FAQ?

Is home education legal?

yes parents in Wales have the right to home educate their children

Will I have to teach the national curriculum?

no education must be suitable to the age, ability, aptitude and environment.

Do I need to be a teacher?

no anyone can teach their own children

Does the school give you work to do at home?

no home education is nothing to do with schools

How will home educated children socialise?

home educated children socialise with people of all ages including the children who live in the street; shop owners, other home educated children; in fact home educated children are generally able to access better socialisation opportunities than children who go to school.

Do you get paid to home educate?

no once a child is removed from school there is no financial support available for the education or teaching.

Where do you get resources from?

There are a huge amount of resources available free of charge on the internet including the national curriculum. There are also a lot of resources available at a discounted rate to home educators see the page on discounts for a few.

Will I have to be inspected by the Local authority?

no the local authority has no right to inspect home education authority

Will the local authority want to visit my home?

visits may be suggested however this is down to individual choice and the authority has no legal president to insist

Do parents need to ask permission to home educate?

No, not unless the child is a registered pupil at a special school, in which case the consent of the local authority is required before the child's name can be taken off the school roll. 

How do home educated children take exams?

Home educated children who wish to take exams do so as private candidates. This involves selecting an examination board with suitable courses and finding an exam centre which accepts private candidates. Home educated children are restricted in choice of exams and must find a centre which will assist with GCSE controlled assessment, or find a centre where it is possible to sit IGCSE's

How do I get in touch with other home educating families?

There are extensive groups available on both yahoo and facebook however they have a range of purposes and rules and may not take kindly to differing perspectives so before joining any internet group find out as much about them as possible and check and see if you agree with the group ethos.

Does it make a difference if a child has a statement of special needs?

No having a statement of SEN does not prevent a child from being educated at home.   

Can I continue home educating post 16

yes you can

Does home educating affect my benefits

Child benefit and tax credits are not affected by home educating and can still be claimed post 16

Child Benefit is payable for ALL children in full-time education (12+ hours) up to the age of 20, whether they attend school/college or are educated otherwise as long as the education is not above Level 3 (A Level or equivalent).

Between January and June of the school year in which the child turns 16, parents will receive a letter from the Child Benefit Office at HMRC in Newcastle asking whether the child will be continuing their full time education post 16. It is at this point you should confirm that your child will be continuing home education.

HMRC Accepts Home Education for Child Benefit Purposes

The Education Section at the Child Benefit Offices, uses DMG11094 (Decision Makers Guide) to decide whether or not full time education is taking place. DMG11094 states:

Full-time education

To decide whether education undertaken elsewhere is full-time, the decision maker should consider the guidance in DMG11093. This might include unsupervised study since the circumstances of home education could be quite different from those at a recognised educational establishment. If the decision maker is satisfied that the number of hours studied each week exceeds 12 they should accept the education as full-time.

Child Benefit information courtesy of Education Otherwise more information is available here http://www.educationotherwise.net/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=161&Itemid=233