Educating your child at home
You have the right to educate your child at home (elective home education). We contact home schoolers to make sure children get a suitable education.
You can teach your child at home, either full or part-time. This is called home education (sometimes ‘elective home education’ or ‘home schooling’).
If you home school your child, we’ll contact you to make sure they’re getting a suitable education.
If you home educate, you must take full financial responsibility for your child's education.
This includes the cost of exams, books and tutors.
If you choose to home school
If you want to educate your child at home, by law you must let your child’s headteacher know in writing.
You need to also let us know so we can support you.
Complete our notification of elective home education online form or contact us.
Other reasons
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
Our elective home education adviser will contact you to arrange a meeting.
You can choose where to meet. They'll 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
Get in touch with our elective home education team by:
- calling 020 7525 5768
- emailing electivehomeeducation@southwark.gov.uk