Accreditation: Life After Alternative Education
Accreditation: Life After Alternative Education
Accreditation: Life After Alternative Education
A question many parents have about alternative schooling is, what happens at the end? Does one get a degree or a certificate like kids at regular schools do? Are these recognized by colleges and institutions? These are important questions. Here are some answers from someone who has been on this journey.
Hello … This is Eesha here. I am a visual communications designer, a Dhrupad musician and a student in the final year of a BA (Hons) degree program. I was homeschooled right through high school and graduated high school by taking the Cambridge International A level exams.
Two questions I see popping up again and again among alternative schoolers and parents are: to accredit, or not to accredit?
For some alternative schooling families, such as mine, the decision to follow an accredited pathway is non-negotiable. Being acknowledged as academically sound by an external board can offer a sense of validation for your educational journey. But for most of us, it is about the doors it can open in terms of college and higher education.
For other families, the need for accreditation is nonexistent, and these alternative schoolers continue on a completely self-directed path through their twenties.
Wherever on this spectrum you might stand, it’s important to know what your options as an alternative schooler are so you can make an informed choice.
Why would I need an accreditation?
Accreditation makes the process more straightforward if you plan on pursuing higher education, particularly a ‘conventional’ college degree. There are many accounts of alternative schoolers getting into colleges based on their portfolio and experience. A few of my friends have gotten into prestigious art schools based on portfolio alone. However, my experience has been that most college systems are quite streamlined, and although a portfolio is always a good asset, especially if you want to get into an art school, having an accredited high school certificate can open doors and make the admission process much easier.
This is particularly true if -
1) You want to apply to a wide range of colleges which could make tailored applications more challenging,
2) You would like to attend college in a specific country that have stricter academic requirements,
3) If you’d like to pursue a STEM degree.
If you are based in India, most mainstream colleges require a 10th and/or 12th certificate for admission.
When I wrote my board exams, I chose only science subjects at the higher secondary level because I am passionate about the environment and wanted to become an environmental scientist. But when the time came to decide on college, I decided to pursue my passion for art and design. My science grades from the board however could be translated seamlessly into ‘points’. Paired with a portfolio of art and design work I had built over a year of working as a freelancer, this gave me admission into the college of my choice with an unconditional offer!
Are there any unique challenges that alternative schoolers face when writing certifying exams?
It goes without saying that alternative schoolers are smart and capable enough to write exams. I feel the need to state this after hearing multiple times that our brains rot away by staying ‘out of school’. From what I have seen, it is rare for us to struggle with a particular subject, especially if it is something we are interested in and passionate about.
The biggest challenges my friends and I faced with exams were orientation based. Alternative schoolers often enjoy a degree of freedom and self-direction in their education, which means that you need to give yourself time to adjust to fitting into a ‘framework’. It is important to focus not just on studying the material, but also prioritizing skills like time management and understanding the question format, marking schemes, etc.
This can be as simple as doing plenty of test papers before the exam. I discovered, for example, that I was not used to concentrating on a single topic for hours on end, which was what the question papers asked for! I had to train myself to ‘deep focus’ for the duration of an exam. In a similar vein, I ‘knew’ the subject well but would get stumped by questions that involved a linear answer.
What accreditation options are there?
At the secondary (10th) and higher secondary (12th) level, as an alternative schooler, you might have a range of boards open to you, or you might not. The first step is to look at which options your school offers. A few alternative schools including the Krishnamurti schools offer boards such as the CBSE, ICSE, and IB.
If you are a homeschooler, unschooler, or if your alternative school does not offer board exams, then you have the following two options available to you:
NIOS and IGCSE (also known as A levels for higher secondary).
Both have pros and cons.
Consider NIOS:
If you plan to pursue college in India (NIOS is an Indian board and recognised by most colleges here).
If you want an Indian board
If you want ease of access
If you want more flexibility
NIOS cons:
Less recognition outside India, you might have to provide additional qualifications
Consider A Levels/IGCSE:
If you want to apply to colleges outside India (A levels are not directly recognised by many Indian colleges, so do your research before choosing this option!)
If you want an academically rigorous curriculum
If you prefer to study in an English medium
IGCSE cons:
Can get expensive
You will need to register as a private candidate with a school, the logistics of which can be tricky.
There is such a thing as too academically rigorous, be prepared for torture ;-)
BetterSchooling has a detailed guide to NIOS here which walks you through the steps. As someone who wrote the A Levels, I had to find a school which offered the board (an ‘exam center’) that was willing to take me on. My parents located an alternative school in Bangalore which my friend attended, and the school engaged with me for a year before I wrote my first exam. As a private candidate, your performance will reflect on the school/exam center you went through, and you usually need to give yourself enough time to develop this sense of trust with your center and convince the school you can make them proud.
Some schools are quite easygoing about this and others will require that you take internal tests or do not even accept private candidates, so do your research well in advance.
Also, unlike NIOS which is just, well, NIOS, there are different exam providers for the IGCSE boards, and every centre will be aligned to a specific provider. The subjects on offer, curriculum and question format differs slightly between them.
When I wrote my exams in 2021, the two providers in India were CIE and Edexcel. I went through an Edexcel school, while a friend studying at the Centre For Learning (CfL) went through CIE.
If you choose the IGCSE route, do become familiar with these different providers and their linked centres, and also verify that your chosen centre offers the subjects you need to study.
A quick way to find a center near you.
When should you start orienting towards exams?
If considering the NIOS or IGCSE, from what I have seen— if it is a subject you have been broadly interested in or learning about then around 2 years is enough to orient towards the exam. This is around the same amount of time children in conventional schools spend on preparation—the rest of the time they are just learning, like you! I feel it’s a myth that you have to be actively studying a subject from a young age to write an exam in it.
I had always been interested in biology and geography, and devoured books in both subjects. However, it was only much later, when I started thinking about college, that I realised I would need a Chemistry qualification in order to study Environmental Science. I spent a year studying Chemistry and then wrote my first exam.
In general, I feel it is best to study a subject at the 10th level if you have not explored it at all, rather than going straight to 12th. This is particularly true for international boards like IGCSE (the board I did my exams with), where the learning curve between 10th and 12th can be quite steep.
A common misconception is that since as alternative schoolers we have often been immersed in these subjects for years (perhaps doing a deep dive into science or history) before needing to take standardised tests on them, our knowledge of the subject alone will carry us through. As I mentioned earlier, an exam doesn’t involve subject matter knowledge alone but also soft skills like context-based application and time management. This, in my experience , is why it is so important to ‘orient’ yourself to your chosen board at least a couple of years before you plan on taking the exams. I also found it useful to work with a teacher or academic advisor (from that board) at this stage, who can evaluate your progress and guide you with the examination process.
Why would I need an accreditation?
Accreditation makes the process more straightforward if you plan on pursuing higher education, particularly a ‘conventional’ college degree. There are many accounts of alternative schoolers getting into colleges based on their portfolio and experience. A few of my friends have gotten into prestigious art schools based on portfolio alone. However, my experience has been that most college systems are quite streamlined, and although a portfolio is always a good asset, especially if you want to get into an art school, having an accredited high school certificate can open doors and make the admission process much easier.
This is particularly true if -
1) You want to apply to a wide range of colleges which could make tailored applications more challenging,
2) You would like to attend college in a specific country that have stricter academic requirements,
3) If you’d like to pursue a STEM degree.
If you are based in India, most mainstream colleges require a 10th and/or 12th certificate for admission.
When I wrote my board exams, I chose only science subjects at the higher secondary level because I am passionate about the environment and wanted to become an environmental scientist. But when the time came to decide on college, I decided to pursue my passion for art and design. My science grades from the board however could be translated seamlessly into ‘points’. Paired with a portfolio of art and design work I had built over a year of working as a freelancer, this gave me admission into the college of my choice with an unconditional offer!
Are there any unique challenges that alternative schoolers face when writing certifying exams?
It goes without saying that alternative schoolers are smart and capable enough to write exams. I feel the need to state this after hearing multiple times that our brains rot away by staying ‘out of school’. From what I have seen, it is rare for us to struggle with a particular subject, especially if it is something we are interested in and passionate about.
The biggest challenges my friends and I faced with exams were orientation based. Alternative schoolers often enjoy a degree of freedom and self-direction in their education, which means that you need to give yourself time to adjust to fitting into a ‘framework’. It is important to focus not just on studying the material, but also prioritizing skills like time management and understanding the question format, marking schemes, etc.
This can be as simple as doing plenty of test papers before the exam. I discovered, for example, that I was not used to concentrating on a single topic for hours on end, which was what the question papers asked for! I had to train myself to ‘deep focus’ for the duration of an exam. In a similar vein, I ‘knew’ the subject well but would get stumped by questions that involved a linear answer.
What accreditation options are there?
At the secondary (10th) and higher secondary (12th) level, as an alternative schooler, you might have a range of boards open to you, or you might not. The first step is to look at which options your school offers. A few alternative schools including the Krishnamurti schools offer boards such as the CBSE, ICSE, and IB.
If you are a homeschooler, unschooler, or if your alternative school does not offer board exams, then you have the following two options available to you:
NIOS and IGCSE (also known as A levels for higher secondary).
Both have pros and cons.
Consider NIOS:
If you plan to pursue college in India (NIOS is an Indian board and recognised by most colleges here).
If you want an Indian board
If you want ease of access
If you want more flexibility
NIOS cons:
Less recognition outside India, you might have to provide additional qualifications
Consider A Levels/IGCSE:
If you want to apply to colleges outside India (A levels are not directly recognised by many Indian colleges, so do your research before choosing this option!)
If you want an academically rigorous curriculum
If you prefer to study in an English medium
IGCSE cons:
Can get expensive
You will need to register as a private candidate with a school, the logistics of which can be tricky.
There is such a thing as too academically rigorous, be prepared for torture ;-)
BetterSchooling has a detailed guide to NIOS here which walks you through the steps. As someone who wrote the A Levels, I had to find a school which offered the board (an ‘exam center’) that was willing to take me on. My parents located an alternative school in Bangalore which my friend attended, and the school engaged with me for a year before I wrote my first exam. As a private candidate, your performance will reflect on the school/exam center you went through, and you usually need to give yourself enough time to develop this sense of trust with your center and convince the school you can make them proud.
Some schools are quite easygoing about this and others will require that you take internal tests or do not even accept private candidates, so do your research well in advance.
Also, unlike NIOS which is just, well, NIOS, there are different exam providers for the IGCSE boards, and every centre will be aligned to a specific provider. The subjects on offer, curriculum and question format differs slightly between them.
When I wrote my exams in 2021, the two providers in India were CIE and Edexcel. I went through an Edexcel school, while a friend studying at the Centre For Learning (CfL) went through CIE.
If you choose the IGCSE route, do become familiar with these different providers and their linked centres, and also verify that your chosen centre offers the subjects you need to study.
A quick way to find a center near you.
When should you start orienting towards exams?
If considering the NIOS or IGCSE, from what I have seen— if it is a subject you have been broadly interested in or learning about then around 2 years is enough to orient towards the exam. This is around the same amount of time children in conventional schools spend on preparation—the rest of the time they are just learning, like you! I feel it’s a myth that you have to be actively studying a subject from a young age to write an exam in it.
I had always been interested in biology and geography, and devoured books in both subjects. However, it was only much later, when I started thinking about college, that I realised I would need a Chemistry qualification in order to study Environmental Science. I spent a year studying Chemistry and then wrote my first exam.
In general, I feel it is best to study a subject at the 10th level if you have not explored it at all, rather than going straight to 12th. This is particularly true for international boards like IGCSE (the board I did my exams with), where the learning curve between 10th and 12th can be quite steep.
A common misconception is that since as alternative schoolers we have often been immersed in these subjects for years (perhaps doing a deep dive into science or history) before needing to take standardised tests on them, our knowledge of the subject alone will carry us through. As I mentioned earlier, an exam doesn’t involve subject matter knowledge alone but also soft skills like context-based application and time management. This, in my experience , is why it is so important to ‘orient’ yourself to your chosen board at least a couple of years before you plan on taking the exams. I also found it useful to work with a teacher or academic advisor (from that board) at this stage, who can evaluate your progress and guide you with the examination process.
At which stage in my educational journey should I get accredited?
Most commonly, this question starts from the secondary (10th) level. An accreditation below this level is not required unless you wish to join a mainstream school or other academic program during your secondary or higher secondary education. In this case you might have to prepare for an entrance test or an equivalent specified by the school or program. If you do wish to join a mainstream school, official legislature indicates that it is easiest to re-integrate before Class 7.
About re-integration into schools: Learn More
What skills should I focus on as an alternative schooling parent to make accreditation easier in future?
Below are the skills two of my friends and I found most useful when writing our exams:
Good writing and speaking skills in English and your regional language.
Take time out to develop good handwriting. It doesn’t have to be calligraphy or even cursive, but needs to be easy to read. You should be able to write at a reasonable pace and comfortably without your hand cramping up.
Definitely basic maths, from basic arithmetic up to algebra.
A broad understanding of the sciences and history, economics (this can often be picked up by reading or just being in a facilitative environment)
What are the alternatives to accreditation?
You might decide to opt out of a higher secondary qualification and even degree altogether. In this case, a skill or apprenticeship based model might appeal to you. You might choose to intern somewhere, pursue a fellowship or even join a certificate program in an area you are passionate about, and go straight on to work in this field. Although this can be a tempting choice, you will miss out on the college education and experience, and it is important to consciously get out of your comfort zone and give yourself a chance to build exposure and skills if you choose this route. Working with mentors can be helpful.
Sources for this point:
At which stage in my educational journey should I get accredited?
Most commonly, this question starts from the secondary (10th) level. An accreditation below this level is not required unless you wish to join a mainstream school or other academic program during your secondary or higher secondary education. In this case you might have to prepare for an entrance test or an equivalent specified by the school or program. If you do wish to join a mainstream school, official legislature indicates that it is easiest to re-integrate before Class 7.
About re-integration into schools: Learn More
What skills should I focus on as an alternative schooling parent to make accreditation easier in future?
Below are the skills two of my friends and I found most useful when writing our exams:
Good writing and speaking skills in English and your regional language.
Take time out to develop good handwriting. It doesn’t have to be calligraphy or even cursive, but needs to be easy to read. You should be able to write at a reasonable pace and comfortably without your hand cramping up.
Definitely basic maths, from basic arithmetic up to algebra.
A broad understanding of the sciences and history, economics (this can often be picked up by reading or just being in a facilitative environment)
What are the alternatives to accreditation?
You might decide to opt out of a higher secondary qualification and even degree altogether. In this case, a skill or apprenticeship based model might appeal to you. You might choose to intern somewhere, pursue a fellowship or even join a certificate program in an area you are passionate about, and go straight on to work in this field. Although this can be a tempting choice, you will miss out on the college education and experience, and it is important to consciously get out of your comfort zone and give yourself a chance to build exposure and skills if you choose this route. Working with mentors can be helpful.
Sources for this point:
If you would like to pursue this with a level of guidance and an academic cohort, Swaraj University’s 2 year Khoji program might be of interest.
Some alternative schoolers, particularly homeschoolers, follow an independent highschool curriculum. This can provide varying degrees of flexibility and customisation based on the program you choose. Such programs need to be evaluated on a case by case basis. Check to see if it suits your needs, how it is accredited and what options it opens up for higher study.
Can I translate alternative educational experience directly into mainstream high school credit?
Theoretically, you can! In practice, it can be challenging. This is because many colleges have a set process for evaluating applicants, and look for standard evidence of competence (eg: a higher secondary certificate) before considering other achievements or a long list of credits. It is more straightforward to either choose a certification board that is most aligned to your interests, or apply to colleges which accept portfolio submissions alone. Here are a few links about how this can be done, and one example of a homeschooler who got into college on the basis of a portfolio alone.
Can I teach myself through college?
Again, you certainly can. The main reason you may want to seriously consider college however, as an alternative schooler, is exposure— to a bunch of people who, unlike in school, often share common interests. Interacting with faculty and making use of the wealth of resources and opportunities available to you in college can be invaluable.
Do you have to write both 10th and 12th?
While you should always check a college’s individual requirements, in general if you apply to an Indian college they will indeed consider your 10th standard marks as it is proof of your secondary education. I did not complete a full 10th qualification and was able to get into a (non-Indian) college on the basis of my 11th and 12th marks alone. One of my friends completed their 10th and 12th through NIOS retrospectively in order to obtain their certificate for an Indian medical college.
Should I join a mainstream/alternative school for secondary and higher secondary level?
Some alternative schoolers, particularly homeschoolers, prefer to join a high school and write their exams via the school’s board. This might be a helpful option for you if you would like more handholding through the exam process or if you are choosing an exam board only offered by particular schools, such as IB.
Your chosen school may carry out an assessment or ask you to take a test to make sure you meet their academic requirements. It is often easier to join schools just after completing 10th boards, as this is a benchmark for your academic level.
When choosing a school at a higher level, it can help to consider subjects offered in the same vein as the school itself. Does this school offer academics in areas you are interested in pursuing further? Do they have good teachers for these subjects?
Closing notes:
The education systems around us are constantly shifting and evolving, and as alternative schoolers it is important to be aware of the landscape.
It is always good to get multiple opinions. Ask other alternative schoolers, talk to your school, reach out to education specialists, do whatever you need to get an informed answer.
If accreditation is going to be part of your educational future, start taking steps today to find out more about the system. Best of luck!
Here’s a handy list of all the links in this article:
If you would like to pursue this with a level of guidance and an academic cohort, Swaraj University’s 2 year Khoji program might be of interest.
Some alternative schoolers, particularly homeschoolers, follow an independent highschool curriculum. This can provide varying degrees of flexibility and customisation based on the program you choose. Such programs need to be evaluated on a case by case basis. Check to see if it suits your needs, how it is accredited and what options it opens up for higher study.
Can I translate alternative educational experience directly into mainstream high school credit?
Theoretically, you can! In practice, it can be challenging. This is because many colleges have a set process for evaluating applicants, and look for standard evidence of competence (eg: a higher secondary certificate) before considering other achievements or a long list of credits. It is more straightforward to either choose a certification board that is most aligned to your interests, or apply to colleges which accept portfolio submissions alone. Here are a few links about how this can be done, and one example of a homeschooler who got into college on the basis of a portfolio alone.
Can I teach myself through college?
Again, you certainly can. The main reason you may want to seriously consider college however, as an alternative schooler, is exposure— to a bunch of people who, unlike in school, often share common interests. Interacting with faculty and making use of the wealth of resources and opportunities available to you in college can be invaluable.
Do you have to write both 10th and 12th?
While you should always check a college’s individual requirements, in general if you apply to an Indian college they will indeed consider your 10th standard marks as it is proof of your secondary education. I did not complete a full 10th qualification and was able to get into a (non-Indian) college on the basis of my 11th and 12th marks alone. One of my friends completed their 10th and 12th through NIOS retrospectively in order to obtain their certificate for an Indian medical college.
Should I join a mainstream/alternative school for secondary and higher secondary level?
Some alternative schoolers, particularly homeschoolers, prefer to join a high school and write their exams via the school’s board. This might be a helpful option for you if you would like more handholding through the exam process or if you are choosing an exam board only offered by particular schools, such as IB.
Your chosen school may carry out an assessment or ask you to take a test to make sure you meet their academic requirements. It is often easier to join schools just after completing 10th boards, as this is a benchmark for your academic level.
When choosing a school at a higher level, it can help to consider subjects offered in the same vein as the school itself. Does this school offer academics in areas you are interested in pursuing further? Do they have good teachers for these subjects?
Closing notes:
The education systems around us are constantly shifting and evolving, and as alternative schoolers it is important to be aware of the landscape.
It is always good to get multiple opinions. Ask other alternative schoolers, talk to your school, reach out to education specialists, do whatever you need to get an informed answer.
If accreditation is going to be part of your educational future, start taking steps today to find out more about the system. Best of luck!
