What home education is, and how to start it in the UK, Spain and Australia
Home education (home schooling, home-ed) means a parent or carer takes responsibility for a child's education instead of a school. It can look like a timetable at the kitchen table, a week built around clubs and trips, or a child following their own interests with a parent alongside. All of those are home education. What changes from country to country is the law: whether you may do it, whom you tell, and what they can ask of you.
This page gives the first steps for the three countries most of our readers live in, with the official source for each. It is general information, not legal advice, and rules change, so the official page always wins.
Before the paperwork: what home education involves
- Responsibility. You decide what, when and how your child learns. Nobody sets the hours or the subjects (in the UK) or checks a register (in Australia the registration body does review your program).
- No teaching qualification is needed in any of the three countries' recognised routes.
- No funding as a rule. Exams, materials and trips are paid for by the family.
- A community. Not a legal requirement, but the thing experienced home educators say matters most. Build it from day one: see finding homeschool families near you.
United Kingdom
Home education is lawful in all four nations. The procedures differ, so check the nation you live in.
England
- The duty. Parents must ensure their child receives a suitable full-time education from age 5, at school "or otherwise". You do not have to follow the national curriculum. Source: gov.uk/home-education.
- Leaving a school. Write to the school asking for your child to be removed from the register. The school must accept a full withdrawal. If your child attends a special school, or a school attendance order is in force, you need the council's permission first.
- The council. Your local authority may make informal enquiries about the education you're providing, and can serve a school attendance order if it believes the education is not suitable. The Department for Education's elective home education guidance (for parents and for local authorities, last updated August 2024) explains both sides.
- Registers are coming. The Children's Wellbeing and Schools Act 2026 requires councils to keep registers of children not in school and adds consent requirements for withdrawing children in certain situations (for example from a special school, or where there is a child protection enquiry or plan). At the time of writing the parental duty to provide information had not yet been commenced; check gov.uk for the current position before you deregister.
Scotland
Parents may home educate; if a child is already at a local authority school, the council's consent is normally needed to withdraw them. There is no curriculum requirement. Source: the Scottish Government's home education guidance.
Wales
Parents write to the school to deregister; the local authority has a duty to identify children not receiving a suitable education and may ask about provision. The Welsh Government publishes guidance and a handbook for home educators.
Northern Ireland
Parents may home educate and should inform the school; the Education Authority (eani.org.uk, search "elective home education") publishes the procedure.
For a fuller UK walk-through, see home education in the UK: how to get started.
Spain
Spain is different, and it is important to say so clearly.
- Schooling is compulsory from 6 to 16. Basic education is compulsory and free under the Constitution (art. 27.4) and the education law (LOE art. 4); nursery education (0–6) is voluntary.
- Home education is not a recognised or regulated option. There is no registration route and no inspection regime. The Constitutional Court (STC 133/2010) upheld compulsory schooling and held that parents cannot substitute home education for it on pedagogical grounds.
- In practice a child of compulsory age who is not enrolled can be treated as school absenteeism under the regional protocol, which can involve social services and, in persistent cases, the public prosecutor. Enforcement varies by region and case.
- What families do: enrol in a school (public, concertado, private or international) and supplement at home; some enrol with a foreign online school for curriculum and exams, which does not change the legal position in Spain.
The detail, and where the home-ed community in Spain is, is in home education in Spain for expat families (also en español).
Australia
Home education is lawful in every state and territory, and regulated in every one. A child of compulsory school age must be enrolled at a school or registered (approved, or exempted) for home education with the state or territory's authority. Broadly:
- Find your authority: NSW Department of Education (formerly NESA), the VRQA in Victoria, Queensland Home Education, the WA Department of Education, SA's Home Education unit, Tasmania's Office of the Education Registrar, the ACT Education Directorate, and the NT Department of Education. Official links for each are in our Australia guide.
- Apply before (or as) you leave school. Several states want a learning plan or program summary; some visit or meet you; most register for one to two years and want a report or renewal. The NT asks you to keep your child enrolled until approval comes through.
- Join the network. The Home Education Association (hea.edu.au) and the state networks are the right first call.
The first month, wherever you are
- Read the official page for your country or state (links above). Save it.
- Deregister or register properly. Keep copies of every letter and form.
- Don't build a school at home. Most families spend the first month "deschooling": reading, going out, watching what the child reaches for. Our first year of home education guide covers this.
- Find two families. A park morning with two other families does more for the first term than any curriculum. PipsVillage shows home-educating families near you with their children's ages, free to join: how it works · install.
- Set a gentle rhythm, not a timetable: see our sample homeschool schedule.
Frequently asked questions
Is home education legal?
In the UK and Australia, yes, with different procedures (the UK: notify the school, the council may ask about provision; Australia: register with your state authority). In Spain it is not a recognised option: schooling is compulsory from 6 to 16.
Do I need to be a teacher to home educate?
No, in the UK and Australia. (Spain has no recognised home-education route.)
Do I have to follow the national curriculum?
Not in the UK. In Australia it depends on the state: several expect your program to cover the key learning areas of the Australian Curriculum or an approved alternative.
Can my child still take exams?
Yes. In the UK, GCSEs and A-levels are taken as a private candidate at an exam centre; in Australia, pathways vary by state. Families arrange and pay for exams themselves.