That said, home education has a pretty dismal public profile. As many parents will testify, announcing that you don’t plan to send your child to school is to lay yourself open to uninvited comment, not just from strangers but from close friends and family members who should know better.
Yes, some children who have been removed from school under the guise of home education go on to be educated in illegal and unregistered schools (something that Ofsted is currently meant to be tackling) or end up neglected, or worse. However, the vast majority of home educators (at least the ones that we’ve encountered) are sane, thoughtful people who only want what’s right for their child and feel that educating them at home is the best way of supporting them.
They are also growing in number. In 2023, the Department for Education found there were an estimated 86,200 home educated pupils known to local authorities, a rise from 80,900 less than a year before.
Some parents are home educators through choice, others have it thrust upon them.
The Good Schools Guide Education Consultants regularly hears from families who opt for home schooling because they feel the emphasis on targets and formal learning in schools makes learning a negative, stressful experience, particularly for very young children.
Others home educate while waiting for a place at their preferred school, including those who would rather opt out altogether than accept the place they’ve been offered. Then there are those who are concerned about bullying or worry that class sizes, particularly in state schools, make for a ‘one size fits all’ education that squashes individuality. There are also families with children whose needs aren’t being adequately supported in mainstream schools, including children who have become too anxious to attend.
Parents of gifted children sometimes opt for home schooling, either because their child finds school stressful or unchallenging, or they just need more hours of, say, music, acting or sports practice than can be comfortably accommodated in a conventional school day.
Most recently, there has been a raft of children who took to home schooling during Covid – many found it hard to settle back into a physical school after the pandemic, or they didn’t bother going back at all.
Having an Education, Health and Care Plan is no bar to home educating, although the rules are different if the child currently attends a special school. edyourself.org/articles/newcode.php and www.he-special.org.uk/content/joinhere.php are good sources of information on this specialist area.
If you don’t want to break completely with traditional, school-based education, this could be just the ticket. Flexi education involves a combination of home schooling and part time attendance at school. Before Covid, it was largely frowned upon by physical schools, but some are now catching on to the fact that it can be better for some children, especially those that simply can’t cope with full-time school.
Some schools, such as Portland Place School, now offer a formalised hybrid option where your child goes in for eg art, music, sport, science practicals and general socialising, then attends online lessons from home the rest of the week.
Online schools are one of the most promising developments in recent years, these schools have really taken off since Covid and offer a range of options to suit your child’s needs eg live lessons that are recorded so you can go back to them if they’re missed, optional cameras for more anxious children etc. And they can be more sociable than you might think eg King’s InterHigh offers over 100 clubs, plus in-person meetings and events to create a sense of community.
Several companies specialise in what used to be called correspondence courses or distance learning – enabling the student to learn at their own pace. Their courses are normally linked to formal qualifications (GCSEs and A levels). You pay per subject/level and receive all the online and paper resources you need, together with a dedicated tutor who marks your assignments (including feedback), as well as speaking to you regularly online or by phone for support. Some, such as Wolsey Hall Oxford, go further still, offering pastoral support. You’ll have to arrange to sit exams yourself, but the school will often offer guidance around this.
Many of the tutor firms reviewed by The Good Schools Guide are experienced in supporting children who are being home educated. Some now even have their own home schooling team who can eg compile the entire timetable with different tutors for each subject, or provide full time, live-in tutors who are companions and mentors as in addition to their formal teaching role.
Most UK areas have groups of home educators, many on Facebook, mostly invitation only (sensibly, they vet every new member). They organise get-togethers and educational trips and swap tips on local classes and activities. You should find them an invaluable source of friendship and help. There are also reputable national online groups for parents of children with special needs or those who are preparing for exams.
Home Education Advisory Service -
www.heas.org.uk
Education Otherwise - www.educationotherwise.org
How The Good Schools Guide Education Consultants can help
Our consultants can support families who are considering removing their children from school and those who plan to home educate from the start. Some of our consultants have direct experience of home educating their own children and so have firsthand experience of the benefits and difficulties. We also have a specialist consultant in online schooling and home schooling tutors.
For more information, please call 0203 286 6824 from the UK or +44 203 286 6824 from overseas or email consultants@goodschoolsguide.co.uk
Need help? Perhaps you suspect your child has some learning difficulty and you would like advice on what you should do. Or perhaps it is becoming clear that your child's current school is not working for him or her, and you need help to find a mainstream school which has better SEN provision, or to find a special school which will best cater for your child's area of need. Our SEN consultancy team advises on both special schools, and the mainstream schools with good SEN support, from reception through to the specialist colleges for 19+. Special Educational Needs Index
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