Educating your child at home

All sorts of families decide to educate their child at home. You might decide to do this for religious or spiritual reasons, or it may simply be that you think it would be best for your child. There are many different styles of home education and you are free to use the method which is right for you and your children. You do not have to be a qualified teacher to educate your child at home, and you don't have to follow the National Curriculum.

Educating at home and the law

As a parent, it is your responsibility to make sure that your child gets a suitable education. This responsibility is set out in the Education Act 1996, as is your right to educate your child at home if you want to. If your child isn't being suitably educated, you are breaking the law and you could be prosecuted.

We will check to make sure that your child's education at home is suitable. If at any point we think the arrangements you have made to educate your child at home are unsuitable, we may discuss with you sending your child back to school. 

We have a Children Educated at Home Consultant (CEHC) who works with parents who are home educating their children. The CEHC works to support you and also gives encouragement to your home educated children. It is often the CEHC who will contact you informally to find out how your child's education is working.

What to do if you decide you want to educate your child at home

If your child is currently at a school, you would need to write to the school to tell them that you want to take your child out of school and that you will be educating them at home. It is also helpful if you tell us, although it is not compulsory (unless your child goes to a special school). The school will then remove your child's name from their register.

If your child has special needs, the education you give them at home must be suitable for those needs.

Going back to school

If at some point you decide that your child should go back to school, you would need to contact your local schools to ask for a place. It is also helpful if you talk to our school admissions department to let them know you are not educating at home any more.

Home tutors, teaching resources and financial support

We don't have any lists of recommended home tutors to offer you. There are a number of independent organisations who may be able to help you, or you can look in local advertisements.

Education Otherwise and the Home Education Advisory Service (HEAS) offer a lot of online support and resources to parents wanting to educate at home.

We don't offer parents educating at home any money to cover books, teaching materials, private examination fees or any other costs associated with teaching a child at home.