Elective Home Education (EHE), is the term used by the Department for Education (DfE), to describe the education provided by parents or carers at home, rather than providing education for their children by sending them to school.
The local authority seeks to build positive relationships with parents who home educate by establishing mutual understanding, trust, and respect.
The following information is for all home educating families and may also be useful for parents who are thinking about home educating for the first time.
If you are thinking about home education for the first time, it may be worth considering the following:
- Prepare for your child's learning before making a decision. Research a range of approaches and learning styles. Decide whether you want to involve others to provide additional teaching support. Explore local activities and groups and consider opportunities for social contact with other children.
- There is no funding available from the government for home educating families, you must meet the costs of your child's education yourself. This will include providing appropriate resources, opportunities for educational visits, access to activities with other children their age and other adults, and exam fees.
- Your child's needs change at different ages and stages. If you decide not to continue with home education and would like your child to attend a school, we will offer to support you in finding a school place.
- If you deregister your child and then change your mind, Kirklees Council is unable to guarantee that your child returns to the same school. Bear in mind the pressure on school places in your area; local schools may not have places available.
- If you have a difficulty or a disagreement with your child's current school. You should contact a member of the school staff to try to resolve the difficulties before removing your child from the school roll. You may decide to consider other local schools for your child. We would also encourage you to contact us to discuss the situation where we may be able to offer support to resolve any issues.
- As a parent you have a legal duty, as set out in section 7 of the Education Act 1996, to ensure that your child receives an efficient full-time education suitable to:
- age, ability and aptitude
- and any special educational needs, either by regular attendance at school or otherwise, (otherwise can mean at home)
- If you use a third party (like a tutor) to deliver part of your child's education, you are responsible for ensuring they are appropriately qualified and suitable. This includes Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) checks.
Further information
If your child is already at school and you are committed to electively home educate your child, we advise you to write to the Headteacher of the school through letter or email to inform them of your decision.
Ask for the child's name be taken off the school roll, and give them a specific date that they should remove your child from the register.
The school will inform us that you are going to be responsible for educating your child.
We will contact you to make informal enquiries as to how you will provide education for your child.
If your child is not on roll at a school, you are under no specific duty to inform Kirklees Council of your decision to home educate. If you would like to contact us we would welcome hearing from you, so we can introduce ourselves and discuss any queries you may have
If your child has an Education, Health and Care Plan you must inform the Head Teacher in writing. If your child attends a special school the consent of the LA must be obtained before your child's name is removed from the school roll. The school will liaise with the Special Educational Needs and Disability Assessment and Commissioning Team, (SENDACT), to ensure appropriate procedures are followed.
You will need to provide a full time, efficient education that is suitable for the child's age, ability and aptitude. You do not need to be a qualified teacher, but by working together with your child you can identify how and what your child wants to learn to equip them for their future
If your child has special educational needs, the education must meet these needs. If you think your child has special educational needs you can Contact us for advice.
The education you provide should prepare your child for life in our modern society and enable them to progress towards reaching their full potential. You don't need to follow the National Curriculum but think about how your child will develop a range of skills, for example:
- communication
- observation and awareness
- problem-solving
- creative and imaginative
- numerical
- physical
- personal and social
We recommend you consider some elements of the core subjects, for example Maths, English, Science and ICT but how and what you choose is your decision.
Teaching time
As a guide, children who go to school attend for 190 days a year, and the following weekly teaching hours are recommended by the Department for Education:
The Information for parents document includes guidance on how you can demonstrate a suitable education is in place.
- 21 hours for 5-7 year olds
- 23.5 hours for 8-11 year olds
- 24 hours for 12-16 year olds
Further information
GOV.UK: The national curriculum
Online learning resources
If your child has special educational needs (SEN) you can still educate them at home, whether they have an Education, Health and Care (EHC) plan or not. If your child has an EHC plan, we have a duty to make sure the child's needs are met, and that you make suitable provision, including for your child's special educational needs.
However, if your child goes to a special school, you will need permission from us before you can take your child out of special school and start home educating them.
If you are thinking of elective home education as an alternative to your child being taught in School then we would strongly recommend you discuss this with the school and your SEN caseworker before confirming your decision.
Parents who are educating a child at home may ask Kirklees LA to carry out a statutory assessment of their child's special educational needs. The LA must consider the request within the same timescales as the requests that it receives from any other parent.
Further information
Kirklees Information Advice and Support Service (KIAS)
Kirklees Local Offer: Personal budgets (Education)
Independent Provider of Special Education Advice (IPSEA)
Professional Association of Teachers of Students with Specific learning difficulties (Patoss)
A member of the team will contact you to make informal enquiries regarding the education you are providing, to offer any advice required and to try to answer any questions you may have. We aim to work positively and supportively with parents to ensure that a suitable provision is provided and that it is in the best interest of the child.
We recognise and understand the range of approaches and philosophies which home educating families may use, and that there are many approaches to educational provision. The information you provide will vary depending upon the style of education, and may include:
- your education philosophy
- resources you are providing or how you intend for your child to access resources, suitable to their age, ability, and aptitude and to any special needs which they may have
- how you will assess your child's progress
- how you intend to integrate the core subjects of English, (literacy), Mathematics, (numeracy), and IT into your arrangement
- any arrangements for public examinations where appropriate
- how you will meet any special educational needs your child may have
- recognition of your child's aptitudes and aspirations
- how you will provide social experiences to help your child develop
- how your home is suitable for undertaking learning, in terms of noise, space and general environment.
When home education provision appears to be suitable, we will keep our involvement to a minimum and contact you annually for and update, unless we have agreed to contact you sooner. You can also contact us at any point.
If we believe the education does not appear to be full-time, efficient and/or suitable, we will talk this through with you and offer suggestions and recommendations. Follow-up contact will be arranged to discuss the progress.
If following attempts to make improvements, it appears your child's education is unsuitable; formal steps will be taken to ensure your child receives a suitable education, this could be through the use of a School Attendance Order.
If we do not receive a response to our informal enquiries about home education provision, we will conclude that it appears your child is not receiving a suitable education.
Further information
Local Authority responsibilities
Although the legal duty to ensure children receive an education falls on parents, local authorities have the following statutory duties:
- A duty 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 or privately. (Section 436A of the Education Act 1996, inserted by the Education and Inspections Act 2006).
- A duty to take action if it appears that parents are not providing a suitable education. If it appears that a child of compulsory school age is not receiving suitable education, either by regular attendance at school or otherwise, the local authority must take action (section 437(1) Education Act 1996).
- A duty, under section 175(1) of the Education Act 2002, to safeguard and promote the welfare of children. Local authorities must act upon any concerns that a child may be at risk of significant harm, in accordance with its child protection procedures. Where a child is not seen for long periods of time, this may prompt discussion between various safeguarding agencies.
If you want your child to take exams, such as GCSEs, your plan must include the year your child will sit exams, deadlines for applying, and where they will take them. You will need to be familiar with the details of the correct syllabus to follow.
Many subjects also have coursework, which will need to be marked by someone the exam board has approved.
You will need to contact an exam centre directly and register your child for the exams. You will be responsible for all the fees.
Some families choose to enter their children for International GCSEs (IGCSE's). These are ideal for those wanting to study by distance learning. IGCSE's offer a practical way forward for those studying at home as assessment is by written exam at test centres world-wide.
Exam boards
Exam centres
When submitting a young person for exams, if over 14 years old, then a Unique Learner Number (ULN) is required. If you require information on how you can obtain a ULN for your child, please contact us.
Past papers
Some local colleges offer courses to young people who are home educated. They may require a child to be home educated for a specific time and some may contact us to confirm whether we are aware that you are home educating. You can speak to the 14-16 provision managers about your expectations and what they have to offer.
- Barnsley College - 14-16 Provision at Barnsley College
- Bradford College - 14-16 year olds
- Calderdale College - 14-16 Courses
- Leeds City College - Somerville House
Kirklees College is running a pilot programme for those young people in Year 11. For further informationContact us.
Young people in Kirklees can access C+K Careers for information, advice and guidance on post-16 options and careers.
Get Into, the Kirklees online prospectus is an online prospectus and application system for young people to search for courses and apply to school sixth forms, colleges and training providers in Kirklees and its surrounding areas.
If you no longer want to educate your child at home and want to access education in a school, you will need to apply for a place at your preferred school using the Admissions process.
If you want your child to access education in a school during the school year, then you should read Changing school during the school year and complete the application form.
If you need any help or advice, please feel free to contact us
If you are not happy with the service you have received or feel that your issues have not been resolved after discussing them with the team. You can follow the complaints procedure:
Contact us
- Email EHETeam@kirklees.gov.uk
- Phone 01484 221919