Parents must make sure their children receive a suitable full-time education if they are of compulsory school age, but this does not mean your child has to go to school.

Some children are educated at home because their parents have chosen this for them. Other children learn at home because they cannot attend school due to a particular reason, such as ill health, or because it would be inappropriate for their special educational provision to be made in a nursery, school or college setting.

Some children also attend school part-time. Please see our FAQ on what happens if a parent wants their child to attend school part-time for more information.

If you are thinking about whether to home educate your child, it’s important to know the differences between home education, alternative education and education otherwise than in a school. The information throughout this page explains this, but here is a summary:

If	Then
You would like to home educate your child	You are entitled to do this.  You only need permission from the local authority (LA) if your child is on the roll of a special school and the LA arranged for them to go there.  You are likely to have to arrange and fund all of your child’s education, including any special educational provision they require (even if they have an EHC plan).
Your child has been excluded or is temporarily unable to attend school due to illness or another reason	They could be entitled to alternative education while they are out of school, meaning you would not have to provide this.
It would be inappropriate for your child to receive some or all of their education in a school.	Education otherwise than in a school can be set out in an EHC plan. If it is, the LA will have a legal duty to fund and make sure that your child receives this.

Elective Home Education

If you would like, you could choose to home educate your child. This is sometimes called ‘home schooling’, but is more accurately known as ‘elective home education’ or ‘EHE’.

If this is what is right for you and your child then this can be a positive step. The SEN and Disability Code of Practice (the Code) acknowledges this, stating at paragraph 10.35 that, “Local authorities should not assume that because the provision being made by parents is different from that which was being made […] in school that the provision is necessarily unsuitable. Local authorities should also consider using their power to help parents make suitable provision.”

However, sometimes parents may be encouraged to home educate their child by the school or the local authority (“LA”) when the parent does not want to or think this is what the child needs. Parents often feel pressured into home education to avoid prosecution for non-attendance. However, elective home education is a serious step and should always be the parent’s choice.

The Department for Education’s “All you need to know about home-schooling and elective home education” briefing summarises key information you should be aware of if you are thinking about home schooling.  If your child has an EHC plan, you should be aware that EHE has the below implications when deciding whether or not to home educate.

Elective home educating children or young people with EHC plans

The LA no longer has a legal duty to secure any of the special educational provision in the child or young person’s EHC plan if they are being home-educated. This is because the LA is likely to decide that the parents are making their own suitable alternative arrangements.

However, the LA should not stop an EHC plan because the child or young person is being home educated. The LA must also still review the plan annually to assure itself that the provision set out in it continues to be appropriate and that the child’s special educational needs (SEN) continue to be met (paragraph 10.32 of the Code). The LA must use the same legal process to review the EHC plan, even if the child or young person is being home educated.

If you wish to home educate your child (rather than have the LA secure any provision they require) you do not need school’s permission, but should write to:

1. the school and explain that they intend to educate their child at home, and 
2. the LA and ask it to amend Section I of the EHC plan by removing the name of the school. Parents of children at special schools will also need to ask the LA to agree to their name being taken off from the school roll if the LA arranged for them to go there.

If your child’s current educational placement is not working and you do not want to home educate them, it may be better to change the EHC plan to set out different special educational provision and/or name a different school/placement rather than attempting to take on home education without support.

Electively home educating children or young people with SEN but without an EHC plan

Parents may take their children out of school to home educate them, and they do not need the permission of the school or the LA to do so ( a parent needs the LA’s permission when they are asking for their child’s name to be removed from the roll of a special school which the LA arranged for them to attend, but this is very rarely the case for children without EHC plans ).

All parents of children may make a request for an EHC needs assessment, including those who chose EHE for their children. This is an opportunity to fully identify all of the child or young person’s SEN and work out what support they need. The Code says that LAs “should” fund support for the SEN of home-educated children where it is appropriate to do so (paragraph 10.30). However the LA does not have a legal duty to provide special educational provision in this situation.

If your child or young person’s early years, school or college placement is in danger of breakdown and you do not wish to home educate them, it might be appropriate to ask the LA for an EHC needs assessment. It may be that, with the right support, your child or young person can continue in their educational placement. Alternatively, they may require special educational provision which could be provided at a different placement or otherwise than in school (as discussed below).

Alternative education

If your compulsory school age child is unable to attend school for any reason and you have not chosen to home educate them, make this clear to the LA and the LA may have a legal duty to secure suitable, full-time education for them – whether they have an EHC plan or not. Please see our children out of school, exclusion and alternative education template letter pages for more information.

LAs also have the power to provide alternative education for young peopleunder 18 who would not otherwise receive it (section 19(4) Education Act 1996).

Education otherwise than in a school

If an early years setting, school or college is not appropriate for your child or young person and you have not chosen to home educate them, your LA can arrange for any special educational provision they require to be delivered somewhere else and set this out in an EHC plan. The LA would then be responsible for continuing to secure and fund that provision.

This is known as ‘education otherwise than in school' and often abbreviated to ‘EOTAS’ (section 61 of the Children and Families Act 2014 allows LAs to do this). Before taking such a step though, the LA must talk it through with you and properly consider your views.

Whether nursery, school or college is appropriate or not will depend on your child or young person’s SEN and / or the type of the provision they need. For example, it might not be appropriate for certain therapies to take place in a school setting. The question is not whether school can deliver the special educational provision but whether it is appropriate for it to be made in school.

If no provision will be made in a nursery, school or college

If it is not appropriate for any provision to be made in a nursery, school or college for your child, their EHC plan should reflect the following:

• Section B should set out all of their SEN, including those that show why education in a setting is inappropriate. These could be, for example, mental health or sensory needs.

• Section F must give a clear and detailed description of the special educational provision they need. This could include therapies which are classed as educational provision, such as speech and language therapy, and other support provided by health or social care which educates or trains the child or young person. It will be important to set out all the necessary details such as who (in terms of role/qualification) will oversee the package of support, deliver it and what particular expertise they may need, and any input needed from specialists. This will mean the LA still has a legal duty to put the special educational provision in place. 

• Section I should be left blank if no setting is going to be attended at all, as confirmed by case law. 

• Section J will detail the SEN and outcomes to be met by any agreed direct payments relating to section F. Not everyone will have a personal budget and receive direct payments, and you can find out more about them on our website (including a template letter to request this).

If some provision will be made in a nursery, school or college

If it’s inappropriate for some but not all of your child or young person’s special educational provision to be made in a nursery, school or college, their EHC plan can cover this too and we have information on our website on this.

My child needs an EOTAS package but their EHC plan does not provide for this. What can I do?

If your child or young person needs an EOTAS package but their EHC plan does not set it out, the LA can change what their EHC plan says to make sure it’s included. You can ask for this during an annual review of the EHC plan or, if you have a right of appeal to the SEND Tribunal, use this to get the EHC plan changed.

For more information on asking for EOTAS, please see our website page on this. 

For more information on how special educational provision should be set out in an EHC plan generally, see the section on what an EHC plan contains. If you haven’t been able to find the answer to your question on this page, see our FAQs or speak with us.

Home education and ‘education otherwise’ FAQs