Distance learning students (and others who study outside school or college) - discover that the process of finding a convenient place to sit their exams is a challenge they could do without. The administrative process of bringing together the various components of their assessment - coursework, oral work etc - is also a major task for whoever enters them. Some centres cite 'League Tables' as a reason for refusing external candidates - but this is not a real issue. Private candidates are specifically excluded from League Table returns.

The answer is, to my mind, a simple one: Any organisation registered as an exam centre should be required to offer facilities to all. This solution will help Annabel. Instead of having to telephone every school and college in the Lake District, she can turn up and register at whichever is nearest.

Overseas students face more serious obstacles. While two UK exam boards, EdExcel and UCLES, offer their exams outside the UK, the new AQA grouping (SEG, AEB and NEAB) has taken a decision to say 'No' to overseas candidates sitting outside the UK. This is not for lack of facilities - the UK Government-sponsored British Council offers facilities at virtually all its offices. It would not be an issue if all exam boards offered all subjects, but the grouping of boards increasingly means that in some subjects there are no alternatives.