Homeschooling UK Law
Home schooling- isn’t that illegal? Don’t kids have to go to school in the UK? What’s the law on UK homeschooling?
That is something we get asked a lot. Perhaps the most unusual thing about our family (apart from the fact that we took our three young kids backpacking around Asia and lived for a while on a small Indonesian island) is that our children don’t go to school. Instead we home educate in the UK, with our educational philosophy being inspired by our desire to be gentle parents and based on the autonomous education style.
I’ve covered autonomous education more in these posts: what is unschooling?, and everything we learned in one unschooling day and for now I will answer some questions that we get asked a lot, probably most days. Home education is not something that many people are aware of and if they are it is generally shrouded in myth and mystery, perhaps influenced by an experience of meeting one or two home-schooled children.
Homeschooling UK law is an area that most people are unaware of, and people may be wondering “is it legal to homeschool my child?” or “can I homeschool my child?” The answer is usually, “yes”.
It is my aim to help people understand what home education is and is not and why we as a family find it so beneficial, so I have posted a few articles on homeschooling, including this one on homeschooling uk law.
6 UK Homeschooling Law Points To Consider
Here are six points to bear in mind when considering homeschooling UK law:
- Home schooling, or home education (same thing, different names) is perfectly legal in the UK. School is an opt-in service, where parents go through an application system to get their child a school place. If this process is not completed, the child is by default home educated.
2. Children are not required to attend school unless they are enrolled in a school and have not de-registered, in which case they have a school policy of attendance to abide by unless there are mitigating circumstances such as illness.
3. Children have a legal (and moral) right to a ‘full time and age appropriate’ education, but the definition of this is not laid out with details of time structures or what is age appropriate. People often ask us “what hours do I need to homeschool”? There are no set hours! We may be up at the crack of dawn reading books, or (like last night) up late making Christmas decorations and baking; we are not required to fit ‘education’ into any particular time frame.
There are several homeschooling curriculums to purchase online; I explain more in this UK homeschool curriculum post. I have also put this post on UK homeschool resources together to help parents find free and affordable home education resources.
4. Age appropriateness is completely contextual- some children may be very ready to do basic equations at age 5. Our five year old is very interested in DSLR photography and video making, rhyme schemes and dress-making. A ten year old we know still enjoys playing with dolls, learning how to thoroughly and properly care for a baby as she wants to be a nursery assistant when she is older. One of the benefits of home education is that we can lawfully and thoroughly meet the needs of each child according to their individual development.
5. If a child who is in school wishes to be home educated, the delivery of a deregistration letter to the school fulfils the legal obligation to begin home educating (unless the child is in a special school because of additional needs). There is no legal obligation to attend further meetings with the school, or to have immediate visits from the council.
In some extreme circumstances, where the parents are not meeting the needs of the child, a school attendance order may be issued to force the child to attend school. This is exceptionally rare, as the vast majority of home educating parents are committed, attentive and determined to help their children achieve their full potential.
6. If your child has a statement of special needs and is in a special school, or a judge has assigned a SAO (school attendance order) for your children (this is usually only in extreme circumstances), you cannot home educate without getting further legal permission.
To summarise, home education in the UK is perfectly legal in most circumstances. Read my article “can I homeschool in the UK?” for the two exceptions to this rule.
If you have questions or queries about the legality of home schooling in your circumstances, search for your local UK homeschool support groups; generally there is a supportive online community and more experienced home-edders are happy to help you navigate the often confusing process of talking with the Local Authority or your child’s school.
For more posts about homeschooling and the method we use, see our collection of homeschooling blog posts.
Suzanne Lemon says
My child is disruptive in the school environment. She is 3yrs behind in her education and gets involved in everyone else’s issues instead of concentrating on her own. She is easily led but has now become the school clown, causes issues for teachers and school children alike.
I have now decided to remove her from school and home school. As I feel I can give her purpose when doing things regards her education. I feel she needs to know why she is learning something rather than because the curriculum says she has to learn it.. I want to give her social skills for her future. If your not academic in school they dont teach the social aspect of how to survive in adult life.
Adventure Travel Family says
Hi Suzanne,
I am absolutely thrilled to hear you are starting your homeschooling journey with your daughter- it sounds like she will thrive with a variety of environments instead of a classroom, and you are now able to delve into her interests, passions and skills and enjoy quality time together! I wish you every happiness in your new learning lifestyle!!
Linda Benton-Taylor says
Hello.
We have sent the letter to the school for deregistration. The school rang asking lots of questions before letting us do it.
We will write another ‘to the point’ letter.
What would you advise our next step.
We are putting together a system but of course it is taking a bit of time. Right now it seems too many people are getting involved by the school.
Look forward to your reply.
Linda
Adventure Travel Family says
Hi Linda,
If your child is in a mainstream school in England or Wales, you can reply telling the school that it is not a request to deregister- it is an instruction, and the school is acting unlawfully if they do not deregister upon receipt of the deregistration letter. Then personally I would block their number and have no further contact with them- no meetings, calls or answering questions. They are legally obliged to deregister your child (as long as the conditions I stated above are true) and you have no obligation to stay in contact with them. I hope that helps!
Lj says
Great info
My 16 year old has been so poisoned by the system and social media that she has turned on me through every situation. She reported me to social services for grabbing her one day after she had told me she hated me. I don’t want this for my younger children. I don’t want them furthered poisoned by the system. I don’t want them under threat of new mandates. They are begging me to homeschool. We had the most positive homeschooling experience and I always wanted to. Its a big leap as I would need to cut my hours for my business. I’m also concerned that social services may step in or make me jump through LOops if I do. I know they have no right over me and they have already overstepped the mark on a few occasions. They’re Acting UNLAWFULLY towards me and sabotaging my mothering all on a report JUDGED on assumptions.
Is there anything I can do to remedy
Adventure Travel Family says
Hi LJ,
Im so sorry to hear things are so tough- I recommend joining the Facebook group Dealing with Officialdom for help and advice on dealing with local authorities- it’s here: https://www.facebook.com/groups/239232119524989/
I hope things improve with your daughter, that is a tough age <3
SD says
Hello Hannah,
I’ve spent all morning looking at your website – wow! Thank you for all the incredibly helpful information, hints, tips, ideas and links.
I have a concern that I am wondering whether you could help me with please? I deregistered my 15 yo son earlier this month, due to his extreme stress and anxiety around school. He has ADHD and ASD, and was struggling both with the work (he was really far behind due to the changes in routine brought about by Covid, plus a lack of interest in most subjects), and with the environment.
I’ve received a letter from the local authority requesting sufficient information to assure them he is receiving a suitable education. i have 4 weeks (3 now) to send this to them. they’ve supplied a form i can use, or i understand i can send an education report? My difficulty is that I believe he needs more time to de-stress and an easing into learning again. I also intend to try different home education methods until we find what works best for him.
We know what he would like to do career-wise, and I intend for him to be on that path by the time he is 21. But I am worried that my intended plans won’t be deemed sufficient or suitable by the local authority, and our current set up of him doing a few pages of maths and English workbooks each day as best he can won’t satisfy them.
Do you have any suggestions on what I can do regarding this please?
Thank you for reading this essay!
Kerry says
What wokld i write in a letter to deregister my child?