Home schooling is when children are pupils at a school but are being educated at home whilst still receiving support from school, for example, when children couldn’t attend school during the pandemic. Home educating (or elective home educating) is when the family choose to not send their child to school and assumes responsibility for making sure their child receives a suitable education outside of school. What is referred to as home education in the UK, is termed home schooling in the US. The majority of academic research is undertaken in the US, therefore uses the term home schooling.

No, you don’t need to be a teacher to home educate your child (although lots of teachers do). “Children come into the world equisitely designed and strongly motivated to educate themselves” (Peter Gray, psychology researcher and scholar). Parents and carers simply facilitate this natural and instrinsic motivation through whatever way works best for their child’s individual needs. This might be providing them with the necessary resources, arranging trips, using mentors knowledgeable in their area of interest, tutors, clubs, classes, internet or book research and peer work. It also includes learning alongside them, because not even qualified teachers know all the answers!

Our children make friends of all ages and backgrounds at clubs, classes and home education meets, and through their family and friends. The social lives of every child will look different; since whilst some love a crowd, others thrive best on one-to-one meet ups with close friends or family members. This flexibility is particularly important for children whose brains are wired to require environments more tailored to their needs then school can provide.

What home educators do all day varies considerably, since every child and every family is different (see our “Home educators: Who are we?” page). Families prefer different degrees of structure, however it would be very rare to find a home educating family whose lifestyle was as rigidly planned and goal orientated as school. Home education is usually more flexible and child centred, taking advantage of spontaneous opportunities to weave learning into everyday life. This is why home educators find questions like “How many hours do you spend educating a week?” or “Do you take holidays?” so difficult to answer: learning is taking place from morning to night.

Nothing really changes. No matter what age, children and teenagers who are trusted in their innate motivation to learn and grow, will continue doing just that. Their families will continue to enable them to learn what they want and need, when they are ready.

It isn't safe for home educating families to be "on a register", and monitored by their local authority because there are almost no safeguards against mistakes and unreasonable behaviour by Home Education Officers. Although many local authority Elective Home Education departments do a good job, when the wrong decision is made by a council employee, families are left powerless and children forced into school. You can learn more about this issue on our page about the Children's Wellbeing and Schools Bill Link Another serious concern for home educators is the stress that this monitoring, especially home visits, causes to their children. Imagine the fear a child in our "Who are home educators? " section could feel when their home and general demeaner was inspected by the local authority, with the knowledge that if something is "wrong" they may be uprooted from their current life and sent to school. No good parent would want to put their child through such anguish. Read more about how a register of home educated children would cause more harm than good here

The majority of research indicates, that on completing their education. home educated children tend to have equal or better academic outcomes than schooled children (Ray 2017). However, many families choose home education to avoid the competitive aspects of “keeping up” in traditional schooling, considering the harm this can cause to children (Hogberg 2019). Rather than focusing on age related averages, these families see their child as an individual, with unique needs and interests. Some approaches, like "unschooling" (see our "Who are home educators?" page), focus almost exclusively on supporting a child’s intrinsic motivation to learn and develop. Whilst the they may attain skills at different ages to schooled children (Isaac 2016), young people who are allowed to learn at their own pace are still able to develop into capable adults (Riley and Gray, 2015).

Yes, home education often provides a vital refuge from bullying, stress, and crime in schools. Harmful stereotypes linking home education and child abuse are not supported by empirical data (please see our section on The Children's Wellbeing and Schools Bill).

Home educated children learn through living life in their community, having a wide range of experiences and amongst a wide range of people of different ages and backgrounds. Some families even travel the world (see world schoolers in our types of home educators section). They have the time and the freedom to explore and try new things all of the time. Surely preparation for the ‘real world’ doesn’t get much richer than that? Unfortunately schools simply cannot provide this and children are with the same age range, often in the same class for at least their primary school years, in a classroom or the school grounds with the occasional trip. Real life cannot be taught, it has to be lived. And home education provides that in abundance. See some Home Ed-Alumni on this brilliant site https://doingeducationdifferently.co.uk/home-ed-alumni/

Home educated children can take exams, and benefit from the increased flexibility of being able to take them at any age. Exams can be taken at private exam centres or sat at some private schools. There are 14-16 Elective Home Education college placements available depending on where you live, but not readily available to all. Home educators can access syllabuses and use any number of resources, including books, websites, and online or face to face classes to learn the material. Unfortunately, home educators need to pay for their child to sit exams privately, which can be costly. Home educated children do not have to take GCSE’s or A levels; some access college courses, apprenticeships, or work that does not require these qualifications, whilst others start their own businesses.

Remote schooling, as took place during COVID-19, differs significantly from home education. Home education involves socialising, having fun, and learning in our communities, typically a rewarding experience for both adults and children. It is also generally much easier for home educated children to feel motivated, since they can learn in a style that suits their needs, about subjects which are connected their interests. Not many children find it easy to follow a generic curriculum whilst spending hours in an online classroom, as they did in lockdown. Lastly, home educating families will have intentionally structured their lives to ensure someone is available to support children with their education. This avoids the stress many parents faced during lockdown, when trying to balance work commitments with supervising their children's online schooling.