Elective home education is when a parent/ carer makes an informed decision to remove their child from the register of a school and take responsibility for educating them full- time at home. For some children and young people home schooling is more suited to their needs than an education in a school or setting.
If you are thinking about home educating it’s important to note that you must take full responsibility for the education of your child, this includes all associated costs such as exam fees and equipment.
If you choose to withdraw your child from a school roll the school are under no obligation to keep the space open should you decide to return your child to that school. The school also has no duty to provide any support or provision to your child if you choose to remove them and home educate.
What to know
• Parent/carers should never feel pressured to home educate their child by the school, for example, due to non-attendance and they should never threaten something like permanent exclusion to make the parent/carers home educate. This is a form of ‘off-rolling’, if you are feeling under pressure to do this get in contact with us at
Norfolk SENDIASS by booking an appointment with an adviser through our website.
• It is a parent/carers responsibility to ensure that their child of compulsory school age is properly educated, but this doesn’t mean they have to be educated in a setting.
• Local authorities (LA) have a duty to safeguard and promote the welfare of children, this applies to those being home educated as well as those attending a setting. This duty does not mean a Local Authority can insist on visiting a child’s home, or seeing the child, simply for the purposes of monitoring the provision of home education.
Under Section 437 of the Education Act 1996, the LA must satisfy itself that you are fulfilling your duties regarding your child’s education, but they have no formal powers to monitor the provision of education you provide. Local Authorities can make informal enquires to establish what education is being provided and if they feel an efficient, full-time, suitable education isn’t being provided, following an investigation, they may issue a School Attendance Order which is where your child will have to go back to a specific school.
In some circumstances LA’s can consider giving support to parents who home educate their child with special educational needs, this assistance is discretionary and would be considered on a case-by-case basis.
If your child has an Education Health and Care Plan (EHCP) the LA are under no obligation to provide the provision detailed within the plan, if you have chosen to home educate you will be expected to provide this. It will be the Local Authorities duty to review the EHCP annually to see if the educational outcomes are on track to being met and whether any amendments need to be made to the plan.
Withdrawing from a setting with no EHCP
If your child attends a mainstream school, you need to write a letter to the school that they attend and explain that you are choosing to home educate. You don’t need to inform the LA as the school will have to do this, but it is helpful if you do.
Withdrawing from a setting with an EHCP
If your child has an EHCP and attends a mainstream setting you need to first write to the school and explain that you want to home educate, at the same time you need to inform the LA and request that they amend section I of the plan.
If your child has an EHCP and attends a specialist placement you need to write to the LA and request that they are removed from the school roll and then once that is agreed the plan can be amended.