Essential Information for Beginning Home Education

Please review these frequently asked questions before embarking on your home education jurney:  

 

 

What is Elective Home Education (EHE) in England?

Elective Home Education (EHE) is when a parent chooses not to send their child to school full-time but assumes responsibility for making sure their child receives a full-time education other than at school. Some children are electively home educated from age 5 and may never attend school. In other cases, a child may be removed from their school’s roll for EHE.

Educating children at home works well when it is a positive choice and carried out with proper regard for the needs of the child. In many cases, elective home education is appropriate, well-delivered and involves considerable sacrifice on the part of parents.

Section 7 of the Education Act 1996 provides that:

The parent of every child of compulsory school age shall cause him to receive

efficient full-time education suitable –

(a) to his age, ability and aptitude, and

(b) to any special educational needs he may have,

either by regular attendance at school or otherwise.

 

What is home schooling (known as flexi-schooling) in England?

 Home schooling is when children remain on their school roll and receive a combination of support from schools, online learning resources and other resources parents may provide themselves. The headteacher can refuse if you want to send your child to school some of the time and home educate the rest of the time.

Flexi-schooling is for a short period while a child recovers from an illness, from bullying or other temporary difficulty and sometimes parents intend to continue to home educate for more extended periods. There are some difficulties with arranging flexi schooling. While still relatively rare flexi schooling is a growing area in England particularly in small rural schools.

 

What is full-time education at home?

The government allows for significant flexibility in how parents choose to educate their children at home. While there’s no set number of hours, many home educating families in England loosely follow the structure of traditional schools, which typically provide about 4 hours of instruction and work per day, 5 days a week.

 

You decide to home educate. What do you need to do?

If your child has already attended school:

In England, to officially withdraw your child from school for home education, you must notify the school in writing. This is typically done by sending a formal letter requesting your child’s removal from the school register, often referred to as a “deregistration letter.” You can find a template of deregistration letter under the ‘template letters’ section on our website.

It is important to understand that:

1.         The school must accept your request immediately upon receiving it.

2.         From the day you send this letter, you become legally responsible for your child’s education.

This means that once the school receives your letter, they are required to remove your child from their register without delay. They don’t have the authority to deny or delay your request. As a result, your child is officially considered home educated from that day forward, and you assume full responsibility for ensuring they receive a suitable education.

If your child has special educational needs (SEN)

If your child has SEN and attends a special school, you’ll need to get the council’s permission to educate them at home. You do not need the council’s permission if your child attends a mainstream school, even if they have an education, health and care (EHC) plan.

If your child has never attended school:

If your child is 5-year-old or under, and you have never applied for a school place you have no need to do anything. There is no obligation for you to inform the local authority, which in any event would be the responsibility of a school. If Local Authority (LA) contacts you, you can simply tell them that you have chosen to home educate your child.

 

Will I be monitored by Local Authority (LA)?

When you withdraw your child from school the LA will almost certainly want to discuss your educational provision. By law there is no duty for an LA to monitor a home educated child’s provision but in practice they often do.

On your local authority website, it is stated:

“If you want to home educate, will we want to inspect the education you’re providing for your child?

We will make informal enquiries about the education you are providing for your child, but you do not have to respond (although government guidance says that it would be “sensible” for you to do so.)

If you don’t respond to these informal enquiries, what will happen?

If you persistently fail to respond to these informal enquiries, we may think that you are not providing a suitable education for your child and may consider serving a School Attendance Order.”

 This suggests that you do not have to respond to their enquiries, however if you persistently fail to respond, they may think that you are not providing a suitable education to your child and they may rise a School attendance Order.

 

What happens if I get a School attendance Order from my LA?

You will have to either register your child at the school named or else demonstrate to a court that you are providing your child with a suitable education.

 

How to respond to my Local Authority?

The best, safe and most practical way to respond to your LA is to complete the Elective Home Education Information Record Form which is sent to you by your LA. You can find guidance and support on how to complete this form on our website, under the ‘template letters’ section.

 

Will I have to have home visits from Local Authority?

The law is clear, you are not required to allow home visits other than in rare and extreme circumstances.

 

Education quality and curriculum. Do I have to follow the national curriculum just like in schools?

You must make sure your child receives a full-time education from the age of 5, but you do not have to follow the national curriculum.

There are no rules on what your child must learn, other than it should include literacy and numeracy, and be overall suitable to the child’s age, ability and aptitude; as well as catering for any special needs.

While tailoring education to meet your child’s individual needs, it’s crucial to provide a well-rounded learning experience. Exposing your child to a wide range of academic subjects ensures they receive a comprehensive education, setting them up for future success.

 

Do I need to have qualifications to teach my child at home?

You do not need to be a teacher or have any other special qualifications to teach your child at home. Research shows that children of parents without higher qualifications do at least as well as those whose parents have them. However, it’s important to:

1.         Cover a wide range of subjects

2.         Develop good organizational skills

3.         Consider following a structured home education curriculum from reputable providers

 

Do I need to register with an accredited education provider?

Unlike other countries, in England you do not need to register under a home education accredited provider.

 

Employing a private tutor

This is not compulsory, however some parents will, at some stage, think about employing a private tutor to support their child’s learning, or to provide for their child’s education as an alternative to school.

Before engaging a private tutor, we advise you to:

•          always interview your chosen candidates (it’s a good idea to interview your candidates at home and introduce them to your child, so you can see how they get on)

•          ask for (and check) at least two professional references which are less than three years old, qualification certificates

•          ask to see a copy of the tutor’s Criminal Records Bureau (CRB) check and make a note of the number

•          ask when was the last time they undertook safeguarding training

If there are career gaps on the tutor’s CV ask for (and check) their reasons why.

 

The social aspect

You may wish to consider your child’s social development as part of their education. There are many opportunities for socialisation for home educated children and this may be with people of any age.

Children may have extended family members and family friends or could join other home educated children on visits to museums, galleries, theatres or other places of interest.

In addition, your child could socialise with others through a particular sport or hobby by joining a club or taking part in events.

 

If I decide to home educate my child, will I get any financial support from the government?

No. If you decide to home educate, you take on all the financial responsibility, including the costs of any exams you may later wish to enter your child for.

 

Can my child sit exams?

Home educated children can take exams as private candidates. You’ll need to find a school, college or exam centre willing to accept private candidates. Some centres specialize in this.

You will need to pay for examinations that you wish your child to sit. You have the flexibility to choose the examination board most suited to your child so you can get a copy of the chosen board’s examination syllabus.

Some subjects require coursework. Ensure you’re following the correct exam board specifications for each subject and start researching and contacting exam centres well in advance, ideally two years before exams.

Some home educating parents find IGCSEs to be more appropriate than GCSEs, since it is based predominantly on final examinations and there is less coursework that needs to be supervised at school. The major examination boards for GCSEs/IGCSEs are Edexel, AQA and OCR.

 

Can my child return to school after being home educated?

Yes, your child can any time return to school after being home educated.