Key Facts
| Legal duty | Parents must secure an efficient, full-time education suitable to the child's age, ability, aptitude and any special educational needs (Education Act 1996, s.7) |
|---|---|
| Leaving school (England) | Written notice to the school; consent is needed from the local authority for a child at a special school under arrangements made by it |
| Curriculum and exams | No requirement to follow the National Curriculum or to sit exams |
| Local authority role | May make informal enquiries about the suitability of the education |
| Exams | GCSEs and IGCSEs can be sat as a private candidate at a centre that accepts them |
Figures correct at the time of writing. Confirm current fees and deadlines with the school or university directly.
Home schooling in the UK is legal in every nation, and choosing it means the parent takes on the legal duty to provide their child with a suitable, full-time education. In England, Wales and Northern Ireland it is usually called elective home education, and home education is the term used in official guidance across the UK. Each nation sets out the duty in its own law, though the underlying principle holds throughout the UK.
Is home schooling legal in the UK?
Home schooling is legal in all four UK nations; the duty to provide an education rests on the parent, and school attendance is not required. In England and Wales, section 7 of the Education Act requires the parent of every child of compulsory school age to cause the child to receive efficient, full-time education suitable to their age, ability and aptitude, and to any special educational needs, either by regular attendance at school or otherwise.
Northern Ireland places the same kind of duty on parents under Article 45 of the Education and Libraries (Northern Ireland) Order, while in Scotland the duty comes from the Education (Scotland) Act, which allows parents to educate a child at home. Education is compulsory; school is not.
What are the rules for home schooling in England?
A child must receive a full-time education from the age of five, though parents are not required to follow the National Curriculum, hold any qualifications or training, or take a particular approach; the Department for Education's guidance states that local authorities should not specify a curriculum parents must follow.
There is no legal definition of full-time education. Department for Education guidance notes that state school pupils normally receive around four and a half to five hours of education a day for about 190 days a year, but home education does not need to replicate a school timetable: learning can happen outside school hours and term time and is often delivered one-to-one. Local councils may ask a home-educating parent about the overall time devoted to education, in hours per week and weeks per year.
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If the child has never attended school, no one needs to be told and no permission is needed to begin home educating. If the child is on a mainstream school's roll, the parent should tell the school in writing that the child will be educated otherwise than at school; there is no legal obligation to give a reason, and the school must accept full withdrawal, removing the child from the admission register under the School Attendance (Pupil Registration) (England) Regulations and informing the local authority. Until that removal happens, the parent remains at risk of prosecution for non-attendance even if suitable home education is already under way, which is why the Department for Education advises giving the school written notice.
A child placed at a special school under arrangements made by the local authority cannot be removed from the roll without that authority's consent, and where a school attendance order is already in place, the council must revoke or amend it before the child can come off the roll.
Do you have to tell the local authority, and what can the council ask?
There is no legal duty on parents to notify the local authority directly when withdrawing a child from school, since the school does this once it removes the child from its register, though the Department for Education and most councils encourage parents to make contact. Councils have a duty to identify children not receiving a suitable education and can make informal enquiries to check that the education being provided is suitable.
A council has no automatic right to enter the family home; a visit happens only if the parent agrees, and a parent can instead describe the education being provided in writing. Where a council is not satisfied that a suitable education is being provided, it can serve a notice and, if unresolved, issue a school attendance order under the section 437 process. As a minimum, councils should publish clear written information on home education for parents.
How much does home schooling cost, and is there any funding?
Parents who home educate take on the financial responsibility for the cost themselves, and there is no general government grant for home education in England. Local authorities do not receive funding to support home-educating families, except in relation to high-needs special educational needs, though some choose to help anyway, for example with exam fees.
Those costs usually include tutors, groups or co-operative sessions, learning resources and materials, and exam entry and centre fees.
Home-educated 14 to 16 year olds can attend further education and sixth-form colleges part-time, funded by the Department for Education at no cost to the parent. Child Benefit can also continue after age 16 where the young person is in full-time non-advanced education, and home education is on GOV.UK's approved list for this purpose. Our guide to home schooling funding covers this in more detail.
Do home-schooled children have to take GCSEs?
There is no requirement for a home-schooled child to take GCSEs or any other exams. A home-educated child who does want to sit exams can take GCSEs, IGCSEs or A levels as a private candidate at a centre that accepts external candidates; JCQ publishes information for private candidates, but centres are not obliged to accept them, and parents arrange the entry and pay the exam and centre fees themselves.
Subjects that include non-exam assessment or coursework can be difficult to arrange as a private candidate, which is why many home-educating families choose International GCSEs instead, as these are mostly assessed by written exam. Our guide to private candidate exam entry covers this in more detail.
What is flexi-schooling?
Flexi-schooling is part-time attendance at school combined with home education for the rest of the time. Schools are not obliged to agree to it, since it is at the head teacher's discretion, and time spent at home under a flexi-schooling arrangement counts as authorised absence. Whatever the split, the child must overall still receive a full-time education. Our guide to flexi-schooling covers this in more detail.
How does home schooling work in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland?
In Scotland, section 35 of the Education (Scotland) Act requires a parent to get the education authority's consent to withdraw a child who has been attending a public school; the authority must not unreasonably withhold consent and should aim to decide within six weeks. Consent is not needed if the child has never attended a public school or none in that authority's area, is leaving an independent school, has finished primary but not started secondary, if the school has closed, or if the child is not yet of school age.
In Wales, the same section 7 duty applies as in England: the parent tells the school in writing, and the school removes the child and notifies the local authority, with a child at a special school needing local authority consent first. Parents bear the cost of home education and of any public exams, but all 22 Welsh local authorities have agreed to accept home-educated candidates at an identified exam centre and provide a local support offer funded by the Welsh Government.
In Northern Ireland, the parent writes to the school principal to withdraw the child to be educated otherwise than at school, and the school removes the child from its register; no permission is needed for a mainstream school, but a child at a special school needs the Education Authority's consent. A child with a statement of special educational needs can still be home educated, and the Education Authority continues to maintain and review that statement.
Related guides
- Home schooling funding and grants in the UK
- GCSEs for home-educated children: sitting exams as a private candidate
- Flexi-schooling: how part-time school works in the UK
Tutoring for home-educated children with Taylor Tuition
Home-educating parents often bring in a tutor for the subjects they would rather not teach themselves, particularly once a child starts working towards GCSEs or IGCSEs as a private candidate. More than half of our tutors hold Qualified Teacher Status, and every tutor who works with children holds an enhanced DBS check.
Sessions run online for families across the UK and internationally, and in person in central London. Fees start from £50 per 50-minute session and depend on tutor level and subject, and the initial consultation is free.
Read more about our home education tutors, or send an enquiry and we will come back with tutor recommendations.
Frequently asked questions
- Is there a register for home-schooled children in the UK?
- The Children's Wellbeing and Schools Act created a register of children not in school and added extra consent requirements for withdrawing some children from school, but these duties are not yet in force. Until they commence, the existing rules apply: a school removes a child from its roll on written notice and informs the local authority itself. Parents should check GOV.UK for the current position before assuming a register applies to them.
- Can a home-schooled child return to mainstream school?
- Yes, a home-schooled child can return to school at any time. The parent applies for an in-year place through the local authority or, for some schools, applies directly to the school itself. There is no separate home-schooling process for returning; it follows the normal in-year admissions route used for any pupil moving schools mid-year.
- Can a parent home educate a child with an Education, Health and Care Plan?
- Yes, no local authority permission is needed to remove a child with an Education, Health and Care Plan from a mainstream school's roll, according to GOV.UK, though engaging with the local authority beforehand is encouraged. Once the child is home educated, the local authority continues to review the EHCP annually as it would for any child with a plan.
- Can the local authority help find an exam centre for a home-educated child?
- Some local authorities choose to help home-educating families find an exam centre that accepts external candidates, though this counts as extra support and is not a statutory duty. As a minimum, every council should publish clear written information on home education for parents; beyond that, the level of support, including help with exam centres, varies between authorities.
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