Guides
UK home education guides
Around 126,000 children in England are now educated at home, and the Department for Education’s count rose about 13% in a single year. Almost every family arrives the same way: a long stretch of reading at 11pm, working out what is allowed, what a day looks like and what it costs.
These are the notes from two years of that reading, written plainly. Deregistering, replying to the council, socialisation, exams, money, and the planning nobody hands you. Somebody still has to decide what your child does every Monday for 36 weeks.
Your first home education lesson: what to do on day one
The first morning sets the shape of everything that follows. Most parents get it backwards.
Read the guide →2 min readLocal authority home education powers: what they can ask
All seven are written into law. Number 4 is the one they count on parents never checking.
Read the guide →2 min readHome education and socialisation: the honest answer
All eight are true. All eight are boring to prove. Number 5 gets teachers to nod off the record.
Read the guide →2 min readHome education UK: 10 things schools do not tell you
All ten are true. All ten are checkable. Number 9 is the one they'd hate most.
Read the guide →2 min readHome education burnout: 5 causes and how to fix them
Families rarely quit home ed because of the child. They quit because the parent runs dry. Here's what drains the tank — and the fixes.
Read the guide →1 min readWhat is a morning basket, and how to start one
The twenty-minute ritual home-ed families swear by — and why it works better than a timetable.
Read the guide →1 min readWhich school year is my child in? UK year groups by age
School sorts kids by birthday. Home ed lets you sort by the child. Here's how to pick a starting point.
Read the guide →1 min readGCSEs when home educated: how it actually works in the UK
'But what about GCSEs?' — the question every home-ed family gets. Here's what's actually true.
Read the guide →1 min readThe Children Not in School register explained, plainly
The register has produced more misinformation than any other topic in UK home education.
Read the guide →2 min readThe 4 stages of deschooling, and how long each takes
Every home-ed family walks the same road to the decision. See where you're standing.
Read the guide →1 min readCan you take your child out of school mid-year? Yes — here is how
The school year doesn't decide when enough is enough. These are the six I see over and over.
Read the guide →1 min readHow many children are home educated in England?
That's the Department for Education's own estimate — up 13% in a single year. Here's what's driving it.
Read the guide →1 min readHome educating as a dad: making it work around a job
The mums get the Instagram accounts. The dads get this. Tag yourself — I'll go first.
Read the guide →1 min readA school Monday vs a home education Monday, compared
One child. Two versions of the same day, pinned side by side. Spot the difference.
Read the guide →1 min readHow to plan a home education curriculum without burning out
The difference between calm home ed and 11pm chaos is rarely the child. It's the plan.
Read the guide →2 min readHow much does home education cost in the UK?
The worry that stops more families than the law ever does. Let's answer it honestly — costs and all.
Read the guide →1 min readHow to reply to your local authority about home education
After you deregister, the local authority may make informal enquiries. Here's the calm way through. (England.)
Read the guide →2 min readFree home education resources in the UK, actually worth using
Before you buy anything: the free shelf is better than most paid ones.
Read the guide →1 min readThinking about home education but not sure you can do it
My daughter is three. I started researching her education early — and couldn't stop.
Read the guide →1 min readAnswering the questions relatives ask about home education
Mention home ed once and the questions arrive on schedule. Here are the calm answers.
Read the guide →1 min read5 signs school is not working for your child
Not the newsletter version — the signs parents actually compare at the school gate.
Read the guide →1 min readYour first week of home education: a day-by-day plan
The week's only job is settling in. Here's a plan you can steal day by day.
Read the guide →2 min readHome education UK: 7 things worth knowing before you start
From a dad two years deep in the research — before my daughter even starts school.
Read the guide →2 min readTypes of home educator: which approach suits your family?
Two years of lurking in UK home-ed groups says every family lands in one of these four camps.
Read the guide →2 min readWhat a home education day actually looks like, hour by hour
Not the Instagram version — a normal Tuesday, hour by hour, in a normal UK house.
Read the guide →1 min readYour first month of home education: do this, not that
The month that decides whether it sticks — and the mistakes almost everyone makes in it.
Read the guide →2 min readAlso worth reading
Two longer guides sit inside StudyDen itself. You do not need an account to read either.
Home education in the UK
The whole thing in one screen: the law, deregistering, what it costs, what to teach, the local authority, exams and socialisation.
The UK primary curriculum, year by year
Every subject in Years 1 to 6, with the real lesson list for each one. What a Year 3 child actually covers, in the order it is taught.
What school year is my child in?
The full UK table of school years by age for England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland, and the birthday cut-off that decides which year a child lands in.
Is Oak National Academy free?
Yes, and it always will be. What Oak gives you, what it deliberately leaves to you, and how home educating families actually use it.
The Children Not in School register
What it is, what it will ask for, and the part most reports leave out: it is not in force yet, and there is nothing you are late for.
How much does home education cost?
It can be nothing. Every line item families actually pay for, what each one buys, and the cost nobody puts in the list.
Deregistering from school
The law, the letter and the timing, for England. Regulation 9(1)(f), why the day you name decides when your child comes off the roll, and a template you can copy.
For the sceptic at your table
Two minutes of straight answers for the relative who thinks you are winging it. Who wrote the lessons, how the learning is evidenced, and whether any of it is legal.
Reading is the easy part
Every guide here ends in the same place. Somebody has to decide what your child learns tomorrow, and the day after that. StudyDen is the answer I built for my own daughter: Years 1 to 6 planned out, week by week, on Oak National Academy’s lessons.
Start your 7-day free trialCancel any time.
These guides describe home education in England unless they say otherwise. Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland have their own rules, and a child at a special school follows a different process. Nothing here is legal advice.