Flexi-Schooling: How Part-Time School Works in the UK

Flexi-schooling is an arrangement, agreed between a parent and a head teacher, under which a child stays registered at a mainstream school but attends for only part of the week, with a parent providing the remainder of their education at home. In England, legislation neither creates nor protects the arrangement; the Department for Education recognises it as a way of meeting a full-time education between the two settings, provided the school agrees to it.

There is no equivalent legal right to flexi-schooling anywhere in the UK, unlike the parental right to home educate a child full-time. Whether it happens at all rests on a head teacher's individual judgement in England and Wales, and on a local authority's discretion in Scotland; official guidance in Northern Ireland does not address the arrangement. This article sets out how flexi-schooling works in England first, then notes where the position differs in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.

What is flexi-schooling?

Flexi-schooling means a child remains on a school's roll and attends for an agreed part of the week, while a parent takes responsibility for their education at home for the rest of the time, with the two portions together counting as the full-time education the law requires. The Department for Education's guidance for local authorities describes it as an arrangement where a child receives part of their provision at school, most often so that specific subjects can be taught more easily than at home, while the parent retains overall responsibility for ensuring a suitable full-time education.

Its separate statutory guidance on attendance describes flexi-schooling as an arrangement where a child is primarily electively home educated but attends school for part of their education by agreement with the school, and states explicitly that this should not be confused with a part-time timetable, because a flexi-schooled child is still receiving a full-time education split between home and school. There is no fixed proportion of time set in either document; individual agreements between a school and a family vary.

Who decides, and how do parents request it?

Whether a school agrees to flexi-schooling is entirely a matter for the head teacher, since Department for Education guidance for local authorities states plainly that schools are under no obligation to agree to such arrangements, even though some are willing to do so. A parent wishing to explore flexi-schooling should approach the head teacher directly to discuss the proposal, since arrangements can only be made at the request of a parent and should not be initiated by the school.

Solihull Council's published guidance, reflecting this discretionary basis, notes that the head teacher considers each request on its own merits, weighing the child's best interests, educational progress, safety and welfare, and the likely impact on the school, and may choose to involve the governing body in the decision. There is no statutory right of appeal if a head teacher declines a request, and a school may equally decide to withdraw its agreement later if the arrangement is not working, in which case the child returns to full-time attendance. Where a child has an Education, Health and Care Plan, a request is generally best considered as part of an annual review, since the local authority is involved in decisions about how any additional funding is deployed.

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How to request flexi-schooling, step by step

1. Read the school's policy.Some schools and councils publish a flexi-schooling policy or template agreement, so it is worth asking the school office or checking the council's home education pages first.
2. Plan the home sessions.Decide which days or sessions the child would spend at home, and what they would learn and how, since a head teacher will want to see that the overall education is suitable.
3. Write to the head teacher.Set out the proposed pattern, the reasons it would benefit the child, how the home sessions will be organised, and how the family will keep in touch with the school.
4. Meet to discuss it.Most heads will want a meeting, and some involve the governing body. The child's views are worth including.
5. Agree the arrangement in writing.A written agreement should cover the days, how sessions are recorded, how progress is shared, and how and when the arrangement will be reviewed.
6. Review it regularly.A fixed review point, such as the end of each term, gives both sides the chance to adjust or end the arrangement.

An example flexi-schooling request letter

The letter below can be adapted to the family's circumstances. It is a request, since the head teacher decides.

"

Dear [Head teacher's name],
I am writing to ask whether you would consider a flexi-schooling arrangement for my child, [child's name], in [year group or class].
I would like [child's name] to attend school on [days], and to be educated at home on [days]. At home, [he/she/they] would work on [subjects or approach], using [resources, tutors or activities], and I would be happy to share examples of the work and to keep in regular contact with [his/her/their] class teacher.
This arrangement would, I believe, benefit [child's name] because [reasons].
A meeting to discuss this would be very welcome, and I understand that any arrangement would be at your discretion and subject to review. It would help if we could agree the details in writing, including how the home sessions will be recorded and how we will review the arrangement.
Yours sincerely,
[Parent's name]
[Address and contact details]
[Date]

How are flexi-schooled sessions recorded for attendance?

Sessions spent being educated at home under a flexi-schooling arrangement are recorded in the school attendance register as authorised absence, using code C, under the Department for Education's statutory attendance guidance, Working Together to Improve School Attendance. The guidance draws a clear distinction from a part-time timetable, which uses a different code and applies only as a temporary measure in specific circumstances, for example during a medical reintegration, and is not meant as an ongoing pattern of provision.

The earlier departmental guidance for local authorities adds that it would not be appropriate to record flexi-schooled time using an off-site activity code, since the school has no supervisory role over the child's education, and no responsibility for their welfare, during the hours spent at home; that guidance also confirms the Department has not created a separate attendance code for flexi-schooling. Schools remain accountable at inspection for the outcomes of pupils on a flexi-schooling arrangement, and inspectors may ask a school to explain how it manages the arrangement where it affects recorded attendance.

Who is responsible during the home sessions?

The Department for Education's statutory attendance guidance,Working together to improve school attendance, describes flexi-schooling as "an arrangement where a child is primarily electively home educated but attends school for part of their education by agreement with the school". It says schools are not obliged to offer such arrangements, that the child "is still receiving a full-time education between home and the school", and that where the school has authorised absence for the sessions not attended, these should be recorded using code C.

The guidance does not set out who is responsible for the child's safeguarding, progress or curriculum during the home sessions. Those arrangements are set out in each school's flexi-schooling agreement, so families should confirm them with the school and the local authority before the arrangement starts.

How is learning organised on the home days?

On the days or sessions a child spends at home, a parent takes on the teaching, drawing on whatever curriculum, resources and approach they judge suitable, since there is no statutory curriculum that home-based flexi-schooling sessions must follow. Good practice, reflected in council guidance, is for the parent and school to keep in regular contact so the parent knows which topics the class is covering at school and can complement or cover missed material at home, reducing the risk of the child's learning becoming fragmented.

Parents remain financially responsible for whatever they use at home, whether that is their own teaching time,tutorsor other resources, and for the cost of any exam entries, though a school may choose to contribute. A school is not obliged to provide materials for the home days, though some choose to.

Benefits and drawbacks

Flexi-schooling tends to work best, according to local authority guidance, where a school, parent and child co-create the arrangement with clarity from the outset about why it serves the child's best interests, and where the parent has the time and resources to commit to educating part-time outside a traditional classroom. It can allow a family to combine the structure, specialist teaching and social contact of school with more individually paced learning at home.

It tends to work less well where it is used mainly to avoid a difficulty, such as a particular subject, teacher, peer group or aspect of school discipline, instead of for positive educational reasons. Because there is no statutory right to flexi-schooling, an arrangement can also end at a school's discretion, and continuity is not guaranteed if a child later moves to a different school, since a new head teacher makes an independent decision about whether to continue it.

How does flexi-schooling differ from home education and from a part-time timetable?

Flexi-schooling differs from elective home education in where legal responsibility sits: a parent has a clear legal right under English education law to educate a child at home instead of at school, taking on full responsibility for a suitable, full-time education, whereas flexi-schooling depends entirely on a school's agreement and the school keeps responsibility for the pupil throughout. A fully home-educated child is not usually registered at any school; a flexi-schooled child remains on a school roll.

Flexi-schooling also differs from a part-time timetable, even though both involve a child attending school for less than the normal week. Department for Education attendance guidance treats a part-time timetable as a temporary measure, agreed for a limited period to meet a specific need, such as supporting a return to school after illness, with a clear plan to restore full-time attendance. Flexi-schooling, by contrast, is not a remedial or time-limited measure in the same way; a flexi-schooled child is considered to be receiving a genuine full-time education throughout, split between school and home for as long as the arrangement continues.

The position in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland

In Scotland, flexi-schooling sits outside the Scottish Government's home education guidance entirely: that guidance states directly that it does not apply to flexi-schooling, and that the arrangement has no basis in Scottish education law, describing it instead as one entered into between a local authority and a parent. Requests are therefore a matter for individual local authorities to consider, and decisions do not rest with a head teacher acting alone; practice reported by local authorities varies accordingly.

In Wales, the Welsh Government's current elective home education guidance does not set out a framework for flexi-schooling, so, as in England, any arrangement is a matter for agreement between the parent and the head teacher, with no automatic right to it. Full home education in Wales starts with written notice to the school, which thehome education in Walespage explains.

In Northern Ireland, the Department of Education's published guidance on elective home education addresses only full home education, carried out under the duty on parents set out in Northern Ireland's education legislation, and does not address flexi-schooling as a distinct arrangement. Parents considering a part-time pattern of school and home provision in Northern Ireland should therefore raise the possibility directly with a school, since no separate published framework exists there in the way it does in England and Wales.

Related guides

• Home schooling in the UK: the law, deregistration and how to start
• Home schooling funding and grants in the UK
• GCSEs for home-educated children: sitting exams as a private candidate
• Home education in England: the law and the parent's duty
• How to deregister a child from school to home educate
• Elective home education and the local authority
• Home education in Scotland
• Home education in Wales
• Pros and cons of home education

Is part-time schooling the same as flexi-schooling?

No: part-time schooling usually refers to a separate arrangement available only in the Reception year, while flexi-schooling can be agreed at any stage of a child's schooling but only at a head teacher's discretion. Gov.uk's guidance on starting school sets out that a child need not start full-time in September after turning four, and lists four options, including starting part time, until the child reaches compulsory school age. That option sits alongside starting part-way through the year or waiting until the following September; a parent requests it as part of the standard application for the Reception place, with no need to negotiate a bespoke agreement with the head teacher.

Flexi-schooling, by contrast, has no such built-in starting point in the admissions process and no age limit tied to it; it depends entirely on a head teacher agreeing to split a child's week between school and home, at any point from Reception through to secondary school, for as long as both sides keep the agreement in place.

• Part-time Reception start: requested when applying for a Reception place, available only until the child reaches compulsory school age
• Flexi-schooling: requested directly to the head teacher, available at any year group if the school agrees

Because a school is not obliged to fund resources for the home days, parents weighing up the cost of a flexi-schooling arrangement may also want to check whathome schooling fundingis available locally.

Which schools offer flexi-schooling?

There is no register, list or directory of schools that offer flexi-schooling, because each head teacher decides on a case-by-case basis; no school adopts it as a blanket policy. Council guidance, such as that published by Essex County Council, confirms that a flexi-schooled child is subject to the same admissions process as any other pupil and that the decision rests with the head teacher of the child's current or prospective school, with each request considered individually and none announced in advance.

A parent cannot tell in advance from a school's website or prospectus whether it will agree, so the only reliable way to find out is to approach the head teacher directly and ask. A governing body may set a general approach to such requests, but that does not remove the head teacher's responsibility to weigh up each individual case, and the governing body cannot overturn a head teacher's decision on a particular child.

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