Educating your child at home

You have the legal right to educate your child at home. If you home school your child, we’ll contact you to make sure they’re getting a suitable education.

Elective home education

When you choose to educate your child at home, it’s called elective home education.

If you’re a parent who wants to educate their child at home, it’s important that you let:

• your child’s headteacher know in writing – this is the law
• us know so that we can support you

Let us know about a child who has been removed from a school register to be educated at home by contacting us and completing our Notification of Elective Home Education form.

Financial responsibility

If you home educate, you must take full financial responsibility for your child's education, including the cost of exams, books and tutors.

Other reasons for elective home education

Contact us for advice if you’ve decided to home school your child because of:

• a disagreement with school
• disappointment at not getting a particular school place 
• difficulty in persuading the child to attend school

The elective home education adviser will contact you to arrange a meeting. 

You can choose where to meet. They will send you a written report after this first meeting. The report will also be sent to the education department.

You’ll meet with them regularly after that. 

Special Educational Needs (SEND)

When a child has an Education Health Care Plan (EHCP) and is educated at home you must make arrangements to meet the child's needs.

If you want to take a child with SEND out of school, the school must ask us first.

We’ll review the child’s EHCP each year.

Rights of appeal to the SEND tribunal still apply.

GCSEs for home-schooled children

Parents are responsible for contacting the exam board and registering their child for exams. 

Parents must also pay all exam fees and associated costs to exam boards.

If your child has to sit an exam individually, you’ll need to pay for invigilation.

There are no designated exam centres in Southwark.

Speak to your elective home education adviser to discuss options.

National curriculum and SATs

The national curriculum does not apply to children who are home schooled.

Home schooled children do not have to take SATs.

You should:

• offer your child a broad-based curriculum
• seek to develop all of your child's abilities

‘Curriculum’ is the main areas of learning and experience for any child, including:

• creative
• social
• language and literature
• maths
• science
• morals
• technology
• physical

Flexi-schooling

Flexi-schooling is when your child is educated at home part-time and at school part-time.

You must ask the head teacher of your child's school for permission for this style of teaching.

The child will be registered at the school and learn national curriculum topics in the usual way.

This arrangement is not very common. Do not withdraw your child from school if you expect to flexi-school them later. It may not always be possible.

We cannot provide teaching support but we can offer encouragement and advice. 

Contact us

You can contact us by:

• calling 020 7525 5768
• emailing electivehomeeducation@southwark.gov.uk