Home educating in the UK: where to start

Deciding to home educate is usually the easy part. What follows — the letters, the local authority, the worry about whether you are allowed — is where most families get stuck. Here is the shape of it.

It is legal, and it is your decision

In the UK, education is compulsory. School is not. Parents are responsible for making sure their child receives a suitable full-time education, and doing that at home is a recognised choice rather than something you need permission for.

The important detail is that the four nations do this differently, and the difference is not cosmetic. In England and Wales you do not need anyone's approval to educate at home. In Scotland, if your child is already enrolled at a local authority school, you generally need the council's consent to withdraw them — which is usually granted, but it is a real step. Northern Ireland has its own process again.

This is the one thing worth checking against an official source before you act, because it is the one thing that varies by nation and does change.

gov.uk — home education ↗The starting point for England. Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland have their own equivalents.

If your child has never been to school

You do not have to tell anyone. There is no form to complete and no permission to seek. Some families choose to let the local authority know anyway; others prefer not to. Both are ordinary choices.

If your child is currently at school

You write to the head teacher asking for your child's name to be removed from the register because you are educating them otherwise than at school. Keep it short and keep a copy. You do not need to give reasons, justify the decision, or attend a meeting first.

There is one significant exception. If your child attends a special school and was placed there by the local authority, you will usually need the authority's consent before removing them.

• Write to the head teacher, not to the local authority.
• Send it by email so you have a timestamp, or post it and keep proof.
• Keep the letter brief and factual.
• Keep a copy of everything.

What the local authority can ask

Local authorities have a duty to identify children who are not receiving a suitable education. That is not the same as a duty to monitor every home-educating family, and the two get conflated constantly — sometimes by authorities themselves.

In practice you may be contacted and asked about the education you are providing. You can respond in writing. You are generally not obliged to accept a home visit, and you are not required to follow the national curriculum, keep to school hours, sit tests, or produce work in any particular format.

Most families find that a clear written summary once a year settles things. Being organised and polite tends to work better than being combative, and there are established support organisations who will help if a request feels unreasonable.

What "suitable" actually means

The wording in law is deliberately broad: education suitable to the child's age, ability and aptitude, and to any special educational needs they have. It does not say textbooks, or timetables, or a desk.

That breadth is a gift and a burden. It means you can teach in a way that fits your child. It also means nobody hands you a checklist, which is why most families end up borrowing structure from somewhere — a curriculum, a set of resources, or a rough plan of what to cover each year.

The first month

1. 1Deregister if you need to, and file the paperwork.
2. 2Do nothing formal for a couple of weeks. Children coming out of school often need to decompress first, and starting hard on day one rarely goes well.
3. 3Watch what your child does when nobody sets the agenda. It tells you a lot.
4. 4Pick one subject to be organised about. Maths is the usual choice, because gaps compound.
5. 5Find other home-educating families locally. This matters more than any resource you buy.

You do not need to have a plan for the next five years by Friday. Most families' first attempt at a timetable is abandoned within a month, and that is not a failure — it is how you find out what actually works for your child.