Guide · Getting started
How to home educate in the UK
Home education (also called elective home education, or EHE) means you take on responsibility for your child's education instead of a school. Thousands of UK families do it, and most find the paperwork is the smallest part. Here is the order we suggest tackling it in.
1.Check the rules where you live
In England and Wales, parents have a legal duty to provide an efficient, full-time education suitable to the child's age, ability and aptitude, and to any special educational needs they may have — at school or otherwise. If your child is already on a school roll, write to the head teacher asking for their name to be removed from the admission register. Keep a copy.
In Scotland you need the local authority's consent to withdraw a child from a public school, and in Northern Ireland you notify the Education Authority. Rules also differ for children at special schools or with an EHCP/CSP, so read your council's elective home education page before writing anything.
Official starting point: gov.uk/home-education.
2.Decide your approach before you buy anything
Families usually land somewhere between structured (timetable, courses, workbooks) and interest-led (projects driven by what the child is into). Neither is "correct". Most settle on a structured core of reading, writing and maths plus interest-led everything else.
Start smaller than feels comfortable. Two to three focused hours a day covers a lot at primary age, because there is no class to manage.
3.Build a week you can actually repeat
- A short daily core: reading aloud, some writing, some maths.
- Two or three subject sessions a week — science, history, art, music, languages.
- One trip or group day: museum, forest, sports club, meet-up.
- Free time that is genuinely free. It is where most of the learning sticks.
4.Keep light records
You are not required to follow the National Curriculum or sit SATs, but a simple record — photos, a list of books, finished work, a paragraph a week — makes any local authority enquiry straightforward and helps you see progress you'd otherwise forget.
5.Sort out social time early
Isolation, not academics, is what most new home-educating parents worry about. Book in regular contact: local groups, clubs, sports, volunteering, and online communities where children work alongside others.
6.Think about qualifications when they're relevant
GCSEs are optional for home-educated children. If one is needed, entries are made privately through an exam centre and usually booked many months ahead, so give it a year's runway.
Common questions
- Do I need permission to home educate?
- In England and Wales you do not need permission if your child has never been registered at a school — you simply do not apply for a place. If your child is on a school roll, you write to the head teacher asking for them to be removed from the register, and the school must remove them (special rules apply to special schools and to children subject to a school attendance order). Scotland and Northern Ireland have their own consent and notification rules, so check your local authority's guidance.
- Does home education have to look like school?
- No. The legal duty in England and Wales is to provide an efficient, full-time education suitable to the child's age, ability, aptitude and any special educational needs. That can be timetabled lessons, project work, apprenticeship-style learning, or a mix. There is no requirement to follow the National Curriculum, keep school hours, or sit national tests.
- Do home-educated children have to take GCSEs?
- No, GCSEs are not compulsory for home-educated children. Many families do enter them privately through an exam centre when a qualification is needed for a course or job. Entries are usually made months in advance, so plan the timetable a year ahead.
- How do home-educated children socialise?
- Through groups, meet-ups, clubs, sports, volunteering and online communities. Our school runs a staff room forum, a games room, live rooms and an events field with pop-up stalls and market days so families meet regularly rather than learning in isolation.
- What does a home education week actually look like?
- Most families settle on a short focused core (reading, writing, maths) in the morning and wider subjects, projects and outings across the rest of the week. Two to three focused hours a day is common for primary ages — much less than a school day, because there is no class management overhead.
Somewhere to do the daily core
Our classrooms cover eleven subjects with AI tutors, practical workshops and age bands from 4–5 upwards — plus a games room and events field so it isn't all desk work.