Information and policy on educating your child at home.

The decision to home educate your child should be a positive choice. Elective Home Education (EHE) requires a lot of time and financial support so should not be decided as a ‘last resort’. Nor should a parent/carer be persuaded to pursue home education as a way of avoiding exclusion or because their child has a poor attendance record.

EHE is a choice and means the parent/carer has taken full responsibility to educate their child outside of school. There is no financial support for EHE, so the cost of learning materials, teaching resources, taking qualifications (if wanted), and any other cost is for parents/carers to cover.

What is EHE?

EHE is a choice taken by a parent/carer, to educate their child at home. 

In the DfE guidance (2019), EHE is defined as: “a term used to describe a choice by parents to provide education for their children at home - or at home and in some other way which they choose - instead of sending them to school full-time. This is different to education provided by a local authority otherwise than at a school - for example, tuition for children who are too ill to attend school.” (Elective home education: departmental guidance for local authorities(link is external) , pg. 5)

By law, a child must be educated from the term after they are 5 years old, to the last Friday of June in the academic year they turn 16 (Year 11). Article 2 of Protocol 1 of the European Convention on Human Rights states that: "No person shall be denied the right to education."

Parents/Carers have a legal right to educate their child at home, but it is important to understand that the learning provided needs to meet the requirements as set out in Section 7 of the Education Act 1996:

“The parent of every child of compulsory school age shall cause them to receive efficient full-time education suitable-

(a)    to their age, ability, aptitude, and
(b)    to any special educational needs, they may have, either by regular attendance at school or otherwise.” 

Our approach

The EHE team aim to ensure that all home-educated children receive a suitable education while recognising and respecting the rights of parents to educate their children outside the school environment. We can only work with parents/carers if they are open to it.

Home education is a choice made by the parent/carer. By choosing home education, parents/carers have accepted they have full responsibility for providing suitable, efficient and full-time education for their child. The team will make informal enquiries as to the educational provision for the child and it is the parent/carer duty to work with us. This includes providing an outline of their educational approach when requested, to include the aims, plans, resources used, and how parents/carers intend to meet their child's educational needs. This will be at least on an annual basis but may be more should support be required. If the information sent to the Local Authority is not suitable, parents/carers need to work with the Local Authority as requested. This is to support the child. If support is required, parents/carers need to ask the EHE team in a suitable time.

Home education is reviewed at least once a year. Following the initial plan being deemed suitable, parents/carers are requested to provide evidence of progress across the year and to set out the aims of the learning for the upcoming year. This allows the Local Authority to consider if the learning continues to be suitable and efficient. Support and guidance can be sought at this stage should your child be entering a new time in their educational journey, for example, being at a transition time, or considering qualifications.

Should the learning plans/reports not be suitable, the EHE team will work more often with parents/carers to provide further support. The support will be time limited, and if no progress is made to the plan being suitable, home learning will need to be deemed not suitable. The EHE team will offer support to the parents/carers to try to avoid this happening. This work with parents/carers can only take place if parents/carers are open to it.

The EHE team can also support should the decision be made for the child to return to school.

There are a small number of situations where parents/carers have not provided suitable education or have not engaged with the Local Authority. Following our informal inquiries through email, phone calls, text messages and/or home visits, the Local Authority then has no option but to deem EHE not suitable. This means we may take further steps, which could include issuing a formal s.437 notice requiring evidence of the child’s education.

Should the information received within the timeframe, not provide sufficient evidence that the child has received a suitable and efficient education, it will be deemed not suitable. Parents/carers will be requested to complete a mid-year application for a school of their choice. Parents/carers may apply for the child’s previous school, but a place there cannot be guaranteed.

Formal action, such as a School Attendance Order (SAO), will be considered if all reasonable steps to support and engage the family have failed. A SAO is a legal process, giving parents/carers the opportunity for the child to return to school. Should an application for a school place not happen, the Local Authority will issue court proceedings. This could result in a fine of up to £1000. Following this outcome and should there continue to be no suitable evidence of learning, the SAO process continues. The EHE team wish to avoid this situation. 

Making the decision to home educate

Points to consider before making the decision to home educate

  • do I have the time and ability to educate my child at home?
  • can I take on the full financial responsibility for my child’s education, for example: IT equipment and internet access, learning resources, exam fees or private tuition?
  • is my home a suitable space for learning: is there space, is it quiet?
  • what does my child think about elective home education?
  • what would happen if I was not available to provide suitable full-time education for a short or long period?
  • I need to provide a suitable plan for learning, will I be able to do that?  
  • School is not just about learning; how will I make sure my child can socialise and make friends of their own age?
  • what is the long-term goal for my child, will they sit qualifications? How?
  • have I considered that if I change my mind, there may not be a place at the school of my choice?
  • if I want my child to have work experience, the employer must register the child’s work and child employment regulations apply?

When is EHE not recommended

  • To avoid sending your child to school
  • You are unhappy with your choice of school
  • To avoid exclusions
  • To avoid prosecution due to poor attendance.
  • If you feel the school cannot meet your child’s needs.

In the above situations, please work with the school and raise any concerns through the appropriate channels. If you need further support, contact the team who may be able to support.

Information for parents who are separated or divorced

A parent/carer who has parental responsibility, can elect to home educate their child, unless there is a court order in place that specifies this cannot happen. If there is a dispute between parents, it is advised that these are settled before a request to home educate is made, so to consider the best interests of the child. If an agreement is not possible, this could become a legal matter between the parents/carers, and they should seek legal advice, and a specific issue order may be required.  

The request can still be made by one parent/carer and will be valid. The DfE guidance on EHE states: “The parent with whom the child lives for most of the time, is normally in effective control of the education provided and whether the child attends school.”  The school and the Local Authority should avoid becoming involved in such parental conflicts.  

Further information

Useful Contacts

Support Services

My child as SEN

My child has an EHCP, can I still home educate?

Yes, but the following needs to be considered:

  • can you provide a suitable education to meet your child’s special educational needs?
  • Some support services will not be available to you, is that acceptable for your child?
  • When leaving a school, an annual review must be held, unless it has taken place recently then a meeting should be held with the EHE Officer and SEND worker.
  • If the child attends a school specific for those with SEN, agreement to home educate must be given by SENSTART. This may not be given in all situations.
  • When a child reaches the end of statutory school age (end of Year 11), the child may continue to be home educated, but there is no involvement from the Local Authority from that point onwards.  

The EHE team work closely with the named SEND caseworker for those with an EHCP and will continue to do so whilst the child remains as EHE. The Local Authority will continue to review the plan annually to ensure that the child’s needs are being met and the EHE Officer is likely to attend these meetings.

I have made the decision to home educate, what now?

If the child is at school

Parents/carers are encouraged to speak to the school in the first instance. A decision to home educate must be put in writing for the school to remove the child from their roll. Without writing to the school, the school cannot remove the child from their register and will need to continue with their attendance procedures.

If the child is not registered at a school

We would encourage parents/carers to notify the Local Authority of their decision to home educate. Please contact the Elective Home Education Team at 01902 550621 or EHE@wolverhampton.gov.uk to inform us of your decision and to receive support and resources.

The Local Authority has a duty under Section 436A of the Education Act 1996 to make arrangements to identify children who are not receiving a suitable education. Once we have received the request to home educate, we will complete our processes and write out to the family. We will offer information on educational resources, templates for learning plans, and information regarding qualifications and college courses.

The EHE team will contact parents/carers at least once a year. We request an initial plan and once that is deemed suitable, parents/carers are requested to provide evidence of progress across the year and to set out the aims of the learning for the upcoming year. Support and guidance can be sought at any stage should your child be entering a new time in their educational journey, for example, being at a transition time, or considering qualifications. Please appreciate that time where parents/carer are considering the learning plan is not appropriate – and is made clear in the DfE guidance.

Should the learning plans/reports not be suitable, the EHE team will work more often with parents/carers to provide further support. The support will be time limited, and if no progress is made to the plan being suitable, home learning will need to be deemed not suitable. The EHE team will offer support to the parents/carers to try to avoid this happening.

The Education Provision

The education provision needs to be full-time (i.e. a significant proportion of the child’s day), be age, ability, and aptitude appropriate, considering special educational needs.

There is no requirement to follow the National Curriculum nor follow the school day nor school holidays. However, literacy and numeracy must be delivered, and the education should aim at enabling the child, when grown-up, to function as an independent citizen in the UK - and beyond the community in which they were brought up, if that is the choice made in later life by the child. Home education should not conflict with the Fundamental British Values.

Some parents/carers develop their own resources, some use books, some online resources, some enrol their child onto a full-time online learning platform, others use a combination. Parents/carers know their child and will adapt to their learning preferences over time. Some parents use tutors – in person or online. If doing this, please consider the advice on this leaflet: online tutors safeguarding guidance - 22 October 2020 at 09.23.59(link is external)

Education at home may not be deemed suitable if it is delivered in circumstances that make it difficult to work as this may affect its efficiency and whether it is 'received'. The education may also be deemed unsuitable if it leads to excessive isolation which impacts on the child's social development.

The Local Authority has a legal duty under section 437 of the Education Act 1996 to take action "if it appears" that a child of compulsory school age in their area is not receiving suitable education. That includes if there is no or limited engagement by parents/carers when informal enquiries are made by the Local Authority.

Please refer to the downloads section, for useful documents. 

Qualifications and access to college

Whilst formal qualifications are not compulsory for children who are home educated, the EHE team receive a lot of enquiries about qualifications each year. It is important that all parents/carers are aware that there are options for children to gain qualifications without attending school, which can support their child to access college, post-16 training, or apprenticeships. We hope you find the pack below useful.

Information on careers can also be found at:

Connexions Wolverhampton

BBC Bitesize

  • A free website on careers information. The careers section includes tips, routes into education, CV writing, and completing applications. There are podcasts and job roles that you can explore.
  • Website(link is external)

Youth Employment:

World Skills UK

Please refer to the downloads section on the first page, for the qualifications page for those aged 14-16. 

Health advice

This section will be updated as often as the team can. 

The Designated Health Advisor from the 0-19 service for children and young people who do not attend mainstream education from 5 years to 16 years is Natalie Lewis.

Natalie works with children who receive home tuition and education for advice regarding any aspects of health. If you have any concerns regarding any aspect of health, Natalie can be contacted via:

Examples of aspects Natalie can support with:

  • behaviour,
  • hearing,
  • immunisations

CAMHs Support(link is external) - A referral needs to be made via a professional, such as a GP, social worker, health visitor, School professional, Paediatrician, School nurse.

Bug Buster Kids(link is external) - has a lot of information about infections and vaccines as well as some downloadable books about flu and winter illnesses. There is a school resources section which contains information about winter health and flu available via Schools Resources(link is external) and by clicking on the ‘winter health and flu vaccination resources tab.’  There is a toolkit for both primary and secondary aged children, which can be downloaded and used at home. 

Support in keeping your child safe

The safety and well-being of children will always be the top priority for the Local Authority, and we are committed to working collaboratively with families to ensure this. The EHE team will conduct standard safeguarding checks and may contact other agencies if there are concerns about the welfare of a home-educated child, as is right and proper to do so. There are some situations where children being home educated would not be suitable, for example in some cases where the child was subject to a Child Protection Plan. In the small number of cases where there is no or limited engagement from a parent and the Local Authority is issuing a School Attendance Order (SAO) a referral to social services is likely to be made.

If you are concerned about the welfare of a child, please consider contacting the safeguarding team. The relevant areas can be found at: Health and Social Care.

If you are, or you suspect a child, or young person is being abused call  01902 555392 during open hours or 01902 552999 for emergency out of hours. If immediate action is needed dial 999.

Below is some advice regarding specific areas of concern relating to keeping your child safe:

Online Safety: An app that is useful, to support parents/carers, can be found at http://ourpact.com/ . This allows a parent/carer to block the use of the internet, remotely.  It can also be used to limit the time spent on the internet.

Useful internet sites include:

Contact us

For further information or general queries please:

Call: 01902 550621 

or 

Email: EHE@wolverhampton.gov.uk

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