Deciding to home educate

What to think about when deciding to home educate

Parents or carers may decide to provide home-based education for their children instead of sending them to school. This is usually referred to as ‘elective home education’. 

No educational choice should ever be taken lightly.

Before deciding to electively home educate you should consider the 

  1. time it will take
  2. resources you will need 
  3. and the energy spend

You may want to involve your child in making that decision.

The role of the local authority

The council, with general responsibility for education in the area, recognise that home education is a key aspect of parental choice.

It is equal, in law, to education provided in school.

  1. We take the lead role in working with home educators and the young people who are being electively home educated on the Island.
  2. We are able to advise and guide home educators, where requested, through consultation and online guidance materials.

Current legislation makes it clear that parents who choose to educate their children at home assume full financial responsibility. This includes bearing the cost of any public examinations, such as GCSE's and A-levels. 

What to do once you have made the decision to home educate

If your child is registered at a school, please inform the head teacher in writing of your request to remove your child from the school roll.

If your child has an Education, Health and Care Plan and is registered at a mainstream school, please inform in writing the head teacher of your decision and contact the Isle of Wight Local Authority SEN Team to ensure appropriate procedures are followed and suitable advice is given.

If your child has an Education, Health and Care Plan and is on roll at a special school, their name will remain on the register of that special school until the SEN Team are satisfied that the educational provision you have made for your child meets their special educational needs, whereupon your child’s Education, Health and Care Plan will be adjusted accordingly.

If your child is not on roll at a school, you are under no specific duty to inform the Isle of Wight Local Authority of your decision to home educate. However, we do recommend that you inform the EHE Team via: electivehomeeducation@iow.gov.uk.

The Local Authority has a specific responsibility to identify children missing education (Section 436A of the Education Act 1996) so it is also very helpful for parents to inform the Local Authority of children who are being home educated who have never been registered at a school, as we will not then deem them as ‘missing education’.

The Guide for parents page has more helpful information.

Contact the Elective Home Education team (EHE)

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