Home schooling

In England and Wales, parents/ guardians have the responsibility for making sure that any children in their household receive a good education. Although this responsibility usually falls on schools, some parents/ guardians choose to educate the child at home.

If you are thinking to home school a child, you need to give them a suitable full-time education following their fifth birthday.

Educating a child at home is a big decision and will require a great deal of your time, money and energy. 

Your expenses would include:

• costs associated with teaching resources
• access to the internet
• learning materials
• cost of taking exams if you want the child to gain qualifications

It may be difficult for one person to teach a broad range of subjects so you may also need to consider paying for a tutor for at least some of the education.

You will not be able to receive any financial assistance for this.

Going to school is not simply about lessons and exams. There are friendships, socialising with other people, developing communication skills and learning from a range of teachers sharing interests and experiences which may otherwise be missed.

We would recommend you talk to your child about how they feel about home education in this wider context.

If you want your child to return to school at any point, or wish to take exams like GCSEs or A-Levels, you need to think about how they will be prepared for this.