About Home Education

Home education is an option for all parents in the UK.  It is, of course, totally legal and you don't need to be a qualified teacher to do it.

Home Educators do not have to follow the National Curriculum or, indeed, any formal curriculum, if they so choose.  Parents can use whatever resources that they feel necessary in order to give their children a well rounded education.

There are a variety of different approaches to Home Education.  Families can choose to follow any one of them or a combination of them.  In many cases, families find their own unique method, because that is what works best for their children.  Partly for this reason, home education is a very friendly way of educating.

Home Educated children can still take GCSEs and A-Levels and other public examinations, if they wish.  Arrangements can be made to sit the exams privately or over 16's may enroll at their local college.

Home Educators are deemed to be outside the State school system and therefore don't receive any state funding.

Families home educate for a variety of reasons: For example, to give their child a better education, or one that is more diverse.  Some parents feel that their child is too young, at four, to go to school and home educate until the child reaches seven (a common age for schooling to begin in other countries).  Other families want to escape the pressure of SATs and increasing regulation in state education.  Some children are withdrawn from school after bullying.   Many parents choose home education simply because they want to educate their children themselves and find that it's actually quite a lot of fun.