Economics

Creative and Media

✓ Media Studies

✓ English Language

✓ English Literature

✓ History

✓ MFL: French, Spanish, Italian

Every subject listed here is taught by a specialist in it. Which subjects run in a given year depends on cohort demand and timetabling — tell us the combination you have in mind and we will confirm it before you commit.

Exam boards

Pearson Edexcel

The primary board: all core academic subjects, 21 in the total offering, with a modular assessment structure.

OCR

Media Studies and Politics.

AQA

Sociology and Psychology.

Assessment

How the modular International A-Levels works

UK A-Levels are linear: everything rests on one set of exams at the end of Year 13. At Sophia High School International A-Levels are modular. Units are sat when a student is ready, banked, and resat if a grade needs lifting — so a difficult term costs a unit, not the qualification.

Year 12

January

First units sat once taught. Grades banked.

May / June

Remaining AS units, giving a full AS profile.

Between windows

Consolidation, timed practice and feedback.

Year 13

January

A2 units, or a resit of AS Papers to lift a banked grade.

May / June

Final units. Full A-Level awarded on the banked total.

Alongside

UCAS application, personal statement, interviews.

Exams

Sitting official Edexcel exams from home

Officially approved to invigilate exams at home

Sophia is an approved Pearson Edexcel Virtual Centre, covering IGCSEs, International A-Levels and BTEC Esports, among an elite group of institutions globally. Exams are delivered securely online and supervised live by trained invigilators.

The same qualification

Identity verification, secure assessment protocols and an approved multi-camera setup. The certificate is identical to one earned in a traditional centre.

What the setup involves

A multi-camera arrangement at home, and a familiarisation programme beforehand so students practise in the exact conditions they will sit in. From £150 per paper, plus standard examination entry fees.

Or a centre, if you prefer

Students who would rather sit in a physical centre can do so. The choice sits with the family.

Pearson reported 560 students sitting more than 5,000 remotely invigilated exams in 2024, a 270% increase on the previous year. Source: Pearson.

Access arrangements

Access arrangements and inclusive learning

Access arrangements are agreed on entry, not requested at exam time. Where a student has an established need, it is documented, shared with every teacher, and applied for formally as an exam accommodation.

Individual Student Passport

A short brief held for each student who needs one, setting out their specific needs, triggers and agreed accommodations. It goes to every teacher who teaches them, is reviewed as needs change, and means a student never has to explain themselves twice.

Access arrangements at A-Level

As an approved centre, we apply for arrangements through JCQ on a student's behalf. These commonly include extra time, supervised rest breaks, a reader or computer reader, a scribe or speech recognition, and separate invigilation. Arrangements must reflect a student's normal way of working, so they are established in lessons and assessments before an application is made.

How we apply, and by when

Applications are evidenced by a picture of need from the school alongside an assessment by a suitably qualified specialist. Evidence from a previous school or an existing report is usually a strong starting point — send it with your enquiry. Applications are made well ahead of the exam window, so arrangements should be discussed at admission rather than in the term a student is due to sit.

Access arrangements and remote invigilated exams at home

Where a student is approved for extra time, it applies in exactly the same way under remote invigilation as in a physical centre. The familiarisation programme is adapted to the student's arrangements, so they practise in the conditions they will actually sit in.

Full detail on access arrangements is set out in the JCQ regulations and in Pearson’s guidance for centres.

University applications

UCAS and university support

Sophia is an approved UCAS centre, so applications are filed and referenced by the school rather than left to the family.

Step 01

Course mapping

Subject choices checked against entry requirements for the courses your child is aiming at.

Step 02

UCAS application

Personal statement support and the school reference, filed through our approved centre.

Step 03

International routes

Applications beyond the UK, including US, Canadian, European and Asian institutions.

Step 04

Interviews and offers

Interview preparation, offer decisions and results-day support through to confirmation.

Where A-Levels are accepted

Pearson Edexcel International A-Levels are accepted by all Russell Group universities, including Oxford and Cambridge, and recognised by leading US institutions including MIT and Caltech.

Source: Pearson

What top offers look like

Competitive courses at Oxford, Cambridge and other Russell Group universities typically require A*AA to AAA. Subject choices are checked against the specific requirements for each course during Year 12.

Source: University of Oxford

These are third-party statistics about A-Levels generally, cited to their source. They are not Sophia outcome data.

Enrichment and super-curricular.

Beyond the syllabus

Universities read past the grades. What a student did beyond the syllabus is the part of a personal statement that carries weight — and the part an online school has to make real rather than promise.

Onsite days at Battersea

Students have the opportunity to come together in person at our Battersea Power Station HQ hybrid experience days — a cohort that spends the year in a class of eight meeting face to face.

School trips

Educational adventures across the globe, from sport tours to exploration of new places and cultures. As our cohort grows, so do our opportunities at Sixth Form.

Leadership and pathways

Enrichment built around where a student is heading: leadership roles, projects that follow a genuine interest, and the wider profile a competitive application is built on.

Wellbeing

Wellbeing and community in an online Sixth Form

The question behind online education at sixteen is a fair one: who notices? A class of eight is a large part of the answer — a student cannot sit at the back of a room that size. Around that sit three further layers of support.

A mentor who knows your child

Every student has a named adult whose job is to know them, not just to teach them. They meet regularly, track how the term is actually going rather than how it looks on paper, and are the first person a family speaks to when something changes.

Counselling within the school

Qualified mental health counsellors are part of Sophia, not a referral to an external waiting list. A student can be seen without a diagnosis, a crisis, or a long explanation of why.

External therapeutic support

Where a student needs more than mentoring, counselling and therapeutic support are available through the school and through our partnership with Linden Global, specialists in online therapeutic care. These are arranged and charged separately, so families access the level of support they actually need rather than paying for provision they don't.

ACCREDITATIONS

Accreditation and recognition

Department for Education

Accredited by the DfE through the Ofsted-delivered Online Education Accreditation Scheme. Registered as an independent school under DfE URN 149905, on a three-year re-inspection cycle.

Independent Schools Association

An accredited member of the ISA, the association representing independent schools across the UK.

Council of British International Schools

An accredited member of COBIS, whose accreditation covers British schools operating internationally.

Pearson Edexcel

An approved Pearson Edexcel Virtual Centre, covering IGCSEs, International A-Levels and BTEC Nationals in Esports. This is what allows official exams to be sat from home under live remote invigilation.

UCAS

An approved UCAS centre. Applications and school references are filed by Sophia directly, rather than left to the family to arrange.

Fees

Online A-Level fees 2026-27

£13,455

Per year · A-Levels, Years 12–13

✓

Three A-Levels taught live in classes of 6 to 8, cameras on

✓

Fully qualified British-curriculum teachers, including examiners

✓

Full UCAS support: statement, reference, interview preparation

✓

International university application guidance

✓

Mock exams, revision support and exam-window planning

✓

Parent portal, weekly insight and termly consultations

✓

A named mentor for every student

✓

Individual Student Passport and access arrangement applications

Charged separately

✓

A fourth A-Level or additional subject — £4,250 per subject, per year

✓

Examination entry fees and optional remote invigilation

✓

One-to-one tutoring, where a family chooses it

✓

Counselling and therapeutic support, including our Linden Global partnership

All fees +VAT for UK residents only. Fees may be paid annually or termly.

Families

What families say

“Our child started at Sophia High School in September 2025 in year 12, and we have been very impressed with the school and how everything works. Our child is very well supported by the academic and pastoral staff and has really enjoyed the enrichment activities held on Fridays. The academic tutors are very flexible to needs and our child has thrived this year. I would heartily recommend Sophia High School.”

Parent of a Year 13 student · UK

FAQs

Online A-Level questions parents ask

Are International A-Levels the same as UK A-Levels for university entry?

Pearson Edexcel International A-Levels are accepted by all Russell Group universities, including Oxford and Cambridge, and recognised by leading institutions worldwide. UCAS points are fully recognised for UK applications.

How many subjects will my child take?

Three A-Levels as standard, which is what most university offers are built around. An AS-Level can be added in Year 12 for a broader first year. A fourth subject is charged separately.

What does modular mean in practice?

Units are sat when your child is ready rather than all at once, banked as they go, and can be resat to improve a grade. An illness or a difficult term affects a unit, not the whole qualification.

Can my child sit A-Level exams from home?

Yes. Sophia was selected for the Pearson Edexcel Remote Invigilation Service, so official exams can be sat at home using an approved multi-camera setup, supervised live, or at an approved centre if you prefer.

Do you support UCAS and university applications?

Yes. We are an approved UCAS centre, covering personal statement support, the school reference, interview preparation and applications to international institutions.

Can my child join for Year 13 only, or for resits?

In many cases yes, subject to availability, exam board alignment and how far the cohort has progressed. We assess it case by case.

My child is a serious athlete. Does this work around training?

Yes. Modular exam timing, a predictable live timetable and recorded lessons are what make the combination work. We plan exam windows around the competitive season.

Do you need the matching IGCSE to take an A-Level?

Not always. Psychology, Law and Economics commonly accept students without the matching GCSE provided English and Maths are strong. Mathematics, the sciences and modern languages usually require prior subject foundations.

Are exam fees included?

No. Exam entry fees are charged separately. Most Sophia students sit official Pearson Edexcel exams from home under live remote invigilation, from £150 per paper plus the standard entry fee. Families who would rather use a physical exam centre can do so, and centre fees are charged by that centre directly.

What happens on results day?

Results are released to students on results day, and UCAS confirms places against them. Students entering Clearing apply directly, as at any school.

Next steps

Sixth Form entry requirements and how to apply

A-Levels are demanding, and we want students who will succeed on them. That means looking at what a student is capable of, not only at what a difficult year produced.

What we look for

Five IGCSEs or GCSEs at grade 5 or above, including English and Mathematics, with grade 6 or above in subjects to be taken at A-Level. Where recent grades don't reflect a student's ability — after illness, a move, or a school that wasn't working — we look at the wider picture. CAT4 gives us a measure of potential rather than past performance, and it is often the more useful number.

Subject requirements

Mathematics, the sciences and modern foreign languages require a strong foundation in the same subject at IGCSE or GCSE. Psychology, Economics, Sociology and Business Studies are commonly taken without the matching qualification, provided English and Mathematics are strong. We will confirm the specific requirements for the combination your child has in mind.

How to join

Step 01

Enquire

Tell us the subjects and universities under consideration, your child's predicted or actual grades, and anything the timetable needs to work around. We respond within 24 hours.

Step 02

Discovery call

A conversation with Admissions about your child, the combination they want, and whether Sophia is the right fit.

Step 03

Assessment

Once registered, all students take part in our CAT4 benchmark assessment and 1-1 interview with Senior Leaders.

Step 04

Offer and enrolment

Subject confirmation, fees, and a start date.

Joining for Year 13, or mid-year

Students join outside September more often than people expect. Banked units transfer, so a student can start in Year 13 or arrive mid-year — subject to availability, exam board alignment and how far the cohort has progressed. We assess each case individually

Next steps

Make an enquiry

Tell us the courses or universities under consideration, your child’s predicted or actual IGCSE grades, and any commitments the timetable needs to work around. A member of our Admissions team will be in touch within 24 hours.

24-hour response · Approved UCAS centre · Pearson Edexcel centre