Home education in the UK, in plain English

Is home education legal in the UK?

Home education is legal in every part of the UK. It is not a loophole, not a grey area, and not something you need to apply for. The law says you must ensure your child receives a suitable education, either by attendance at school or "otherwise". That "otherwise" is home education.

If you have landed on this page because you typed "is home education legal UK" into a search engine at midnight, the answer is yes. Whether you call it homeschooling or home education, you are allowed to do this. The rest of this guide explains what the law actually says, what your council can and cannot ask of you, and where to find a real person if you need one.

This is information, not legal advice. If you are in a situation involving a social worker, a School Attendance Order (a court-backed direction to send your child to a named school), or a special-school EHCP (Education, Health and Care Plan, the document that sets out legally binding provision for a child with special educational needs), the helplines at the bottom of this page are the right next step.

The law in plain English

Three sections of the Education Act 1996 matter most for home-educating families in England. Between them, they set out your duty, the council's duty, and the process the council must follow if it thinks something is wrong. The devolved nations have their own frameworks, covered below.

Section 7: your duty

Section 7 (the part of the Education Act 1996 that defines the parental duty) says that a parent must ensure their child of compulsory school age receives "efficient full-time education suitable to age, ability and aptitude, and to any special educational needs", either by regular attendance at school or "otherwise."

That final word is the entire legal basis for home education. It does not say "suitable education as defined by the National Curriculum". It does not say "education that looks like school". It says suitable for your child.

Case law has interpreted "suitable" to mean an education that prepares the child for life in their community and does not foreclose future options.

For a deeper look at Section 7 and how "suitable" has been interpreted, see What the law actually says about home education in England. For what "suitable" means in practice and how to describe your provision, see Suitable education: what the law actually requires.

Section 436A: the council's duty

Section 436A (the part of the Act that requires local authorities to identify children missing education) places a duty on local authorities (LAs) to make arrangements to identify children in their area who are not receiving a suitable education. This is the section that gives your council a reason to write to you.

It is worth understanding what this section does not do. It does not give the LA a power to enter your home. It does not require you to meet with anyone. It does not create a registration scheme or an approval process.

It creates a duty on the council, not on you.

Section 437: when the council thinks something is wrong

Section 437 (the enforcement section of the Act) is the one that worries people, so let's be clear about what it involves. If the LA believes, on reasonable grounds, that a child is not receiving a suitable education, it can serve a notice requiring the parent to satisfy it that the child is being educated. This is called a Notice to Satisfy, or sometimes an informal Section 437 notice. You have fifteen days to respond.

Most families never receive one. If you do, it is not a crisis, but it is not optional. You respond in writing, you describe your provision clearly, and if the LA is satisfied, the matter is closed.

If it is not satisfied, the next step is a School Attendance Order (SAO, a formal direction to send your child to a named school, enforceable through the magistrates' court). SAOs are rare. They are survivable. And you have the right to appeal.

If a Section 437 Notice or an SAO arrives, ring Education Otherwise that day. If you cannot face the phone, their website has sample letters and written guidance you can use without speaking to anyone. Do not sit on it. For the full walkthrough, see School Attendance Order or Notice to Satisfy: what now?.

What can the LA actually do?

This is the section most parents need. You have a letter on the hall table, or you are expecting one, and you want to know what you actually have to do. The short version: less than you think.

Informal enquiries

The most common LA letter is a polite, routine enquiry asking you to describe your educational provision. It is not a legal demand. There is no statutory duty to respond to an informal enquiry.

Most families reply in writing because a brief, factual letter is the quickest way to close the file and be left alone. A few sentences about what your child is learning, how you are approaching it, and (if you choose) a sample or two of their work is usually enough.

You do not have to host a visit, send a portfolio, or prove that your child is "at the right level". The LA is looking for evidence that education is happening, not a ringbinder of lesson plans.

For a step-by-step guide to responding, see The LA has sent me a letter: what do I do?.

Section 436A enquiries

Sometimes the letter is a little more formal. A Section 436A enquiry (one made under the council's duty to identify children missing education) is still an information request, but it usually comes with more specific questions and sometimes a named officer. The same principles apply: you can respond in writing, you can decline a home visit, and the LA cannot compel you to do anything beyond providing information about your provision.

Section 437 notices

A Section 437 Notice is the serious one. It means the LA has formed a view, on reasonable grounds, that your child may not be receiving a suitable education, and it is giving you fifteen days to demonstrate otherwise. Do not ignore this. Respond in writing, be clear and factual, and ring Education Otherwise the day it arrives.

Most families who respond to a Section 437 Notice in a clear, cooperative tone never hear another word. The notice is a procedural step, not a verdict. For the full process, see School Attendance Order or Notice to Satisfy: what now?.

Home visits

Local authorities in England have no statutory power to enter your home or to require a meeting with your child. This is worth repeating: they have no power of entry. They can ask. You can say no.

Refusing a visit is not, on its own, evidence that the education is unsuitable, and the 2019 DfE guidance for local authorities says so.

Many families do choose to meet an LA officer, either at home or at a neutral location, because it can be the fastest way to satisfy the enquiry and close the case. Others provide a written report, a video summary, or samples of work by post. Both approaches are fine.

If you do meet, you do not need to panic-clean or coach your child. A few bits of recent work, a short description of what you have been doing, and a calm manner are enough. Your child does not need to "perform". Shy, tired or cross is fine.

If anyone arrives at your door without an appointment, especially if they mention safeguarding without prior correspondence, you are entitled to close the door and ring Education Otherwise before speaking to anyone.

For the full picture on visit rights, what to prepare, and what to do if an officer is aggressive, see LA home visit rights: what you need to know.

"Known to the LA" and the Children Not in School register

If your child has never been on a school roll, you may not be "known" to the LA at all. There has historically been no legal duty to notify the council that you are home educating, as long as your child was never enrolled at a state school.

This is changing. The Children's Wellbeing and Schools Act 2025 introduces a Children Not in School register for England. At the time of writing, implementation is phased and not all provisions are in force.

The register creates a duty on parents to provide certain information to the LA, but it does not create an approval process. Home education remains legal regardless of registration status. Check GOV.UK for the most recent position.

For a detailed breakdown of what the register means in practice, see The Children Not in School register: what you actually need to know.

What if I want to deregister my child from school?

If your child is currently on a school roll, deregistration (the process of formally removing your child from a school's register) is simpler than most people expect. You write a letter to the headteacher stating that you are withdrawing your child to home educate. For a mainstream school, the head must remove the child from the roll. It is not a request; it is a notification.

There is no waiting period, no approval process, and no term-time restriction. You can deregister in January, in June, or on the third Tuesday of October.

The exception is special schools. If your child has an EHCP that names a special school, the LA's consent is usually required before the school can remove the child from the roll. This is a different process with different timelines, and it is worth getting advice before you act. See Deregistering with an EHCP or from a special school.

For the full deregistration walkthrough, including what to put in the letter and what the school should (and should not) say in response, see How to deregister your child from school (UK).

If you have already deregistered and you are wondering what to do right now, this week, see Just deregistered: the next 72 hours. It covers the practical first steps, from what to tell the school to what to do (and not do) in the first few days at home.

The first few weeks: deschooling

If your child has been in school, the first weeks at home will probably not look like education. That is normal. Deschooling (the informal recovery period after leaving school, where the child gradually adjusts to a different pace and structure) is a real and important phase.

A common rule of thumb is roughly one month of decompression for each year the child spent in school. Some children take less. Some take more.

During deschooling, the most useful thing you can do is step back. Cook together, go to the park, read aloud, do nothing in particular. The urge to replicate Year 3 at the kitchen table from day one is understandable, but it usually backfires. Let the dust settle.

Devolved nations: Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland

The legal frameworks are different in each nation, and this guide cannot cover them in full. What follows is a brief orientation for each, with a link to the dedicated article.

Scotland

Home education is legal in Scotland under different legislation (primarily the Education (Scotland) Act 1980 and the Standards in Scotland's Schools Act 2000). If your child has never attended a local authority school, you do not need to notify the council. If your child is being withdrawn from a council school, you need the consent of the education authority.

The culture in Scotland tends to be somewhat less adversarial than in parts of England, though this varies by council. Schoolhouse is the main Scottish home-education charity and the best first call.

For the full picture, see Home education in Scotland.

Wales

The legal basis in Wales is also Section 7 of the Education Act 1996, which still applies. The Welsh Government has issued its own EHE (Elective Home Education) guidance, and the culture around LA engagement is sometimes different from England. A Welsh-language provision point applies if your child has been in Welsh-medium education. The Welsh Government has consulted on its own children-not-in-education register arrangements; check gov.wales for the current position.

For the full picture, see Home education in Wales.

Northern Ireland

Home education is legal in Northern Ireland under the Education and Libraries (Northern Ireland) Order 1986. The legal framework is broadly similar to England (suitable education, parental duty, no National Curriculum requirement), but the administrative culture is different. The Education Authority (EA) is a single body covering all of Northern Ireland, which can simplify dealings compared to the patchwork of English LAs.

For the full picture, see Home education in Northern Ireland.

Special situations

Some situations involve extra legal complexity. These are briefly covered here, with links to the detailed guides.

EHCP and special schools

If your child has an EHCP (Education, Health and Care Plan, the document that sets out the provision a child with special educational needs is legally entitled to), you can still home educate. But the deregistration process is different. If the EHCP names a special school, the LA's consent is normally required. If it names a mainstream school, you can deregister in the usual way, though the EHCP itself may need to be amended to reflect home education.

This is one area where getting advice before you act matters. IPSEA (Independent Provider of Special Education Advice) offers free, legally accurate advice on EHCP issues. For the full guide, see Deregistering with an EHCP or from a special school.

Safeguarding

Home education is not a safeguarding concern. The 2019 DfE guidance says this explicitly. If a school or an LA officer suggests that deregistering your child is, in itself, a child protection issue, they are wrong.

That said, if a safeguarding referral is made, it triggers a separate process with its own timelines and rules. Do not ignore it, and do not try to handle it alone.

For plain-English guidance on what a safeguarding referral means and what your rights are, see Safeguarding referral and home education and Safeguarding in plain English.

School Attendance Orders

A School Attendance Order (SAO, a court-backed direction requiring you to send your child to a named school) is the final step in the enforcement process. It can only follow a Section 437 Notice that was not satisfactorily answered. SAOs are rare.

In a typical year, only a handful are issued across the whole of England. If you are providing a suitable education and you have responded to the LA's correspondence, an SAO is extremely unlikely.

If one is issued, you have the right to defend it in court and to nominate an alternative school. The process is formal but survivable, and specialist organisations can help. See School Attendance Order or Notice to Satisfy: what now?.

Do I have to follow the National Curriculum?

No. The National Curriculum applies to state-funded schools. It does not apply to home-educating families. You can follow it if you want to, but there is no legal requirement to do so.

What the LA is actually looking for, when it makes enquiries, is evidence that your child is learning and that the education is suitable for their age, ability and aptitude. That evidence can take many forms: a written account of your approach, photographs, samples of work, a list of books read, a description of trips and projects, or a combination. It does not have to look like a school timetable.

Montessori (a child-led approach built around hands-on materials and observation), Charlotte Mason, classical education, unschooling (child-led learning without a formal curriculum), eclectic mixes of all four, and approaches that do not have a name are all legal. Curriculum is a tool, not a requirement.

Where to get human help

Sometimes you need a voice on the other end of a phone, not another article. These four organisations are the ones most UK home-educating families turn to first. All links go to the charity's website; check the site for their current contact details and advice-line hours.

• Education Otherwise is the main UK-wide home-education charity. They offer an advice line, sample letters, and practical support for families dealing with LA correspondence.
• Home Education UK (HE-UK) provides information, resources, and solicitor signposting for families who need legal support.
• IPSEA (Independent Provider of Special Education Advice) is the place to go if your child has special educational needs, an EHCP, or is at a special school. Their advice is free and legally accurate.
• Schoolhouse is the main Scottish home-education charity, covering Scottish law, EA liaison, and community support.

If you are in immediate danger, call 999. If a child is unwell and you need medical advice, call 111. For everything else, start with Education Otherwise.

A real family's first three months

Priya lives in a two-bedroom terrace in Rotherham with her daughter Asha, who is seven. Asha has been struggling at school for over a year: she is quiet, she has stopped reading at home, and the morning routine has become a daily battle. Priya has looked into home education three times and closed the laptop each time because she was not sure it was legal.

On a Tuesday in November, she writes the letter. One paragraph, addressed to the headteacher, saying she is withdrawing Asha from school to educate her at home with immediate effect. She drops it at the school office on the way to the shops. The school removes Asha from the roll.

The first two weeks are strange. Asha sleeps late, watches clouds, makes a mess in the kitchen, and does not open a book. Priya fights the urge to set up a timetable.

She cooks with Asha instead. They walk to the library. They sort buttons. This is deschooling, and it is supposed to look like this.

In week three, a letter arrives from the LA. It is a polite, one-page enquiry asking Priya to describe her educational provision. She sits on it for two days (there is no deadline on an informal enquiry), then writes a short reply: Asha is in a deschooling period, they are using practical life activities and library visits, and Priya is planning to introduce more structured work after Christmas.

She posts it. Three weeks later, a one-line acknowledgement arrives. That is the last she hears from the LA for six months.

By month three, Asha is reading again. Not because Priya made her, but because there are books everywhere and no one is testing her on them. They have found a local home-ed group that meets on Wednesday mornings at a community centre.

Priya still has bad days when she wonders if she has made a terrible mistake. She reads Am I ruining my child? on her phone at 11pm and feels slightly less alone. The law does not care about her postcode or her household structure, and the timeline she walked through is the same one available to any UK family that decides to home-educate.

This guide is information, not legal advice. If your situation involves a School Attendance Order, a social worker, a special-school EHCP, or anything that feels urgent, contact one of the organisations listed above before acting on anything you have read here.