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Elective 
Home
Education 

Guidelines for 
Local Authorities


Elective Home Education Guidelines for Local Authorities
Contents
Ministerial Foreword 
2
Part 1 
3
Introduction  
3
Reasons for elective home education 
3
Part 2 
4
The law relating to elective home education 
4
Parental rights and responsibilities 
4
Local authorities’ responsibilities 
5
Part 3 
8
Clear policies and procedures 
8
Contact with parents and children 
8
Withdrawal from school to elective home ed ucate  
9
Providing a full-time education 
10
Children with Special Educational Needs (SEN) 
11
Part 4 
13
Developing relationships 
13
Acknowledging diversity 
13
Providing information for parents 
13
Safeguarding  
14
Reviewing policies and procedures 
15
Part 5 
16
Support and resources 
16
The National Curriculum 
16
Connexions Service  
17
Flexi-schooling 17
Local authorities’ role in supporting work experience  
17
Education maintenance allowance  
18
Truancy sweeps  
18
Gypsy, Roma and Traveller Children 
18
Gifted and talented children 
18
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Elective Home Education Guidelines for Local Authorities
Ministerial Foreword
Education is a fundamental right for every child and we recognise that parents have the right to 
choose to educate their child at home rather than at school. These guidelines have been prepared 
to help local authorities manage their relationships with home educating parents. 
Parents are responsible for ensuring that their children receive a suitable education. Where 
parents have chosen to home educate, we want the home educated child to have a positive 
experience. We believe this is best achieved where parents and local authorities recognise each 
others rights and responsibilities, and work together. These guidelines aim to clarify the balance 
between the right of the parent to educate their child at home and the responsibilities of the local 
authority. 
 
Jim Knight 
Andrew Adonis
Minister of State for Schools and Learners 
Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Schools
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Elective Home Education Guidelines for Local Authorities
Part 1
 Introduction 
1.1
  Elective home education is the term used by the Department for Children, Schools and 
Families (DCSF) to describe parents’ decisions to provide education for their children at 
home instead of sending them to school. This is different to home tuition provided by a local 
authority or education provided by a local authority other than at a school. These guidelines 
are intended for use in relation to elective home education only. Throughout these 
guidelines, ‘parents’ should be taken to include all those with parental responsibility, 
including guardians and carers. 

1.2  Children whose parents elect to educate them at home are not registered at mainstream 
schools, special schools, independent schools, academies, Pupil Referral Units (PRUs), 
colleges, children’s homes with education facilities or education facilities provided by 
independent fostering agencies. Some parents may choose to engage private tutors or other 
adults to assist them in providing a suitable education, but there is no requirement for them 
to do so. Learning may take place in a variety of locations, not just in the family home. 
1.3  The purpose of these guidelines is to support local authorities in carrying out their statutory 
responsibilities and to encourage good practice by clearly setting out the legislative 
position, and the roles and responsibilities of local authorities and parents in relation to 
children who are educated at home.
Reasons for elective home education
1.4
  Parents may choose home education for a variety of reasons. The local authority’s primary 
interest should lie in the suitability of parents’ education provision and not their reason 
for doing so. The following reasons for home educating are common, but by no means 
exhaustive: 
 distance or access to a local school
 religious or cultural beliefs
 philosophical or ideological views 
 dissatisfaction with the system
 bullying
 as a short term intervention for a particular reason
 a child’s unwillingness or inability to go to school
 special educational needs
 parents’ desire for a closer relationship with their children. 
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Elective Home Education Guidelines for Local Authorities
Part 2
The law relating to elective home education
2.1
  The responsibility for a child’s education rests with their parents. In England, education 
is compulsory, but school is not.
2.2  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 
parents to ensure such education and teaching is in conformity with their own religious 
and philosophical convictions.”

 
Parents have a right to educate their children at home. Section 7 of the Education Act 1996 
provides that:
 
“The parent of every child of compulsory school age shall cause him to receive efficient 
full-time education suitable –

 
  (a) to his age, ability and aptitude, and
 
  (b) to any special educational needs he may have,
 
either by regular attendance at school or otherwise.”
2.3  The responsibility for a child’s education rests with his or her parents. An “efficient” and 
“suitable” education is not defined in the Education Act 1996 but “efficient” has been 
broadly described in case law1 as an education that “achieves that which it sets out to 
achieve”, and a “suitable” education is one that “primarily equips a child for life within the 
community of which he is a member, rather than the way of life in the country as a whole, 
as long as it does not foreclose the child’s options in later years to adopt some other form of 
life if he wishes to do so”.
Parental rights and responsibilities
2.4
  Parents may decide to exercise their right to home educate their child from a very early age 
and so the child may not have been previously enrolled at school. They may also elect to 
home educate at any other stage up to the end of compulsory school age. Parents are not 
required to register or seek approval from the local authority to educate their children at 
home. Parents who choose to educate their children at home must be prepared to assume 
full financial responsibility, including bearing the cost of any public examinations. However, 
local authorities are encouraged to provide support where resources permit – see section 5. 
1  Mr Justice Woolf in the case of R v Secretary of State for Education and Science, ex parte Talmud Torah Machzikei 
Hadass School Trust (12 April 1985)
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Elective Home Education Guidelines for Local Authorities
Parents must also ensure that their children receive suitable full-time education for as long 
as they are being educated at home. 
Local authorities’ responsibilities
2.5
  The DCSF recommends that each local authority provides written information about 
elective home education that is clear, accurate and sets out the legal position, roles and 
responsibilities of both the local authority and parents. This information should be made 
available on local authority websites and in local community languages and alternative 
formats on request. Local authorities should recognise that there are many approaches to 
educational provision, not just a “school at home” model. What is suitable for one child may 
not be for another, but all children should be involved in a learning process. 
2.6  Local authorities have a statutory duty under section 436A of the Education Act 1996, 
inserted by the Education and Inspections Act 2006, to make arrangements to enable them 
to establish the identities, so far as it is possible to do so, of children in their area who are 
not receiving a suitable education. The duty applies in relation to children of compulsory 
school age who are not on a school roll, and who are not receiving a suitable education 
otherwise than being at school (for example, at home, privately, or in alternative provision). 
The guidance issued makes it clear that the duty does not apply to children who are being 
educated at home.2
2.7  Local authorities have no statutory duties in relation to monitoring the quality of home 
education on a routine basis. 
 
However, under Section 437(1) of the Education Act 1996, local authorities shall intervene 
if it appears that parents are not providing a suitable education. This section 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 to satisfy them 
within the period specified in the notice that the child is receiving such education.”

 
Section 437(2) of the Act provides that the period shall not be less than 15 days beginning 
with the day on which the notice is served.
2.8  Prior to serving a notice under section 437(1), local authorities are encouraged to address 
the situation informally. The most obvious course of action if the local authority has 
information that makes it appear that parents are not providing a suitable education, would 
be to ask parents for further information about the education they are providing. Such a 
request is not the same as a notice under section 437(1), and is not necessarily a precursor 
for formal procedures. Parents are under no duty to respond to such enquiries, but it would 
be sensible for them to do so3.
2  Statutory Guidance for Local Authorities in England to Identify Children not Receiving Education available at http://
www.everychildmatters.gov.uk/ete/childrenmissingeducation/. 
3  Phillips v Brown (1980)
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Elective Home Education Guidelines for Local Authorities
2.9  Section 437(3) refers to the serving of school attendance orders:
“If –
 
(a)  a parent on whom a notice has been served under subsection (1) fails to satisfy the 
local education authority, within the period specified in the notice, that the child is 
receiving suitable education, and

 
(b)  in the opinion of the authority it is expedient that the child should attend school,
 
the authority shall serve on the parent an order (referred to in this Act as a “school 
attendance order”), in such form as may be prescribed, requiring him to cause the child to 
become a registered pupil at a school named in the order.”

2.10  A school attendance order should be served after all reasonable steps have been taken to try 
to resolve the situation. At any stage following the issue of the Order, parents may present 
evidence to the local authority that they are now providing an appropriate education and 
apply to have the Order revoked. If the local authority refuses to revoke the Order, parents 
can choose to refer the matter to the Secretary of State. If the local authority prosecutes the 
parents for not complying with the Order, then it will be for a court to decide whether or 
not the education being provided is suitable and efficient. The court can revoke the Order 
if it is satisfied that the parent is fulfilling his or her duty. It can also revoke the Order where 
it imposes an education supervision order. Detailed information about school attendance 
orders is contained in Ensuring Regular School Attendance paragraphs 6 to 16.4
2.11  Where the authority imposes a time limit5, every effort should be made to make sure 
that both the parents and the named senior officer with responsibility for elective home 
education in the local authority are available throughout this period. In particular the 
Department recommends that the time limit does not expire during or near to school 
holidays when there may be no appropriate point of contact for parents within the local 
authority.
2.12  Local authorities also have a duty under section 175(1) of the Education Act 2002 to 
safeguard and promote the welfare of children. This section states:
 
“A local education authority shall make arrangements for ensuring that the functions 
conferred upon them in their capacity as a local education authority are exercised with a 
view to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children.”

 
Section 175(1) does not extend local authorities’ functions. It does not, for example, give 
local authorities powers to enter the homes of, or otherwise see, children for the purposes of 
monitoring the provision of elective home education. 
4  Available at www.dcsf.gov.uk/schoolattendance/prosecutions/index.cfm  From January 2008 the guidance will be 
entitled Ensuring Children’s Right to Education; Guidance on the Legal Measures available to Secure Regular School 
Attendance

5  A notice given under s.437(1) must be a period of not less than 15 days. An Order continues in force as long as the 
child is of compulsory school age unless amended by the LA or revoked (s.437(4)). 
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Elective Home Education Guidelines for Local Authorities
2.13  The Children Act 2004 (“the 2004 Act”) provides the legislative framework for developing 
children’s services as detailed in Every Child Matters: Change for Children. The background 
and aims of Every Child Matters can be found on its dedicated website6. Section 10 of the 
2004 Act sets out a statutory framework for cooperation arrangements to be made by local 
authorities with a view to improving the well-being of children in their area. 
2.14  Section 11 of the 2004 Act sets out the arrangements to safeguard and promote the welfare 
of children. However, this section does not place any additional duties or responsibilities on 
local authorities over and above section 175(1) of the Education Act 2002. Statutory Guidance 
on Making Arrangements to Safeguard and Promote the Welfare of Children under section 11 of 
the Children Act 2004
 has been updated and published in April 20077. 
2.15  As outlined above, local authorities have general duties to make arrangements to safeguard 
and promote the welfare of children (section 175 Education Act 2002 in relation to their 
functions as a local authority and for other functions in sections 10 and 11 of the Children 
Act 2004). These powers allow local authorities to insist on seeing children in order to 
enquire about their welfare where there are grounds for concern (sections 17 and 47 of the 
Children Act 1989).  However, such powers do not bestow on local authorities the ability to 
see and question children subject to elective home education in order to establish whether 
they are receiving a suitable education. 
2.16  Section 53 of the 2004 Act sets out the duty on local authorities to, where reasonably 
practicable, take into account the child’s wishes and feelings with regard to the provision 
of services. Section 53 does not extend local authorities’ functions. It does not, for example, 
place an obligation on local authorities to ascertain the child’s wishes about elective home 
education as it is not a service provided by the local authority. 
2.17  Section 12 of the 2004 Act and the regulations, made under this section (which came into 
force on 1 August 2007), provide the legal framework for the operation and maintenance 
of ContactPoint, due for deployment, initially to the “Early Adopter” local authorities in the 
North-West of England in September/October 2008, and to all other local authorities and 
national partners between January and May 2009. ContactPoint will contain only basic 
demographic and contact information, including the place where the child is educated, 
on all children in England, which will enable local authorities to identify and contact one 
another easily and quickly, so they can, where appropriate, provide a coordinated response 
to a child’s needs. Further information about ContactPoint is available on the Every Child 
Matters website8. 
6  Available at www.everychildmatters.gov.uk/
7 http://www.everychildmatters.gov.uk/resources-and-practice/IG00042/
8  Available at www.everychildmatters.gov.uk/contactpoint/ 
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Elective Home Education Guidelines for Local Authorities
Part 3
Clear policies and procedures
3.1
  The DCSF recommends that each local authority should have a written policy statement 
on elective home education, and be willing and able to provide guidance for parents who 
request it. Local authorities should also provide clear details of their complaints procedure 
and deal with any complaints in a sensitive and timely manner. The DCSF also recommends 
that local authorities should regularly review their elective home education policies so 
that they reflect current law and are compatible with these guidelines. It is recommended 
that local authorities seek input from home educating families and home education 
organisations in developing their elective home education policies. Home education 
organisations’ contact details may be found through an internet search Paragraphs 4.10 to 
4.11 cover reviews of policies and procedures. 
3.2  All parties involved in elective home education should be aware of their roles, rights and 
responsibilities. Local authorities’ policies should be clear, transparent and easily accessible. 
Any procedures for dealing with home educating parents and children should be fair, 
clear, consistent, non-intrusive and timely, in order to provide a good foundation for the 
development of trusting relationships.
3.3  The DCSF recommends that each local authority should have a named senior officer with 
responsibility for elective home education policy and procedures. This officer should be 
familiar with home education law, policies and practices. Local authorities should organise 
training on the law and home education methods for all their officers who have contact with 
home educating families.
Contact with parents and children
3.4
  Local authorities should acknowledge that learning takes place in a wide variety of 
environments and not only in the home. However, if it appears that a suitable education is 
not being provided, the local authority should seek to gather any relevant information that 
will assist them in reaching a properly informed judgement. This should include seeking 
from the parents any further information that they wish to provide which explains how they 
are providing a suitable education. Parents should be given the opportunity to address any 
specific concerns that the authority has. The child should also be given the opportunity, 
but not required, to attend any meeting that may be arranged or invited to express his or 
her views in some other way. Parents are under no duty to respond to such requests for 
information or a meeting, but it would be sensible for them to do so9.
3.5  If it appears to a local authority that a child is not receiving a suitable education it may wish 
to contact the parents to discuss their ongoing home education provision. Contact should 
normally be made in writing to the parents to request further information. A written report 
should be made after such contact and copied to the parents stating whether the authority 
has any concerns about the education provision and specifying what these are, to give the 
9  Phillips v Brown (1980)
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Elective Home Education Guidelines for Local Authorities
child’s parents an opportunity to address them. Where concerns about the suitability of the 
education being provided for the child have been identified, more frequent contact may be 
required while those concerns are being addressed. Where concerns merit frequent contact, 
the authority should discuss them with the child’s parents, with a view to helping them 
provide a suitable education that meets the best interests of the child.
3.6  Some parents may welcome the opportunity to discuss the provision that they are making 
for the child’s education during a home visit but parents are not legally required to give 
the local authority access to their home. They may choose to meet a local authority 
representative at a mutually convenient and neutral location instead, with or without the 
child being present, or choose not to meet at all. Where a parent elects not to allow access 
to their home or their child, this does not of itself constitute a ground for concern about the 
education provision being made. Where local authorities are not able to visit homes, they 
should, in the vast majority of cases, be able to discuss and evaluate the parents’ educational 
provision by alternative means. If they choose not to meet, parents may be asked to provide 
evidence that they are providing a suitable education. If a local authority asks parents for 
information they are under no duty to comply although it would be sensible for them to do 
so.10 Parents might prefer, for example, to write a report, provide samples of work, have their 
educational provision endorsed by a third party (such as an independent home tutor) or 
provide evidence in some other appropriate form. 
Withdrawal from school to elective home educate 
3.7
  First contact between local authorities and home educators often occurs when parents 
decide to home educate and approach the school (at which the child is regis tered) and/
or the authority to seek guidance about withdrawing their child from school. It is important 
that this initial contact is constructive and positive, and local authorities should provide 
written information (see paragraph 2.5) and direct parents to a range of useful contacts such 
as those described in paragraph 5.1. 
3.8  The school must11delete the child’s name from their admissions register upon receipt of 
written notification from the parents that the pupil is receiving education otherwise than 
at school. However, schools should not wait for parents to give written notification that 
they are withdrawing their child from school before advising their local authority. Schools 
must12make a return (giving the child’s name, address and the ground upon which their 
name is to be deleted from the register) to the local authority as soon as the ground for 
deletion is met, and no later than deleting the pupil’s name from the register. They should 
also copy parents into the notice to the local authority. Further information is available in 
Keeping Pupil Registers,13 the Department’s guidance on applying the regulations.
3.9  If a child is registered at a school as a result of a school attendance order the parents 
must14get the order revoked by the local authority on the ground that arrangements have 
been made for the child to receive suitable education otherwise than at school, before the 
child can be deleted from the school’s register and educated at home. 
10  Phillips v Brown (1980)
11  Regulation 8(1)(a) of the Education (Pupil Registration) (England) Regulations 2006
12  Regulation 12(3) of the Education (Pupil Registration) England) Regulations 2006
13 http://www.dfes.gov.uk/schoolattendance/legislation/index.cfm
14  Regulation 8(1)(a) of the Education (Pupil Registration) (England) Regulations 2006 and section 442 of the 
Education Act
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Elective Home Education Guidelines for Local Authorities
3.10  Local authorities may encourage parents to inform them directly of the withdrawal of a 
child from school, but have no legal right to insist that parents do so. The only exception to 
this is where the child is attending a special school under arrangements made by the local 
authority, in which case additional permission is required from the authority before the 
child’s name can be removed from the register15. 
3.11  Local authorities should bear in mind that, in the early stages, parents’ plans may not be 
detailed and they may not yet be in a position to demonstrate all the characteristics of an 
“efficient and suitable” educational provision. In such cases, a reasonable timescale should 
be agreed for the parents to develop their provision. 
3.12  Schools must not seek to persuade parents to educate their children at home as a way 
of avoiding an exclusion or because the child has a poor attendance record. In the case 
of exclusion, they must follow the statutory guidance. If the pupil has a poor attendance 
record, the school and local authority must address the issues behind the absenteeism and 
use the other remedies available to them.
Providing a full-time education
3.13
  Parents are required to provide an efficient, full-time education suitable to the age, ability 
and aptitude of the child. There is currently no legal definition of “full-time”. Children 
normally attend school for between 22 and 25 hours a week for 38 weeks of the year, but 
this measurement of “contact time” is not relevant to elective home education where there 
is often almost continuous one-to-one contact and education may take place outside normal 
“school hours”. The type of educational activity can be varied and flexible. Home educating 
parents are not required to:
 teach the National Curriculum
 provide a broad and balanced education
 have a timetable
 have premises equipped to any particular standard
 set hours during which education will take place 
 have any specific qualifications
 make detailed plans in advance
 observe school hours, days or terms
 give formal lessons
 mark work done by their child
 formally assess progress or set development objectives
 reproduce school type peer group socialisation 
 match school-based, age-specific standards.
 
However, local authorities should offer advice and support to parents on these matters if 
requested.
15  Regulation 8(2) of the Education (Pupil Registration) (England) Regulations 2006
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Elective Home Education Guidelines for Local Authorities
3.14  It is important to recognise that there are many, equally valid, approaches to educational 
provision. Local authorities should, therefore, consider a wide range of information from 
home educating parents, in a range of formats. The information may be in the form of 
specific examples of learning e.g. pictures/paintings/models, diaries of educational activity, 
projects, assessments, samples of work, books, educational visits etc. 
3.15  In their consideration of parents’ provision of education at home, local authorities may 
reasonably expect the provision to include the following characteristics:
 consistent involvement of parents or other significant carers – it is expected that parents 
or significant carers would play a substantial role, although not necessarily constantly or 
actively involved in providing education
 recognition of the child’s needs, attitudes and aspirations
 opportunities for the child to be stimulated by their learning experiences
 access to resources/materials required to provide home education for the child – such as 
paper and pens, books and libraries, arts and crafts materials, physical activity, ICT and the 
opportunity for appropriate interaction with other children and other adults.
3.16  If a local authority considers that a suitable education is not being provided, then a 
full written report of the findings should be made and copied to the parents promptly, 
specifying the grounds for concern and any reasons for concluding that provision is 
unsuitable. If the authority is not satisfied that a suitable education is being provided, and 
the parents, having been given a reasonable opportunity to address the identified concerns 
and report back to the authority have not done so, the authority should consider sending 
a formal notice to the parents under section 437 (see paragraph 2.7) before moving on, if 
needed, to the issuing of a school attendance order (section 437(1)). See paragraphs 2.9 – 
2.11.
Children with Special Educational Needs (SEN)
3.17
  Parents’ right to educate their child at home applies equally where a child has SEN. This 
right is irrespective of whether the child has a statement of special educational needs or not. 
Where a child has a statement of SEN and is home educated, it remains the local authority’s 
duty to ensure that the child’s needs are met.
3.18  Local authorities must have regard to the Special Educational Needs Code of Practice16. 
Although this document primarily covers special educational needs in the school and 
early years’ settings, it does give information about SEN in relation to home 
education (paragraphs 8.91 – 8.96 of the Code).   The Code of Practice emphasises 
the importance of local authorities and other providers working in partnership with 
parents. The Code of Practice is statutory guidance and schools, local authorities and others 
to whom it applies must have regard to it.  This means that, apart from the references to 
the law, these bodies do not have to follow the Code to the letter but they must be able to 
justify any departure from its guidance.  The foreword states that the Code is designed to 
help these bodies to “make effective decisions but it does not – and could not – tell them 
what to do in each individual case”. 
16  SEN Code of Practice is available at: http://www.teachernet.gov.uk/docbank/index.cfm?id=3724
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Elective Home Education Guidelines for Local Authorities
3.19  If the parents’ attempt to educate the child at home results in provision that falls short of 
meeting the child’s needs, then the parents are not making “suitable arrangements”, and 
the authority could not conclude that they were absolved of their responsibility to arrange 
the provision in the statement. Parents need only provide an efficient, full-time education 
suitable to the age, ability and aptitude and to any special educational needs the child 
may have as defined in Section 7 of the Education Act 1996. It is the authority’s duty to 
arrange the provision specified in the statement, unless the child’s parent has made suitable 
provision, for as long as a statement is maintained. In some cases a combination of provision 
by parents and LA may best meet the child’s needs. Local authorities should consider, for 
example, providing access to additional resources or treatments where appropriate.17 
3.20  Even if the local authority is satisfied that parents are making suitable arrangements, 
it remains under a duty to maintain the statement and review it annually, following 
procedures set out in chapter 9 of the SEN Code of Practice. In some circumstances the 
child’s special educational needs identified in the statement will have been related to the 
school setting and the child’s needs may readily be met at home by the parents without 
LA supervision. It may be appropriate, once it is established that a child’s special needs are 
being met without any additional support from the LA, to consider ceasing to maintain the 
statement. This may be done at the annual review or at any other time. Where the statement 
is reviewed it should be made clear to parents that they are welcome to attend, but they are 
not obliged to do so. 
3.21  Where the authority is satisfied that the child’s parents have made suitable arrangements 
it does not have to name a school in part 4 of the child’s statement. There should be 
discussion between the authority and the parents and rather than the name of the school, 
part 4 of the statement should mention the type of school the LA considers appropriate 
and that “parents have made their own arrangements under section 7 of the Education Act 
1996”. 
3.22  The statement should also specify any provision that the local authority has agreed to make 
under section 319 of the Education Act 1996 to help parents to provide suitable education 
for their child at home. If the child who is to be withdrawn from the school is a pupil at a 
special school, the school must inform the local authority before the child’s name can be 
deleted from the school roll and the authority will need to consider whether the elective 
home education is suitable before amending part 4 of the child’s statement.
3.23  A parent who is educating their child at home may ask the local authority to carry out a 
statutory assessment or reassessment of their child’s special educational needs and the 
local authority must consider the request within the same statutory timescales and in 
the same way as for all other requests. Local authorities should provide information to 
home educators detailing the process of assessment and both local authorities’ and home 
educators’ responsibilities with regard to provision should the child be given a statement. 
The views of the designated medical officer for SEN should be sought by the local authority 
where a child with a statement is educated at home because of difficulties related to health 
needs or a disability. 
17  Section 319 of the Education Act 1996
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Elective Home Education Guidelines for Local Authorities
Part 4
Developing relationships
4.1
  As noted in the Introduction to these guidelines, the central aim of this document is to assist 
local authorities in carrying out their statutory responsibilities with respect to elective home 
educated children. The DCSF hopes that this will enable local authorities to build effective 
relationships with home educators that function to safeguard the educational interests of 
children and young people: relationships that are rooted in mutual understanding, trust and 
respect. The guidelines outline a number of recommendations that are geared towards the 
promotion of such relationships.
4.2  Whilst there is no legal obligation on local authorities or home educators to develop such 
relationships, doing so will often provide parents with access to any support that is available 
and allow authorities to better understand parents’ educational provision and preferences. A 
positive relationship will also provide a sound basis if the authority is required to investigate 
assertions from any source that an efficient and suitable education is not being provided. 
Acknowledging diversity
4.3
  Parents’ education provision will reflect a diversity of approaches and interests. Some 
parents may wish to provide education in a formal and structured manner, following a 
traditional curriculum and using a fixed timetable that keeps to school hours and terms. 
Other parents may decide to make more informal provision that is responsive to the 
developing interests of their child. One approach is not necessarily any more efficient 
or effective than another. Although some parents may welcome general advice and 
suggestions about resources, methods and materials, local authorities should not specify a 
curriculum or approach which parents must follow.
4.4  Children learn in different ways and at different times and speeds. It should be appreciated 
that parents and their children might require a period of adjustment before finding their 
preferred mode of learning and that families may change their approach over time. Parents 
are not required to have any qualifications or training to provide their children with a 
suitable education. It should be noted that parents of all educational, social, racial, religious 
and ethnic backgrounds successfully educate children outside the school setting and these 
factors should not in themselves raise a concern about the suitability of the education being 
provided.
Providing information for parents
4.5
  The provision of clear information has an important role to play in the promotion of positive 
relationships. Local authorities should provide written information and website links for 
prospective and existing electively home educating parents that are clear and accurate and 
which set out the legal position, and roles and responsibilities, in an unambiguous way. We 
also recommend that contact details for home education support organisations should be 
provided. Home education organisations’ contact details may be found through an internet 
search. All written information should be made available to parents in local community 
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Elective Home Education Guidelines for Local Authorities
Elective Home Education Guidelines for Local Authorities
languages and alternative formats on request. From April 2008 local authorities will have 
a legal duty18 to broaden the information they make available to parents to support their 
children.
4.6  As noted in paragraph 3.3 we recommend that local authorities should, if the parents 
wish, provide them with a named contact within the authority who is familiar with elective 
home education policy and practice and has an understanding of a range of educational 
philosophies. If the authority invites parents to meet the named contact (see paragraph 
3.6), any such meeting should take place at a mutually acceptable location and the 
child concerned should also be given the opportunity, but not be required, to attend 
that meeting, or otherwise to express his or her views. Either during such a meeting, or 
otherwise, the parents and the authority should consider and agree what future contact 
there will be between them, recognising that in many instances such contact might be 
beneficial but is not legally required. 
Safeguarding 
4.7
  The welfare and protection of all children, both those who attend school and those who 
are educated at home, are of paramount concern and the responsibility of the whole 
community. Working Together to Safeguard Children 200619 states that all agencies and 
individuals should aim proactively to safeguard and promote the welfare of children. As with 
school educated children, child protection issues may arise in relation to home educated 
children. If any child protection concerns come to light in the course of engagement with 
children and families, or otherwise, these concerns should immediately be referred to the 
appropriate authorities using established protocols.20
4.8  Parents may choose to employ other people to educate their child, though they themselves 
will continue to be responsible for the education provided. They will also be responsible 
for ensuring that those whom they engage are suitable to have access to children. Parents 
will therefore wish to satisfy themselves by taking up appropriate references and local 
authorities should encourage them to do this. A small number of local authorities choose 
to assist home-educating parents in this task by undertaking Criminal Records Bureau (CRB) 
checks free of charge on independent home tutors and the DCSF endorses this helpful 
practice. Tutors employed by a local authority or an agency may also undertake work for 
home educating parents, in which case CRB checks ought to have been made already.
4.9  Paragraph 2.12 to 2.15 details local authorities’ duties to make arrangements to safeguard 
and promote the welfare of children. 
18  Section 12 of the Childcare Act 2006
19  Working Together to Safeguard Children, 2006 is available at: http://www.everychildmatters.gov.uk/resources-and-
practice/IG00060/ 
20  Working Together to Safeguard Children 2006
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Elective Home Education Guidelines for Local Authorities
Reviewing policies and procedures
4.10
  Local authorities should review all of their procedures and practices in relation to elective 
home education on a regular basis to see if improvements can be made to further develop 
relationships and meet the needs of children and parents. Home education organisations 
and home educating parents should be involved in this process of review. Effective reviews, 
together with the sensitive handling of any complaints, will help to secure effective 
partnership.
4.11  Local authorities should bear in mind that Ofsted report on the way local authorities cater 
for elective home educating families within their areas. Local authorities should keep 
home educators and home education support organisations informed of the policies and 
procedures of Ofsted reviews and any input they will have.
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Elective Home Education Guidelines for Local Authorities
Part 5
Support and resources
5.1
  When parents choose to electively home educate their children they assume financial 
responsibility for their children’s education. 
5.2  Local authorities do not receive funding to support home educating families, and the level 
and type of support will therefore vary between one local authority and another. However, 
we recommend that all local authorities should adopt a consistent, reasonable and flexible 
approach in this respect, particularly where there are minimal resource implications. As 
a minimum, local authorities should provide written information (which is also available 
through the internet) on elective home education that is clear and accurate and which 
sets out the legal position (see paragraphs 4.5 – 4.6). Some local authorities may be able to 
offer additional support to home educating parents, but this will vary depending on their 
resources. Examples of additional support include:
 provision of a reading or lending library with resources for use with the home educated 
children
 free, or discounted, admission into community programmes (including local authority 
owned community and sports facilities)
 access to resource centres (including local school resources where feasible)
 National Curriculum materials and curricula offered by other educational institutions
 information about educational visits and work experience
 providing assistance with identifying exam centres willing to accept external candidates. 
The National Curriculum
5.3
  Although home educated children are not required to follow the National Curriculum 
a number do. National Curriculum tests and assessment arrangements are developed 
and administered by the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority (QCA) on behalf of 
the Secretary of State. Information to support these arrangements is provided both 
electronically and in hard copy through the QCA’s website at www.qca.org.uk or by 
telephoning their publications office on 08700 606015.
5.4  In addition, the DCSF’s website at www.dcsf.gov.uk will allow access to the National 
Curriculum and associated schemes of work, aimed at setting standards across all schools. 
Some documents are also distributed via Departmental publications which can be accessed 
through links on the Stationery Office site at www.tso.co.uk/ or by telephoning 0845 602 
2260.
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Elective Home Education Guidelines for Local Authorities
Elective Home Education Guidelines for Local Authorities
Connexions Service 
5.5
  The Connexions Service is an England only service. Its purpose is to provide support to all 
13 to 19 year olds and to young people who have not yet reached 25 years if they have a 
learning difficulty, in order to encourage, enable or assist their effective participation in 
education or training. The Connexions Service also assists young people to obtain suitable 
employment and related training and education. Its services and responsibilities cover 
children and young people who are being educated at home. From April 2008 each local 
authority will be funded and have responsibility for the provision of Connexions services 
in its area. The local Connexions Service is responsible for maintaining an overview of the 
learning and work status of all young people that are covered by its remit and seeks to 
ensure that none fall between the responsibilities and remit of different agencies and thus 
become marginalized or lost to the system. Sections 117, 119 and 120 of the Learning and 
Skills Act 2000 make provision about the supply of information to Connexions providers, 
subject to normal data protection principles. 
Flexi-schooling
5.6
  “Flexi-schooling” or “flexible school attendance” is an arrangement between the parent and 
the school where the child is registered at school and attends the school only part time; the 
rest of the time the child is home educated (on authorised absence from school). This can be 
a long-term arrangement or a short-term measure for a particular reason. “Flexi-schooling” 
is a legal option provided that the head teacher at the school concerned agrees to the 
arrangement. The child will be required to follow the National Curriculum whilst at school 
but not whilst he or she is being educated at home. Local authorities should make sure 
that head teachers are made familiar with flexi-schooling and how it may work in practice. 
Further information is available in the DCSF’s guidance Keeping Pupil Registers.21 
Local authorities’ role in supporting work experience 
5.7
 Work experience is not a statutory requirement. However, the Government’s objective is 
for all Key Stage 4 pupils to undertake work experience in the last two years of compulsory 
schooling. Over 95% of Key Stage 4 pupils go on placements each year. The law relating 
to the employment of children generally places statutory restrictions and prohibitions on 
employers in this respect. Where the employment is in accordance with arrangements 
made by a local authority or a governing body, with a view to providing pupils with work 
experience as part of their education in their last two years of compulsory schooling, these 
restrictions will generally not apply.22 
5.8  Children educated at home have no entitlement to participate in work experience 
under arrangements made by a local authority but we encourage local authorities 
to assist the parents of home educated children who wish to pursue work experience 
through such arrangements. Where home educated children do participate in such 
schemes, consideration should be given to the extent to which such children are covered by, 
for example, the health and safety, child protection and insurance provision made on behalf 
of school children, often by intermediary bodies, which are necessary to safeguard the child. 
21 http://www.dfes.gov.uk/schoolattendance/legislation/index.cfm
22  see section 560 of the Education Act 1996, as amended by section 112 of the School Standards and Framework 
Act 1998
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Elective Home Education Guidelines for Local Authorities
Education Maintenance Allowance 
5.9  Education Maintenance Allowance is an income tested weekly allowance available to 
learners over the age of 16 as an incentive to stay on in education at school or college after 
GCSEs. It is not available to learners whose parents elect to home educate them after the 
age of 16. 
Truancy sweeps 
5.10
  When planning and running truancy sweeps, LAs should refer to the DCSF’s School 
Attendance and Exclusions Sweeps Effective Practice23. This includes a section on children who 
are educated outside the school system. Those taking part in the sweeps, including police 
officers, police community support officers, local authority staff and anyone else taking part 
in the sweep should be fully familiar with this guidance, act in accordance with it and be 
aware that there is a range of valid reasons why compulsory school-age children may be out 
of school. 
Gypsy, Roma and Traveller Children
5.11
  Local authorities should have an understanding of and be sensitive to, the distinct ethos 
and needs of Gypsy, Roma and Traveller communities. It is important that these families 
who are electively home educating are treated in the same way as any other families. Home 
education should not necessarily be regarded as less appropriate than in other communities. 
When a Gypsy, Roma and Traveller family with children of school age move into an area, 
they are strongly encouraged to contact the local Traveller Education Support Service for 
advice and help to access local educational settings. Most LAs provide such a service. Further 
guidance can be obtained from the DCSF’s Guide to Good Practice on the education of 
Gypsy, Roma and Traveller children – Aiming High: Raising the Achievement of Gypsy Traveller 
Pupils
 which can be obtained from DCSF Publications (reference DfES/0443/2003). Another 
(external) source of information is www.gypsy-traveller.org/education/. 
Gifted and talented children
5.12
  Although the Department does not have hard data, anecdotal evidence suggests that many 
home educated children would be identified as gifted and talented were they to attend a 
school. Some home educated children are likely to be exceptionally able; others will have 
additional educational needs. 
5.13  Local authority support for home educated children should take into account whether 
they might be gifted and talented. Through the lead officers for gifted and talented 
education, these children may be able to access local and regional learning opportunities 
alongside pupils from local schools. Authorities are encouraged to draw parents’ attention 
to Young Gifted and Talented (YG&T), the Learner Academy for gifted and talented children 
and young people aged 4-19. YG&T is available to home-educated learners as well as to 
those in schools. They can access free and priced opportunities advertised in its Learner 
Catalogue, use its discussion forums and benefit from other resources and support as they 
become available. Electively home educated children and their parents can register with 
YG&T at www.dcsf.gov.uk/ygt. 
23  Available at www.dcsf.gov.uk/schoolattendance/truancysweeps
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