Home-schooling
When health-issues make it hard for you to attend, enjoy or succeed in school, you can consider home-schooling.
Who can home-educate: In the UK it is legal for students to be home-schooled from the age of 5. Only pupils with Special Education Needs (SEN) have to first get permission from the local council to learn at home; otherwise, you don’t need to seek permission although it’s wise to tell the school and local authority.
Rules of home-schooling: you don’t have to follow the national curriculum, nor do parents/guardians need teaching qualifications. Home-school should be ‘full-time’ – note, this is loosely defined, so you can flexibly study to work around health-issues. You aren’t legally required to tell/seek permission from your school or local authority but this is very strongly advised, as they can offer support or could become concerned if you don’t attend school as they expect.
Legal checks: The local authority (county council) can make an ‘informal enquiry’ to check you’re getting a suitable education. If they are unsatisfied, they can issue school attendance orders, forcing you back to school. There’s more information about the legal side of things on the government webpage on elective home education, and you can find info and people to contact on your county council website.
Pros of home-schooling: | Cons of home-schooling: |
– It’s easier to fit study around your health, e.g. taking time out for hospital appointments, or prioritising learning in the afternoons if you struggle in the mornings – Flexibility: what you study, how many courses – Potentially less stressful learning environment than school – Tailor lessons to your individual learning style, your strengths/weaknesses and your interests – especially relevant if you have dyslexia, ADHD etc. and struggle with mainstream school-teaching | – The responsibility for students and parents can be stressful – Financial cost of study resources, exam entry fees, ensuring reliable home internet – Less of a support network when it comes to university applications and the UCAS process, compared to having the support of teachers who are well-versed in the UCAS process – Socialising: without the social side of school you’ll need to make an extra effort outside of home-schooling to see friends |
Practical Things to Consider:
Finance – Make sure you consider the different costs involved:
- Textbooks/online materials: Books are £10+ online – look for 2nd-hand. Online resources can include videos, practice questions. Some are free (BBC Bitesize is a great starting point), some charge.
- Exam fees: min. £40+ admin fees for 1 GCSE, min. £100+ admin fees for 1 A level, + cost of travel to exam centres
- Tutors (optional): private tutors £15-30/hour
- Home-education study groups: resources & support. Can be free/admin charge/small fee
- Private online school courses (optional): hundreds to thousands
Study:
- Do you have access to resources? Will you have an adult to help you, or will you join an online school*? *Beware: some charge £1000s, there are others which offer a similar service for less, eg £100/year. Some may be tailored to an overseas curriculum.
- Can you create a calm, quiet study environment at home? If this is tricky, what about a local library?
- Does the more structured school environment help keep you on track? Will you be motivated to keep learning at home?
Social:
- Do you like being around other people or are you happy on your own? How would you feel about being at home, only seeing family during school-time?
- If you’re worried about becoming isolated, have you looked into attending school part-time? It can allow you the flexibility you need for your health, while still seeing friends each day.
Why not try reaching out to a local home-education group; they’ll be more than happy to answer any questions, tell you about their experiences etc. Local groups for home educators
Think it’s for you? How to start home-schooling:
Research, plan (courses, resources, costs) and talk it through at home before you let your school/local authority know and fully commit to home-schooling. Remember to check exam registration deadlines with exam centres, these are usually months ahead of time.
Below is a step by step list of things to consider. Exams will come at the end of your study cycle, but remember to register for exams early on! You’ll be responsible for registering yourself for exams at an exam centre, and the deadline will be months ahead of time – don’t leave it till the last minute!
Remember that Maths & English GCSEs are required for almost any job/degree, and some degrees require specific subjects at GCSE and A level. Sixth-forms and unis do look at how many subjects you study, but there’s no formal rule saying you need 10+ GCSEs! If you take fewer subjects for health reasons, you can flag this to unis in the application process and you shouldn’t be disadvantaged.
- Before GCSEs/Year 10 rather than exam boards there is a centralised national curriculum. Home-schoolers DON’T have to follow it but can choose to – be warned it’s very long and hard to read. Instead, try searching for home-schooling resources by age or key-stage (KS1-infants, KS2-juniors, KS3-ages 11-14)
- If you’re 14+ and working towards GCSEs, you’ll have to pick an exam board. This determines the content you’ll cover for the exams you will sit. If you’ve begun studying a certain specification (a curriculum set by an exam board) in school, it might be easier to continue with this. If more than one exam board offer your subject, check available learning resources and exam centres (see the exams tab) to help choose.
It’s best to find resources in advance, to help with structure and avoid procrastination; having resources on hand makes it easier to get started.
Official exam-board textbooks and workbooks are useful, and can be bought for less 2nd-hand online. However, alone they are unlikely to be enough. There are sites and youtube channels offering online resources such as videos, booklets, practice questions etc. Some are free e.g. BBC bitesize, Free home education. Others charge e.g. Get my Grades: £75/year for English, Maths & Science content.
Online home-school services offer ready-made structure and resources. Beware: prices vary from hundreds to thousands. We’ve not used any so can’t recommend any here. Don’t feel you have to sign up to expensive courses; there are many free/cheaper resources out there, and local home-schooling groups who can offer advice, resources, and moral support. We found to lists of local groups on sites like Education Otherwise; Google/Facebook should help you find more.
Writing a schedule is a really helpful way to stay motivated to learn, and avoid feeling overwhelming after leaving the rigid structure of school. It doesn’t have to look like a school timetable – you might plan to dedicate one week to in-depth research on a particular topic, e.g. visiting a museum and then conducting online research about whatever bits interested you most.
For exams, make a long-term schedule with topics from your different courses broken down by month/week, then break this down again by making a daily plan. If you’re working towards an exam, plan to finish at least 1-2 months before to allow yourself time to revise. Ensure you plan regular breaks, and differentiate between ‘study’ time and ‘free’ time (this can get blurred if you’re at home, especially if you’re worried about exams or a perfectionist).
If health or life surprises disrupt your plan – that’s okay! Be ready to change your plan, don’t panic, you are free to work at your own pace – your health is more important.
Plan (see above)
Follow your interests and learning style
Seek advice and support from others who’ve been in the same situation. Speaking of which, we’ve got a webpage full of independent study advice.
Be motivated, but most importantly, be kind to yourself! It’s a big undertaking, both studying and seeking resources, sometimes teaching yourself – you’re doing great!
As a home-schooled student, you will need to check you can sit your exams as a ‘private candidate’ at an exam centre. Different boards offer different subjects and qualifications, so check which exam board teaches the course(s) that you wish to take. You can take different subjects/courses with different exam boards at the same time, but check whether this may mean having to use multiple exam centres (might lead to hard-to-resolve exam clashes). Also check exam centre fees, and whether the centre will let you sit any coursework with them too.
Lists of exam centres by exam board:
If you’re struggling to find an exam centre, try ringing local schools you know offer the paper you wish to take. They might agree to take you on a one-off basis.
You’ll be responsible for getting yourself registered in time for exams, so make sure to investigate exam centres as early as possible, ideally before you commit to home-schooling so you know you’ll have options.
About Us
The general aim and objective of Head Up! is to promote the interests of young people with disabilities, physical and/or mental health conditions, specific learning difficulties and neurodivergence; offering them practical advice and support concerning their education and welfare.