Educating your child at home (elective home education) - Print version

What to consider before making a decision to home educate

Families who elect to home educate do so for a variety of reasons. The decision to home educate should not be taken lightly. It can be very rewarding to educate your child at home but it does require a serious time commitment, patience, energy and the ability to provide appropriate motivation, resources and equipment.

You will need to decide if you have the skills and ability to educate your child or if you will need to purchase services to help you do this e.g. online learning packages or tutors. Please keep in mind there is no financial support available when you home educate. In addition, if your child receives free school meals or pupil premium support, this will not apply when home educated and will be lost.

Furthermore, access to services schools buy in such as speech and language therapy, Education Psychology, CCT, SEMHL, alternative provisions via the city wide CAP programme including InspirED are not available to home educators. If you require these services to support your child we advise discussing home education with the school (if on roll at one) first or making an application for a school place.

From the start be sure you are doing what is right for your child. Discuss it with him/her and with the school, if your child is on roll at one. You could also speak to someone at the LA, ask for the Elective Home Education Coordinator who can talk you through what home education entails. Please initially email ehecoventry@coventry.gov.uk [mailto:ehecoventry@coventry.gov.uk] to set up a time to discuss it. Much of what will be discussed is reflected here on the website.

You must be able to provide the following:

• a suitable education 
• a full-time education 
• an efficient education

You will also need to consider the following as a part of planning for home education:

• opportunities to socialise with other children and build friendships. This could be done through social activities or clubs based on your child's hobbies and interests
• space at home where learning can take place
• the time - parents who are in employment will have to determine if they can accommodate a full-time education as well as work commitments
• what are your child's aspirations? How will your home education take steps towards achieving this?
• does your child want to sit any examinations? This can be done but please keep in mind it can be costly as a private pupil
• if you want to home educate, once you come off the roll of a school, your place will be allocated to someone on the waiting list. If you want to go back into schools you will need to apply through the admissions [/schooladmissions] process. Please be aware, that there may not be places available at the school you apply for so you may not get the school of your choice

You should not consider home education purely to avoid sending your child to school or to avoid exclusions or attendance fines. A suitable, full time and efficient education must be in place to continue to home educate.

Furthermore, being noted as home educated at the LA will not secure you a place at your preferred school any quicker if there are no spaces. Coventry City Council respect a parents decision to home educate and it is viewed as any educational 'setting' would be. The expectations are that if you deregister to home educate, you are in fact doing that to the standard required. 

The legal position

Duty of the parent and/or carer:

As a parent, you have the legal right to choose to educate your children other than by attendance at school, usually by providing education at home.

Section 7 of the 1996 Education Act states that:

'The parent of every child of compulsory school age shall cause him/her to receive full-time education suitable -
(a) to his/her age, ability and aptitude, and;
(b) to any special educational needs he/she may have, either by regular attendance at school or otherwise."

The phrase ''or otherwise'' allows education outside of formal schooling, providing that the parent/carer can meet the child's needs, as stated above.

Article 2 of Protocol 1 of the European Convention on Human Rights states that:

"No person shall be denied the right to education. In the exercise of any functions which it assumes in relation to education and to teaching, the State shall respect the right of the parents to ensure such education and teaching is in conformity with their own religious and philosophical convictions."

Duty of the Local Authority (LA):

The duty under s.436A  means that local authorities must make arrangements to find out so far as possible whether home educated children are receiving suitable full-time education.

Section 437 of the 1996 Education Act states that:

''If it appears to a local education authority that a child of compulsory school age in their area is not receiving suitable education, either by regular attendance at school or otherwise, they shall serve a notice in writing, on the parent requiring him/her to satisfy them within the period specified in the notice, not being less than 15 days, that the child is receiving such education."

If the LA is unable to satisfy itself that the child is receiving suitable education, then a school attendance order may be issued to the parents, which will require them to register the child at a named school within a certain period of time.'

The role of the Local Authority in home education

The Local Authority has a responsibility to best know who is being home educated in their area. When we are notified that you are home educating, we will contact you via post or email to send a welcome letter, information from the NHS regarding vaccinations that your child is entitled to which are normally given in school, support available to you from our Family Hubs as well as details of local offers available to Coventry residents via GoCv [https://go-cv.co.uk/].

The Local Authority is here to support you in your home education, not to judge or inspect. We are happy to support parents in the early stages of their home education by signposting them to resources, activities, websites and home education groups. We can do this via a home visit, virtual visit, email or phone conversations, whichever works for you. Alternatively, we can meet in a public place such as a cafe for an informal chat.

We aim to contact home educating families annually where possible, however this may not always be necessary. There is no fixed timescale for these enquiries. We can come and see/speak to you to see how you are progressing and offer further assistance if this is required. We also offer virtual visits. We aim to work in a way that is supportive for you.

We cannot insist on a home visit and we will communicate with our home educating parents in a variety of different ways. However, where parents choose not to engage with us and there are concerns that the child may not be receiving a suitable education, we may need to take further action.

Providing a suitable education

We have a duty to act if it appears that home-educated children are not receiving a full time, efficient education that is suitable for the child's age, ability and aptitude.

We will contact you to discuss your approach to education, and ask you to demonstrate a suitable education. There is no fixed timescale for these enquiries.

You are not obliged by law to respond, but we may take matters further if we do not receive a response, particularly if we have reasonable grounds for considering that a suitable education may not be being provided. Where there are concerns usually we work with families to address any concerns informally. We will speak to you about the concern and give you the opportunity to adapt the education being provided and offer you support to do this. We will then look to see that these recommendations are being followed through. 

Where we have made informal enquiries and have not received any information to determine that a suitable, full time and efficient education is in place, we may look to take further steps to establish this. This may mean a removal from the EHE list we hold and a referral to our Attendance Team until we can determine a suitable, full time and efficient education is in place. We welcome any information pertaining to a child's education at any point.

If suitable education is still not being provided, you will be advised to register your child at a school and be informed of school places available in your area.

As a last resort we may consider issuing a School Attendance Order (SAO), which will name a school for your child to attend. Failure to do this could result in the matter being taken to court.

Planning for your child's future: qualifications

There is no obligation to teach the National Curriculum nor study chronologically the same way that pupils in school do. It all depends on your child. You could spread sitting qualifications out over a number of years rather than studying the traditional 10 GCSEs schools do in year 10 and 11. Furthermore, there is no requirement to do exams as you would ordinarily in a school. However, you will need to consider what impact this will have on your child's choices at post 16.

You may want to think about your educational philosophy  - what approach do you want to take? 

It is important that you encourage your child to explore their future options around career choices as this could inform the approach that you take. 

Exams for home schooled children

If you want your child to take exams, such as GCSEs, IGCSEs or Functional Skills, you should plan in advance for this. You will need to investigate which syllabus you will follow for each subject and what resources you will need to teach it.

Some subjects may have coursework, which will need to be marked by someone the exam board has approved. You will need to pay someone to do this. Alternatively, many families opt for IGCSEs as some courses remove the coursework element replacing it with an additional exam.

You will need to contact an exam centre directly and register your child for the exams. You will be responsible for the fees. There are 2 approved centres in Coventry. The links below are to the main exam boards and their private pupil pages:

• AQA [https://www.aqa.org.uk/student-and-parent-support/private-candidates]
• OCR [https://www.ocr.org.uk/students/private-candidates/]
• Cambridge International [https://www.cambridgeinternational.org/exam-administration/private-candidates/]
• Pearsons/Edexcel [https://qualifications.pearson.com/en/support/support-topics/registrations-and-entries/academic-registrations-and-entries/private-candidates.html#/:~:text=A%20private%20candidate%20is%20a,taking%20resits%20after%20leaving%20school.]

Please note that there is no funding to pay for examinations from local or national government for home educated pupils. Home educators assume full financial responsibility for the cost of their child's education. However, please contact Coventry City Council's home education team if you would like to talk through your options regarding this as we may be able to draw on some financial support, dependent on circumstances.

Age 14 to 16 considerations

What do I need to consider before opting to home-educate?

It is a requirement that all young people aged 16 to18 are in either employment, education or training. Whatever you plan to study before your child reaches statutory school age should help them take the next steps into this. This may or may not require examinations to be sat to meet course entry requirements for a particular college, apprenticeship provider or employer. You will need to consider the funding for these qualifications - an approximate figure in a local private candidate centre is £260 per qualification. In some cases, not having GCSEs or level 2 equivalent qualifications will place your child at a disadvantage for post-16 as the routes into education, employment and training are very limited without them.  Please strongly consider this when looking at removal from a school roll in year 10 and 11 if qualifications are a part of your plan for your child's education. You may find it more beneficial to work with the school.

There are some colleges in the region which offer home-educated 14 to 16 fully funded GCSEs but entry onto these is subject to the providers timescales of application. Places are also limited. Contact ehecoventry@coventry.gov.uk [mailto:ehecoventry@coventry.gov.uk] if this interests you.

What happens if my child reaches statutory school age in year 11 with no qualifications?

There is not a simple answer to this. GCSEs or equivalent qualifications can be the 'ticket' to the next stage but you need to consider the following context:

• with no GCSEs or equivalents, your child would unlikely be able to get on a level 2 or level 3 course at a post-16 provider, instead having to spend a year completing a level 1 course alongside GCSEs in English and Maths. This would be fully funded by 16-18 funding but it may mean studying something that they do not wish to for a year as choices on level 1 courses are limited
• be aware that availability of level 1 courses is also limited. Our advice is to apply early. DO NOT leave it until later in the academic year. Leave it too late and your child could end up NEET - Not in employment, education or training

What should I do when my child is in year 11 to plan for post-16?

• you can continue to home-educate. There remains no funding for home educators at post-16
• visit as many open events at different colleges and sixth forms if this is the route you would like to consider. The colleges advertise their open events on their websites. You may need to book on
• if you know that you are not going to have GCSEs or level 2 qualifications, apply early to avoid not being able to get onto a course
• look out for emails/Facebook [https://www.facebook.com/coventrycchomeeducation] posts from the EHE Team - we will let you know of any job or apprenticeship fayres that are available for home-educated parents to attend. You may need to book on
• follow the Job Shop [https://www.coventry.gov.uk/jobshop] on their Facebook [https://www.facebook.com/CoventryJobShop] page. They have links with employers and training providers and often advertise apprenticeships for school leavers. This is a way of training for a job and getting paid for it
• your EHE Coordinator will contact you during the course of year 11 offering you careers advice from an a Careers Advisor.  This is available to home-educated families from the last Friday in June i.e. when year 11s reach the end of statutory school age. Respond to these messages or message ehecoventry@coventry.gov.uk [mailto:ehecoventry@coventry.gov.uk] requesting this advice and a referral will be made. The earlier we know, the swifter we can get to working with your child
• let the LA know what your child has planned for post 16 - we have a duty to identify and offer support to those who may become NEET
• if you are wanting to sit GCSEs via a private candidate centre, you need to adhere to their timescales for examination entry. Be prepared for this as it requires significant planning

Planning for 16 to 18 education

Prospects Support is available and the following advice has been compiled to help you take active steps towards planning for Post-16.

Receiving the appropriate support at the right moment can significantly influence your path. Lacking traditional educational experience, we believe does not imply that you lack the skills and qualities necessary to create an impact. Your journey has just been different, and that difference gives you a different perspective that is valuable.
Receive advice and support on:

• Post-16 options
• different career pathways
• applying to college
• apprenticeships
• traineeships
• part-time work
• CVs, cover letters, and interviews

You can start applying for post-16 provision first term of Year 11. You can apply to college as soon as you start Year 11. We would encourage you to apply early. There are colleges across Coventry and Warwickshire, please look at their website for courses that they run

What type of qualification should I choose at 16?

There are 3 types of qualifications Post-16: Academic, Vocational and Occupational. Most people focus on one of these but occasionally students study more than one.
When deciding which qualifications to take, ask yourself if the course will:

• help you to meet the entry requirements for the job, career or higher education courses that interest you?
• help you to keep your options open if you are not sure what you want to do later on?
• suit your preferred learning style and use assessment methods that suit you?
• allow me to combine different types of qualifications? i.e. mix an academic A Level with an Applied General Qualification

What are the options available at 16 to 18?

Academic

Academic qualifications are subject based, covering traditional subjects but also offered in some newer subjects. Academic qualifications allow you to study 3 or 4 qualifications in depth - they have a lot of theory and written work in them and are mainly assessed through examinations.

Vocational

Vocational Qualifications are broadly based around an area of work or ‘job family’. They equip you with knowledge of the sector and introduce you to the different careers within it.  Due to ongoing changes, these qualifications can be called both Tech Level or Applied General.

Occupational

Occupational qualifications are job-related and specific. They develop the skills needed to do a particular job. These qualifications are usually gained on the job as part of a training course or Apprenticeship. Assessment includes coursework as well as observation of you at work.

Further information and support

Where can I get further support and advice?

We have prepared an Elective Home Education booklet [/downloads/download/6226/elective_home_education_booklet] which covers the legal rights and responsibilities of parents and the Local Authority. Towards the front there is useful information and the back parent recommendations, websites, apps, groups and places where you can seek further advice and guidance on home education.

We have also started a Coventry City Council Elective Home Education Facebook page [https://www.facebook.com/coventrycchomeeducation/], which gives information and advice on what is available for home schoolers in Coventry.

If your child has SEND you may wish to seek further advice and support via the SENDIASS website [https://www.covsendiass.co.uk/].

If your child has reached the end of statutory school age and you would like further information about employment, education or training options in the city Coventry Job Shop [/info/153/employment_support/2514/job_shop_services_for_people_looking_for_work] can provide support and advice.

Please contact the EHE team [mailto:ehecoventry@coventry.gov.uk] if you would like to discuss your child's options for 16 to 18.

For support for your family and personalised support around areas such as housing, finances, parenting etc please look at our Family Hubs [https://www.coventry.gov.uk/familyhubs] page as they offer something for people of all ages.

For information on available immunisations from the NHS ordinarily given in school, please see our Facebook Page [https://www.facebook.com/coventrycchomeeducation] as it is a pinned post.

Make a referral and key documents

Make a referral for a child that is home-educated [https://myaccount.coventry.gov.uk/en/service/elective_home_education_referral].

Useful information for schools and parents

• DFE Parents Guide to EHE [https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/791528/EHE_guidance_for_parentsafterconsultationv2.2.pdf]
• DFE LA Guidance to EHE [https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/791527/Elective_home_education_gudiance_for_LAv2.0.pdf]
• EHE guidance for schools [https://www.coventry.gov.uk/downloads/download/7387/elective-home-education-ehe-guidance-for-schools]
• Flexi Guidance for schools [https://www.coventry.gov.uk/downloads/download/7961/flexi-schooling-guidance-for-schools-and-parents]
• Guidance on suitability report proforma for parents [https://www.coventry.gov.uk/downloads/download/8028/ehe-report-guidance-for-parents]