Home-Based Education in England: A Parent’s Guide to the Law in 2026
For some families, conventional school works extremely well. For others, there comes a point when they begin to wonder whether there might be a better way.
Perhaps your child is a young athlete or performer whose commitments do not fit comfortably around a conventional school timetable. Perhaps your family travels frequently or lives internationally. Your child may learn better with greater flexibility, smaller classes or a more individualised approach. Or perhaps, quite simply, you have reached the conclusion that a physical school is no longer the right environment for your child.
Whatever the reason, moving away from a conventional school can feel like a significant step. Parents understandably want to know: Is it legal? What are my responsibilities? How do I demonstrate that my child is receiving a proper education? What happens about GCSEs, IGCSEs or A Levels? And does moving away from a physical school mean that I have to become my child’s teacher?
The good news is that, in England, children must receive an education — but that education does not necessarily have to take place in a school.
Key Takeaways
Under Section 7 of the Education Act 1996, parents must ensure their child receives an efficient, full-time and suitable education — “either by regular attendance at school or otherwise”. Home-based education is lawful in England.
Home-educated children do not have to follow the National Curriculum, and their education does not have to come from a single provider.
Home education describes a child’s legal status; online schooling describes a method of teaching. A child can be legally home educated while receiving most of their academic teaching from a structured online school.
You do not have to teach your child yourself. Families may use online schools, tutors, specialist teachers and other providers in combination.
Students educated outside a physical school can still sit IGCSEs, GCSEs and A Levels, commonly as private candidates at an approved examination centre — and digital and remotely invigilated assessment is expanding.
The Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Act 2026 changes parts of the framework, but for most families the fundamental position is unchanged: parents retain the right to choose home education.
The statutory responsibility always remains with the parent — but you do not have to provide or evidence that education alone.
Parents can choose to educate their child at home, either themselves or with support from tutors, online learning providers or a structured online school such as Richmond Online School. The underlying legal responsibility, however, remains with the parent.
This guide explains the main rules, the changes parents should be aware of in 2026, and how Richmond can help families who decide that conventional physical schooling is no longer right for them.
1. Is home-based education legal in England?
Yes.
Under Section 7 of the Education Act 1996, parents are responsible for ensuring that a child of compulsory school age receives an:
“efficient full-time education suitable to his age, ability and aptitude, and to any special educational needs he may have, either by regular attendance at school or otherwise.”
The words “or otherwise” are important. They mean that education does not have to be provided through attendance at a conventional school.
The Department for Education confirms that parents can educate their children at home, and that home-educated children do not have to follow the National Curriculum.
Department for Education: Educating your child at home
2. Do home-educated children have to follow the National Curriculum?
No.
Parents have considerable freedom over how their child’s education is organised. There is no general legal requirement for a home-educated child to follow the English National Curriculum.
What matters is whether the education being provided is efficient, full-time and suitable to the individual child.
Importantly, the different elements of a child’s education do not have to come from a single school, organisation or provider. Families can draw upon a diverse range of educational experiences, resources and specialist support, and combine them into a programme that is appropriate for their child.
A child’s education might therefore include a combination of:
structured academic lessons;
online classes;
independent study;
educational projects;
practical activities;
reading and research;
museums and educational visits;
sports, music or other specialist activities; and
individual tuition.
For example, a child might receive their core academic education through an online school, take music lessons with a specialist teacher, participate in organised sport or training, work independently on particular projects, and supplement this with educational visits and other learning experiences.
Similarly, “full-time” home education does not necessarily mean reproducing a conventional school day at home. There is no requirement for a parent to operate from 9am to 3pm, follow school terms, or structure every day into formal lessons.
The important question is not whether every part of the child’s education comes from one provider, but whether, taken as a whole, the child is receiving a genuine, suitable and sufficiently substantial education.
3. What does a “suitable education” mean?
There is no single prescribed home-education curriculum.
The legal test focuses on the individual child. Their education must be appropriate to their age, ability and aptitude, together with any special educational needs they may have.
A suitable programme for one child may therefore look quite different from one designed for another.
For a younger child, learning may involve substantial practical work, reading, discussion and projects alongside more formal literacy and mathematics. For a teenager preparing for GCSEs or IGCSEs, parents are much more likely to choose a structured programme aligned with examination syllabuses.
Importantly, the legal test is not simply whether a parent has purchased educational materials or registered with an educational provider — although both can be helpful. There needs to be meaningful education taking place.
4. Can I take my child out of school to home educate?
In most ordinary circumstances, a parent whose child attends a mainstream school can decide to educate them at home.
Current GOV.UK guidance advises parents to tell the school if they intend to remove their child completely for home education. The guidance states that the school must accept this where the child is being taken out of school completely, although different rules apply in certain circumstances.
There are some important exceptions. For example, additional requirements currently apply where a child attends certain special-school provision, or is attending school as a consequence of a School Attendance Order.
The legal framework in this area is also changing following the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Act 2026. Parents can be confident that the information in this article has been carefully researched and reflects the legal and regulatory position at the time of publication. However, as aspects of the new legislation are implemented, we recommend checking the latest government and, where appropriate, local-authority guidance before withdrawing a child from school.
Government guidance: Educating your child at home
5. What changed in 2026?
The Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Act 2026 received Royal Assent on 29 April 2026 and introduces changes affecting children who are educated outside school.
For most families, however, the fundamental position remains straightforward: parents have the right to choose home education for their child. The new legislation does not mean that every parent needs permission from the local authority before choosing home education.
Some of the changes introduced by the Act concern the way local authorities keep records of children who are not in school, and the information parents may be asked to provide. Other provisions strengthen local-authority procedures and introduce additional safeguards in particular circumstances.
There are some situations where parents should undertake additional research before withdrawing their child from school. These include, in particular, where a child:
attends certain special-school provision;
is subject to a School Attendance Order;
is, or has recently been, subject to certain child-protection arrangements; or
is already subject to significant local-authority involvement relating to their education or welfare.
If any of these circumstances apply, parents should check the current government and local-authority guidance before making the change.
It is also worth remembering that there is a distinction between legislation receiving Royal Assent and every provision within it coming into practical force. Different elements of the 2026 Act may be implemented at different times, and accompanied by further regulations and Department for Education guidance.
For families without these exceptional circumstances, home education remains an established and lawful educational choice.
Read the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Act 2026
Read the Government’s explanatory notes to the Act
6. What role does the local authority have?
Local authorities have statutory responsibilities relating to children who may not be receiving a suitable education. Under the established home-education framework, a local authority may make enquiries about the education being provided.
This does not mean that home education has to reproduce conventional schooling, but parents should be prepared to explain how their child’s education is suitable.
Evidence might include, for example:
the curriculum or subjects being studied;
examples of work;
educational resources being used;
details of online classes or tutors;
progress and assessment information;
examination preparation; and
reports from an online school or educational provider.
The Department for Education provides detailed guidance for parents and local authorities.
Department for Education: Elective home education guidance
7. Can the council make my child return to school?
A local authority cannot simply require a child to attend school because conventional schooling is preferred to home education.
However, the authority does have statutory powers where it appears that a child is not receiving a suitable education. Under the established system, this can ultimately lead to a School Attendance Order, requiring a child to be registered at a named school.
The 2026 legislation also reforms the School Attendance Order process and introduces additional provisions relating to children not in school.
This is one reason why parents should retain reasonable evidence of the education their child is receiving.
8. What if my child has SEND or an EHCP?
Children with special educational needs can be educated at home. Having an Education, Health and Care Plan (EHCP) does not, in itself, prevent a parent from choosing home education.
There are, however, additional rules in some circumstances — particularly where a child attends a special school.
Current GOV.UK guidance states that local-authority permission is required before removing a child with SEN from a special school for home education, whereas the same permission is not generally required solely because a child attending a mainstream school has an EHCP.
The Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Act 2026 expands the circumstances in which local-authority consent may be required, so families whose children fall into these particular circumstances should check the current position before withdrawing their child from school.
Government guidance on home education and SEN
9. Can an online school provide my child’s home education?
Yes.
For many families, this provides a useful middle ground between conventional school attendance and parents taking complete responsibility for delivering lessons themselves.
A structured online school can provide:
timetabled live teaching;
subject-specialist teachers;
an organised curriculum;
assessment and feedback;
attendance and engagement records;
progress monitoring;
school reports; and
preparation for qualifications such as IGCSEs and A Levels.
However, an online school does not have to provide every element of a child’s education. A family might use Richmond for its child’s principal academic programme while combining this with sport, music, performing arts, language tuition, specialist coaching, practical activities, educational visits or other learning opportunities. Indeed, for some families, this flexibility is precisely the attraction of moving away from a conventional physical school.
A structured online school can also make it substantially easier for parents to demonstrate the education their child is receiving if the local authority makes enquiries.
However, enrolling with an online school does not transfer the parent’s underlying statutory responsibility. Parents remain responsible for ensuring that their child receives an efficient, full-time and suitable education.
10. What about IGCSEs, GCSEs and A Levels?
One of the most common questions parents ask when considering moving away from a physical school is: how will my child sit their examinations?
Being educated outside a physical school does not prevent a student from gaining recognised qualifications such as GCSEs, IGCSEs, International GCSEs and A Levels.
The current position
At present, students studying outside a physical school will commonly sit their examinations as private candidates at an approved examination centre.
For Cambridge International qualifications, students studying through an online school that does not itself provide an approved examination venue generally make arrangements to sit their examinations as private candidates at an appropriate Cambridge examination centre.
Cambridge International: Private candidates
Cambridge International: Approved examination centres
This means that a child can live and study in one location — or indeed move between different countries during their education — and then travel to an appropriate examination centre for the relatively small number of days on which their formal examinations take place.
Families should plan examination arrangements well in advance. Not every examination centre accepts private candidates, and some subjects involving coursework, practical assessments or speaking components require additional arrangements, or may not be available to private candidates in the same way as wholly examination-based subjects.
How Richmond can help
Richmond Online School can support families with the academic and practical planning involved in preparing for external examinations. This includes:
ensuring that the student’s programme follows the appropriate examination syllabus;
preparing students academically for their examinations;
advising families about the examination board and syllabus being studied;
helping families understand the examination papers and components their child will need to complete;
providing guidance on identifying appropriate examination centres;
advising families to begin making examination arrangements sufficiently early; and
helping families understand any particular requirements associated with practical, speaking or other specialist components.
Where appropriate, students may also be able to sit examinations through examination centres associated with Richmond or the wider Perrott Hill Education group, subject to the relevant examination board’s requirements, availability and the student’s chosen subjects.
The important point is that a child does not need to attend a physical school throughout the year simply in order to sit recognised examinations. The teaching and learning can take place online, while the formal examinations can be taken separately through an approved examination centre.
Examinations are also changing
The examination landscape itself is becoming increasingly digital.
Cambridge International is developing digital examinations and has announced a phased international expansion from 2027 onwards. Its longer-term ambition is for 85% of Cambridge IGCSE and International AS & A Level subjects to be available in digital as well as paper formats by 2033, where educationally appropriate.
Cambridge International: Developing digital examinations
Pearson Edexcel has already gone a significant step further and operates a Remote Invigilation Service for a growing range of International GCSE and International A Level qualifications. For eligible subjects and locations, this allows students to sit high-stakes examinations securely from home or another appropriate location, under the supervision of a live remote invigilator.
Pearson Edexcel: Remote Invigilation Service
The direction of travel is therefore clear: digital assessment is expanding, and secure remote invigilation is already a reality for some international qualifications.
This does not mean that we should expect every GCSE, IGCSE or A Level examination to become available from home. Examination boards are adopting different approaches, and practical assessments, speaking examinations and other specialist components may continue to require particular arrangements.
Nevertheless, the increasing use of digital examinations and secure remote assessment is likely to make geographical flexibility progressively easier for internationally mobile and online-educated students.
For now, Richmond will help families plan within the examination arrangements that currently exist, while continuing to adapt our advice as examination boards introduce new digital and remote options.
11. Do I have to teach my child myself?
No.
This is one of the most important distinctions for parents considering leaving physical schooling.
Home education describes the child’s legal educational status. It does not mean that the parent personally has to teach every subject.
Families may use:
online schools;
online courses;
private tutors;
educational groups;
specialist teachers; and
other appropriate educational resources.
Parents can therefore take responsibility for their child’s education without becoming their child’s full-time classroom teacher.
12. Is home education the same as online schooling?
Not quite.
Home educationOnline schoolingWhat it describesThe child’s legal status — education provided otherwise than by regular attendance at schoolA method of providing educationWho is responsibleThe parent, under Section 7 of the Education Act 1996The school delivers the teaching; the parent keeps the statutory responsibilityCurriculumNo requirement to follow the National CurriculumAn organised curriculum, usually aligned to examination syllabusesEvidence of educationAssembled by the family from the resources they useAttendance records, assessments, reports and teacher feedback provided by the school
A child might therefore be legally home educated while receiving most of their academic teaching from an online school.
For some families, that combination offers the best of both worlds: the flexibility of learning from home, together with much of the structure, specialist teaching and academic accountability of a conventional school.
13. Is leaving physical school right for my child?
This is ultimately a much broader question than whether home education is legal.
Before making the change, it is sensible to consider:
Can I provide an education suitable for my child’s age and ability?
Will my child have sufficient structure and academic challenge?
How will I know whether they are making progress?
Will they have access to appropriately qualified and experienced teachers?
If they want formal qualifications, how will they prepare for and sit their examinations?
Will I be able to provide evidence of their education if the local authority asks for it?
For some families, independent home education works extremely well. For others — particularly as children approach IGCSE or A Level study — a structured online school can provide the specialist teaching, assessment and academic framework that becomes increasingly difficult for parents to organise alone.
14. How Richmond Online School can support you
Moving away from a physical school does not have to mean moving away from teachers, lessons, assessment, academic standards or accountability.
Richmond Online School can provide the structured academic element of your child’s education while allowing your family considerably more flexibility than a conventional physical school.
If your child studies with Richmond, we will also help you maintain clear evidence of the education they are receiving. This can include:
records of attendance and engagement, taking account not only of attendance at live lessons but also completion of recorded lessons, directed independent learning and other academic activities;
records of grades, assessments and teacher feedback;
written academic reports three times per year;
an academic portfolio, with digital records maintained by us and original hard-copy work retained by the family where appropriate, demonstrating subjects studied, work completed and progress made; and
where appropriate, letters explaining your child’s pattern of study and engagement, including periods when they have not regularly attended live lessons but have continued their education through other parts of the programme.
For students such as young athletes, performers and others with significant external commitments, we can also include contextual information explaining their circumstances and any pre-agreed patterns of attendance or absence necessary to fulfil those commitments.
If your local authority asks for further information about your child’s education, we will provide reasonable assistance in helping you evidence the education being provided, including relevant records or supporting information held by the school. Where appropriate, we can also help you understand what additional educational evidence the local authority is requesting.
15. You remain responsible — but you do not have to do it alone
For most families, home education supported by a structured online school is a perfectly viable educational route.
There are exceptions and additional requirements in particular circumstances — especially where a child is subject to a School Attendance Order, attends certain special-school provision, or falls within other circumstances affected by changing legislation. Families should therefore tell us about any existing local-authority involvement or relevant legal arrangements before enrolment.
The fundamental distinction is important:
The legal responsibility for providing a suitable education remains with the parent, but you do not have to provide or evidence that education alone.
Richmond can provide the teaching, curriculum, assessment, reporting, academic records and supporting documentation that give families much of the educational structure they value in a school, while allowing their child to learn in a very different way.
16. Official guidance for parents
Because education law is changing, parents should always check current government guidance before making significant decisions. The most useful official sources for families in England include:
Parents may also wish to consult their own local authority’s Elective Home Education team.
17. A note about the rest of the UK
This article concerns England.
Education is devolved across the United Kingdom, and the legal arrangements for home education in Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland differ. Families living outside England should consult guidance issued by the relevant national government or education authority.
Next Steps
If you are weighing up whether to move your child away from a physical school, the most useful thing you can do is talk it through with people who deal with these arrangements every day.
Our admissions team can walk you through how the academic programme works, what evidence we provide for local-authority enquiries, and how examination arrangements are planned. Book a free consultation — there is no obligation, just an honest conversation about your family’s circumstances.
This article is provided for general information about the educational framework in England and is not legal advice. Education law is changing following the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Act 2026, and families should check current government and local-authority guidance before withdrawing a child from school.