As a child, home schooling always sounded like a brilliant idea – no early starts, no actual schoolwork and as many breaks as you want. Who wouldn’t want to be home schooled?

Unfortunately, home schooling your children is not as easy as it sounds, there are rules and regulations like anything else to ensure your children are still getting a quality education.

Here are some of the things to consider before deciding to home school your child/children:

Criteria for Home Schooling

It is possible to teach your child at home on a full or part time basis at any time, if the child is not subject to a School Attendance Order. ‘Suitable’ education must be provided which means that the education must be:

  • Full Time
  • Efficient (must achieve what it sets out to achieve)
  • Suitable (to the child’s age, ability, aptitude and any special educational needs that they may have). It must equip the child for life within the community and must not limit a child’s options later in life.

What does the parent have to do?

  • If the child is currently on the roll of a school, you are obliged to inform the Headteacher of the School in writing to remove their name from the register. The school will then inform the Local Authority of children removed from their admission and will give 'home education' as a reason.  The rules on what must happen if a pupil is to be taken off the school roll in order to be home educated are covered by the Education (Pupil Registration) (England) Regulations 2006.
  • Parents do not have to inform the Local Authority but are advised to do so to get access to advice and support.
  • The child’s education does not have to follow the national curriculum, match school term times, days and hours or have a scheduled timetable.
  • The Local Authority will expect consistent involvement of parents or other carers, recognition of the child’s needs, and that the child will have access to resources/materials required to provide home education for the child.
  • If a parent cannot provide a suitable home education, they should contact the Local Authority as soon as possible to minimise any disruption to studies.

What will the Local Authority do?

  • Although the Local Authority do not have a duty to monitor the provision of education at home, they are entitled to make informal enquiries of the parents to establish what education is being provided, in order to identify children who are not receiving a suitable education.
  • As a parent, you do not have to respond to these enquiries but if you do not, the Local Authority could conclude, from the absence of a response, that it appears your child is not receiving a suitable education.

What if the Local Authority are not satisfied with the arrangements?

  • If it appears that a child of compulsory school age is not receiving suitable education, it can serve notice in writing on the parent under s437(1) Education Act 1996 to make enquiries with the parents such as information about the education being provided. The period for a response is no less than 15 days beginning with the day the notice is served.
  • If the Local Authority are not satisfied with the parent’s response, it can serve the parents with a School Attendance Order, requiring the child to become a registered pupil at a school named in the order.

If you would like to find out more about home schooling, please feel free to contact us on 0800 011 6666.