Queen's advertises itself as the lowest cost online school in the UK and offers to refund the difference if you find a comparable offer cheaper. This page tests that against both schools' published rates at matched subject counts, sets out what each school includes, and shows what each one holds by way of accreditation.
Figures taken from both schools' published fee pages for 2026/27. Retrieved 25 August 2026.
Less for a three subject A Level year on CambriLearn Standard, where the published gap is widest
Less for an eight subject International GCSE year on CambriLearn Standard
CambriLearn enrols from age 4. The Queen's fee page starts at age 7
Queen's sells a packaged school year with a fixed subject count and a full daily timetable included. CambriLearn charges per subject and per support level. Which is better value depends almost entirely on how many subjects your child takes and how much live teaching they need.
How to read this page. Every figure comes from each school's own published pages on the date stated and nothing here is estimated. Where Queen's publishes something CambriLearn does not, this page says so, because a comparison a parent cannot verify is worth nothing to them.
| Where it counts | CambriLearn | Queen's Online School |
|---|---|---|
| Ages taught | 4 to 19 | Fee page starts at 7, no rate published below |
| Accredited as a school by | Cognia, reviewing schools in 85+ countries | No whole-school accreditor named on its site |
| Examination board approval | Pearson Edexcel accredited centre | Pearson Edexcel approved centre |
| DfE accreditation | Not held | Not held |
| Curriculum pathways | Six | One |
| Fee structure | Per subject, two support levels | Packaged year at a fixed subject count |
| A Level year, 3 subjects | £1,655.20 | £6,498.00 |
| International GCSE year, 8 subjects | £4,017.50 | £6,498.00 |
| Registration fee | £70.30 | £99.00 |
| Pay only for subjects taken | Yes | No, fixed subject count per stage |
| NCAA approved courses | Yes | Not stated |
| Students taught | 80,000+ across 100+ countries | Not published |
| University acceptance rate | 98% of graduates | Not published |
| Independent review score | 4.8 out of 5 across 330+ reviews | No figure published on its site |
| Published class size cap | Not published | Up to 16 primary, up to 20 at Key Stage 3 |
| Published live lessons a week | Not published | Up to 25 |
| Enrol mid year | Yes, at any point | Yes, next school day |
Fees shown include each school's registration fee at matched subject counts on the Queen's yearly contract. Both schools charge examination entry separately. Live teaching hours are not matched, because Queen's publishes a weekly lesson count and CambriLearn does not.
Queen's offers to refund the difference if you find a lower fee for a comparable offer elsewhere. It is worth reading the condition attached to that, because it is doing the real work.
On its about page, Queen's sets the test as another online school offering the same number of live lessons for a lower fee. Across its group's sites the promise is framed around comparable provision, and the school states that it teaches up to 25 live lessons a week. So the guarantee is a claim to be cheapest at a matched volume of live teaching rather than a claim to be cheapest outright.
That distinction matters for two reasons. A school offering less live teaching for less money does not trigger the refund, so a lower total fee elsewhere is entirely possible without the promise ever paying out. And it means the honest comparison is price against what the price buys.
Which is why this page does two things. It shows the published totals at matched subject counts, in the next section. And it states plainly that CambriLearn does not publish a weekly live lesson count where Queen's does. If live teaching hours are the deciding factor for your family, ask both schools for a sample weekly timetable for your child's year group and subjects, and compare those documents rather than the marketing.
Ask Queen's for a written quote for your child's actual year group and subject list, and for a sample weekly timetable showing the number of live lessons per subject. Ask CambriLearn for the same two documents.
Then compare total annual cost, live lessons a week, and class size, in that order. If Queen's comes back cheaper for genuinely equivalent teaching, that is useful information and you should act on it. We would rather you enrolled somewhere that fits than enrolled with us and left in February.
Four like-for-like years, priced on each school's published 2026/27 rates. Queen's figures are its annual contract tuition plus its one-off £99 registration fee, at the subject count it includes. CambriLearn figures are its per subject tuition at the same subject count, plus its one-off £70.30 registration fee. Examination entry is excluded from both sides, because neither school includes it.
| The year in question | CambriLearn Standard | CambriLearn Premium | Queen's Online School |
|---|---|---|---|
| Primary, 7 subjectsAges 7 to 11 | £2,332.007 subjects at £323.10 plus £70.30 registration | £4,898.907 subjects at £689.80 plus registration | £4,098.00£3,999 packaged plus £99 registration |
| Lower Secondary, 8 subjectsAges 11 to 14 | £3,143.908 subjects at £384.20 plus registration | £5,938.308 subjects at £733.50 plus registration | £5,348.00£5,249 packaged plus registration |
| International GCSE, 8 subjectsAges 14 to 16 | £4,017.508 subjects at £493.40 plus registration | £7,859.108 subjects at £973.60 plus registration | £6,498.00£6,399 packaged for 8 subjects plus registration |
| A Level, 3 subjectsAges 16 to 19 | £1,655.203 subjects at £528.30 plus registration | £3,475.903 subjects at £1,135.20 plus registration | £6,498.00£6,399 packaged for 3 subjects plus registration |
Basis of the comparison. Queen's figures are its published annual contract tuition for 2026/27 plus its £99 registration fee. CambriLearn figures are its published per subject tuition at the same subject count plus its £70.30 registration fee. The primary row uses the CambriLearn Stage 4 to 6 rate, which is the higher of the two bands covering ages 7 to 11, so that row runs in Queen's favour rather than ours. Examination entry fees are excluded from both sides. Live teaching hours are not matched, for the reason set out above.
Read those totals honestly, including the two that go against us. On the Standard package CambriLearn comes in £1,766.00 lower at primary, £2,204.10 lower at Lower Secondary, £2,480.50 lower at International GCSE and £4,842.80 lower at A Level.
On Premium the picture reverses below Sixth Form. CambriLearn is £800.90 higher than Queen's at primary and £1,361.10 higher at International GCSE. Only at A Level does Premium still land £3,022.10 lower. If price is your test, compare Standard. If you want the closest match to a packaged full service year, compare Premium and expect to pay a little more than Queen's for it below Sixth Form.
The A Level line is the one worth pausing on. Queen's charges £6,399 for three A Levels, which is the same fee it charges for eight International GCSEs. A Level students carry a third of the subject load at the full packaged price.
Queen's publishes two contract types at every stage. The yearly contract is the cheaper of the two and is billed across three school terms. The ongoing contract is billed per half term and lets a family leave on six weeks' notice, which costs meaningfully more across a full academic year.
| Stage | Yearly contract | Ongoing contract | Ongoing across six half terms |
|---|---|---|---|
| Primary, Key Stage 2, ages 7 to 11 | £3,999 a year | £875 a half term | £5,250 |
| Lower Secondary, Key Stage 3, ages 11 to 14 | £5,249 a year | £1,149 a half term | £6,894 |
| Upper Secondary, Key Stage 4, ages 14 to 16 | £6,399 a year | £1,389 a half term | £8,334 |
| A Levels, Key Stage 5, ages 16 to 18 | £6,399 a year | £1,389 a half term | £8,334 |
Taken from the Queen's Online School fees page, retrieved 25 August 2026. A one-off registration fee of £99 applies per child on both contract types. The final column annualises the half termly rate across the six half terms of a UK academic year and is our calculation rather than a published figure, which is worth checking against a written quote. On those numbers the ongoing route runs roughly 30% above the yearly contract, so a family joining mid-year on half termly billing should ask what the yearly contract would cost them instead.
At Queen's the £99 registration fee is described as non-refundable, and its terms set a minimum commitment period during which cancelling does not remove liability for the fees covering that period. After it, six weeks' written notice applies. Examination entry is arranged through its centre and charged separately.
At CambriLearn the £70.30 registration charge applies at enrolment, examination entry fees are set by the awarding body and the centre and paid separately, and textbooks are purchased separately. Tuition is billed monthly across the school year. Fees are set in US dollars and shown here in pounds at $1 to £0.74, so the sterling figure moves with the rate on the day you pay.
CambriLearn charges per subject, and you choose a package per subject rather than one setting for the whole timetable. Standard covers live timetabled lessons, a recorded lesson library, marked assignments with teacher feedback, progress reports and academic support. Premium adds direct chat with teachers, live question and answer sessions and mock examinations. A child can sit on Premium for mathematics and Standard for humanities, and the fee follows that choice.
| Level | Standard | Premium |
|---|---|---|
| Early Years to Stage 3, ages 4 to 9 | £279.40 | £689.80 |
| Stage 4 to 6, ages 9 to 12 | £323.10 | £689.80 |
| Foundation I and II, ages 12 to 15 | £384.20 | £733.50 |
| International GCSE, ages 15 to 16 | £493.40 | £973.60 |
| AS Level, ages 16 to 18 | £528.30 | £1,135.20 |
| A Level, ages 17 to 19 | £528.30 | £1,135.20 |
Per subject a year, billed monthly across the school year. AS and A Level figures shown are the Pearson Edexcel rates. On the International British Curriculum*, AS and A Level Premium is £1,002.00 a year. Placement is by readiness rather than age, so a consultant confirms the level before enrolment. Full rates are on the CambriLearn UK page and the pricing page. Families joining before fees change can hold current rates through Lock In Your Fees for 2027.
Plenty of families take five or six International GCSEs rather than eight, particularly where a child is rebuilding confidence after a hard year at school. Five subjects on CambriLearn Standard comes to £2,537.30 including registration. Queen's publishes a fixed eight subject International GCSE programme and no reduced rate for a lighter load, and its stated core includes English Literature, English Language, Mathematics, Global Citizenship and a science, with electives on top.
Do not read that as £6,399 for five subjects, because it may well be less. Ring its admissions team, ask for the five subject figure in writing, and hold it next to the CambriLearn number.
This is the section worth reading slowly, because the language used across the sector is loose and the differences are real. Neither school holds a graded Ofsted inspection, and neither can, because online providers in England cannot register as independent schools without physical premises. Beyond that the two schools hold quite different things.
Queen's is a Pearson Edexcel approved examination centre, which is a genuine awarding body approval and the same approval CambriLearn holds. Its group also lists registrations with NCFE, ABC Awards, Skills and Education Group and AIM. Its site says the school is accredited, and where it names the bodies it points to the UK Register of Learning Providers, quoting provider number 10033485, and to UCAS.
It is worth being precise about what those two are, because a parent reading the word accredited will reasonably assume an inspection happened. The UK Register of Learning Providers is a database. Providers add their own details to it in order to obtain a UK Provider Reference Number. There is no inspection of teaching, safeguarding, curriculum or student outcomes involved in appearing on it. UCAS is the UK universities admissions service. It processes university applications and does not accredit schools. Neither is a school accreditation, and neither tells you anything about the quality of teaching.
CambriLearn is accredited by Cognia, an independent accreditor that reviews whole-school governance, teaching quality and continuous improvement at institutions in more than 85 countries, through a documented standards framework and periodic external review. CambriLearn is also a Pearson Edexcel accredited centre, is registered with SACAI and the IEB for its South African pathways, and its courses are NCAA approved for student athletes.
Neither school is accredited under the Department for Education's Online Education Accreditation Scheme, the voluntary UK government route for full-time online providers, for which Ofsted acts as quality assurance body. If DfE accreditation is a condition of your decision, or of a local authority funding the place, neither school meets it and you should look at providers that do.
Universities admit on qualifications, grades and references rather than on which scheme a school belongs to. Pearson Edexcel International GCSEs and International A Levels are regulated by Ofqual, carry UCAS tariff points and are accepted by every Russell Group university, and the certificate is identical whichever approved centre prepared the student. Both schools are approved Pearson Edexcel centres, so on the qualification itself there is nothing between them. 98% of CambriLearn graduates receive a university acceptance, built on more than 20 years of examination candidates. Queen's does not publish examination results or university destinations that we could find, which is not a criticism of a newer school, but it does mean there is nothing to compare on that point yet.
Each one is checkable in a single click against what both schools publish about themselves.
£493.40 a year for an International GCSE subject on Standard and £528.30 at A Level. Drop a subject and the cost drops with it.
A Queen's year is a packaged fee at a fixed subject count, which is why three A Levels there costs £6,399, the same as eight International GCSEs. A Sixth Form student carries a third of the subject load at the full price.
CambriLearn teaches ages 4 to 19. The Queen's fee page begins at Key Stage 2, age 7, and publishes no rate below it.
If you have a five year old and a Year 10 student, one school can take both children, on one account, with one set of school holidays.
Cognia reviews governance, teaching quality and student outcomes at schools in more than 85 countries, through a documented standards framework and periodic external review.
Appearing on a register of learning providers is a different thing entirely, and so is being listed by an admissions service. Both schools hold the same Pearson Edexcel centre approval, so the qualification is identical either way. The whole-school accreditation is where they diverge.
The International British Curriculum* and Pearson Edexcel sit alongside US K-12, CAPS, IEB and KABV. Queen's teaches the English National Curriculum with Pearson Edexcel International GCSEs and A Levels.
For a family holding a route open in two countries, or moving between the UK and southern Africa, that difference decides it on its own.
More than 80,000 students taught across 100+ countries in over 20 years, a 98% university acceptance rate among graduates, and 4.8 out of 5 across 330+ reviews on HelloPeter, Google, Trustpilot and Facebook.
Queen's publishes no student numbers, no examination results and no university destinations that we could find. That is not a criticism of a newer school, but it does mean there is nothing yet to compare on the thing that matters most.
CambriLearn courses are NCAA approved, which US college athletics eligibility requires. Coursework from schools outside that list does not count toward eligibility.
Queen's publishes a student athlete pathway but does not state NCAA approval. If US college sport is the goal, confirm that status in writing with any school before your child enrols.
Stated plainly, because families ask. CambriLearn is accredited by Cognia, is a Pearson Edexcel accredited centre, is registered with SACAI and the IEB, and offers NCAA approved courses. CambriLearn is not a registered Cambridge school and does not hold Department for Education accreditation.
These are the things Queen's publishes that CambriLearn does not, so they are the four questions worth putting to us directly. Here is our answer to each. If one of them is your deciding factor then Queen's may well be the better school for your family.
Queen's states classes of up to 16 in primary core subjects and up to 20 at Key Stage 3, and CambriLearn publishes no equivalent figure. If class size is your first question, that is a fair mark against us on transparency.
It is worth knowing what a cap tells you though. A school capped at 20 can run classes of 20, and a school with no published cap can run classes of 12. The number that matters is the actual average in your child's year group and subjects, which is a question both schools can answer in writing and which we will answer in a consultation.
Queen's includes a full daily timetable, more than 20 clubs, one-to-one mentoring and a named wellbeing mentor in a single fee, and states up to 25 live lessons a week. For a family that wants a complete school day handed to them at one price, that is genuinely simpler than choosing a support level per subject.
The cost of that simplicity is that everyone pays the same regardless of need. A Sixth Form student taking three A Levels pays £6,399, the same as a Year 11 student taking eight International GCSEs. On CambriLearn Standard that same three subject A Level year is £1,655.20, a difference of £4,842.80.
Queen's sets out SEND consultancy, neurodiverse support, a young performers programme and a student athlete pathway as named provisions. CambriLearn publishes no equivalent SEND provision, and if your child has an EHCP or a diagnosed additional need that is a real reason to look at Queen's carefully.
A named pathway on a website tells you a school has thought about it. What determines whether it helps your child is which parts sit inside the tuition fee and which are charged separately, so ask both schools for that split in writing. On the student athlete side specifically, CambriLearn's courses are NCAA approved and Queen's does not state that approval.
Queen's takes a £99 registration fee and can begin the next school day. CambriLearn asks for a consultation first, so we are slower to start by a few days.
That consultation exists because a payment form cannot tell you whether a child should be in Year 9 or Year 10, or which subjects to carry into an examination course already underway. Getting that wrong costs a year, and unpicking it costs more than the few days it takes to get it right. CambriLearn places by readiness rather than by age, which is only possible if someone looks at the child first.
Nothing academic is lost in the move, because both schools prepare students for Pearson Edexcel qualifications set and graded by the same awarding body. Subject knowledge carries across and examination entries are made fresh. The contract terms are the part that needs care.
The Queen's terms set a minimum commitment period, and cancelling inside it does not remove liability for the fees covering that period. After it, six weeks' written notice applies. Establish which you are on and what it costs to leave before you fix a start date with anyone.
An academic consultant on UK time reviews your child's year group, subject list and target qualifications, and answers the questions this page cannot answer for your specific situation.
Every current subject maps to its CambriLearn equivalent, and you choose Standard or Premium per subject. Your quote reflects that exact list rather than a packaged year, which is where most of the difference comes from.
Enrolment completes online at any point in the year and most students are in live lessons within a week. Where your child is midway through a two year course, we plan the next Pearson Edexcel session around the work already covered.
Queen's is a Pearson Edexcel approved examination centre, which is a genuine awarding body approval, and its group also lists registrations with NCFE, ABC Awards, Skills and Education Group and AIM. Where its site names accrediting bodies it points to the UK Register of Learning Providers and to UCAS. It is worth knowing what those are: the UK Register of Learning Providers is a database that providers add their own details to in order to obtain a provider reference number, with no inspection of teaching, safeguarding or outcomes, and UCAS is the universities admissions service rather than an accreditor. Neither is a school accreditation. CambriLearn is accredited by Cognia, an independent accreditor that reviews whole-school governance, teaching quality and outcomes across more than 85 countries.
Its guarantee is narrower than the headline suggests. Queen's offers to refund the difference where another online school provides the same number of live lessons for a lower fee, so it is a claim to be cheapest at a matched volume of live teaching rather than cheapest outright. On published 2026/27 totals at matched subject counts, CambriLearn Standard is lower at every stage compared here, by £1,766.00 at primary and £4,842.80 at A Level. CambriLearn does not publish a weekly live lesson count where Queen's does, so ask both schools for a sample weekly timetable and compare those alongside the fees.
On published 2026/27 figures at matched subject counts, CambriLearn Standard costs less at every stage compared here: £2,332.00 against £4,098.00 for a seven subject primary year, £4,017.50 against £6,498.00 for eight International GCSEs, and £1,655.20 against £6,498.00 for three A Levels, all including registration. CambriLearn Premium is the other way round below Sixth Form, at £800.90 more at primary and £1,361.10 more at International GCSE, and £3,022.10 less at A Level. Live teaching hours are not matched in those totals.
Queen's publishes yearly contract fees of £3,999 for primary at Key Stage 2, £5,249 for Lower Secondary at Key Stage 3, £6,399 for Upper Secondary at Key Stage 4, and £6,399 for A Levels. A one-off registration fee of £99 applies per child. Its ongoing contract is billed per half term at £875, £1,149, £1,389 and £1,389 respectively, which annualises roughly 30% above the yearly contract across six half terms. Examination entry is charged separately, and its terms set a minimum commitment period followed by six weeks' notice.
No, and neither can. Online providers in England cannot register as independent schools without physical premises, so no online school in the UK carries a graded Ofsted inspection whatever its marketing suggests. The nearest equivalent is accreditation under the Department for Education's Online Education Accreditation Scheme, a voluntary route for which Ofsted acts as quality assurance body. Neither Queen's nor CambriLearn holds it. If a local authority is funding your child's place, ask whether that accreditation is a condition, because it often is.
CambriLearn teaches ages 4 to 19, from early years through to A Levels. The Queen's fee page begins at Key Stage 2, age 7, and publishes no fee for younger children, though its group site refers to provision from Key Stage 1. If your child is under seven, ask Queen's directly whether a place and a price exist, and get the answer in writing before you plan around it.
Queen's states that it teaches up to 25 live lessons a week, with a full daily timetable included in its fee. CambriLearn teaches live timetabled lessons with qualified subject teachers on both Standard and Premium, alongside a recorded lesson library, but does not publish a weekly lesson count. This is the single most useful thing to ask both schools for directly: a sample weekly timetable for your child's year group and subject list, which lets you compare teaching hours against fees rather than taking either school's word for it.
Both schools admit students outside the standard September start. CambriLearn enrols at any point in the year with fees running on a twelve month cycle from the enrolment date, and most students are in live lessons within a week of a consultation. Queen's can begin a child the next school day after the £99 registration fee is paid. The harder question at either school is where your child sits in an examination course, because moving midway through a two year International GCSE or A Level programme needs a plan for content already covered and entries already made.
Choose CambriLearn if you want to pay only for the subjects your child takes, if your child is under seven, if you need a pathway other than the British curriculum, if independent whole-school accreditation matters to you, if your child is a student athlete needing NCAA approved coursework, or if the A Level difference of £4,842.80 a year is decisive. Choose Queen's if a published cap on class size is your first question, if you want the maximum live teaching bundled into one fee rather than choosing a support level per subject, if your child needs its published SEND or performing arts provision, or if you need to start this week. If you are genuinely torn, a consultation is free and we will tell you if the other school fits your child better.
A free consultation with a CambriLearn academic consultant on UK time. We will look at your child's stage, subjects and timings, price it honestly against the quote you have from anywhere else, and say so if another school suits your family better.
Every figure on this page is taken from each school's own published information for the 2026/27 academic year, correct at the time of publishing. Fees and provision change, so confirm current details with both schools before deciding. Comparisons cover tuition and registration at a stated subject count, on the Queen's yearly contract basis, excluding examination entry fees. Live teaching hours are not matched in those totals, because Queen's publishes a weekly lesson count and CambriLearn does not, and this page says so rather than implying equivalence. The annualised ongoing contract column is our calculation from the published half termly rate across six half terms and is not a figure Queen's publishes. Where Queen's publishes no rate, most importantly for a reduced subject load or for children under seven, this page says so rather than estimating it, and we would encourage you to ask them directly.
Queen's Online School is a trading name of Cambridge Online Education Ltd. CambriLearn is not affiliated with, endorsed by or sponsored by Queen's Online School or Cambridge Online Education Ltd. Descriptions of the UK Register of Learning Providers and UCAS reflect the published function of those organisations. All trade marks belong to their respective owners.
*'International British Curriculum' refers to the curriculum framework delivered by CambriLearn, which prepares students to write examinations administered by Cambridge Assessment International Education and Pearson Edexcel at independently registered examination centres as private candidates. CambriLearn is not a registered Cambridge school and is not affiliated with, endorsed by or sponsored by Cambridge Assessment International Education, Cambridge University or Cambridge University Press.
