Elective home education (EHE)
Parent's or carer's legal responsibility
Parents and carers have a legal responsibility to make sure that their children receive an efficient full-time education from the age of 5, suitable to their age, ability, aptitude, and any special educational needs they may have.
Education is compulsory, but school is not.
Most parents send their children to school, but some parents choose to take on full responsibility and educate at home, which is called elective home education (EHE).
Parents or carers may be thinking of EHE for a variety of reasons. We recommend parents try to resolve any concerns with a school before beginning EHE simply as a response. For support you could contact:
- EHE Advice and Support email ehe@derby.gov.uk.
- SEND Officer email SENDadmin@derby.gov.uk.
- Education Welfare Service email Education.welfare@derby.gov.uk.
- Website - SENDIASS: Get in touch.
Deciding to educate children at home requires your own resources as well as enthusiasm, commitment and patience. It can be rewarding and challenging and your provision, as parents, needs to meet your legal duty.
Please remember that if you choose to take on the responsibility for your child's education, you will be responsible for the cost of their education. This includes payment for examinations such as GCSEs. You do not have to follow the national curriculum, but you should consider the effect this may have on your child regarding future study and qualifications. Please refer to Department for Education download Elective home education: guidance for parents.
Things to consider before choosing EHE
Opting for home education is opting out of the state system in its entirety.
Our local authority role will be advisory. You will have no access to any of the broad range of teaching services offered, including access to exam entry or specialist teaching services.
- Think long and hard about it. It is a great responsibility and a considerable commitment of time and energy.
- Plan what you intend to do for your child before deciding to choose this option.
- Look at the costs involved. For example, for educational visits, equipment, books, exam fees and subject tutors. There is no funding available for home educating families.
- Provide opportunities for your child to be involved in social activities, contact other children, and take part in joint activities with other children and groups. These activities may provide a useful social setting and improve your child’s motivation to succeed with his or her learning.
- Keep your options open. As your child’s needs may change at different ages and stages. Older children need more challenging and sophisticated materials across a range of subjects if they intend to make good progress.
Do not take your child out of school simply because you have a disagreement with the school or a teacher.
If I still wish to educate my child at home?
If you wish to educate your child at home, you should write to inform the headteacher of the school where you child attends. Your child’s school has a duty to inform the LA when deregistration takes place.
If your child is registered at a special school named in their EHCP, they cannot be de-registered without the agreement of the local authority; for this you will need to speak to the SENCO and the LA’s SEND Officer.
If your child has never attended school or you are new to Derby city, you can inform us of your decision to educate at home by completing the form Notification of removal from roll to EHE.
What happens next?
The LA will make contact to request that you provide your Educational Philosophy, offering support via meeting at a Family Hub local to your address.
The meeting will be to offer further advice and support as well as providing an opportunity to meet other parents or carers who are home educating. You are not obliged to attend the meeting, but you will need to provide the Educational Philosophy – this is your belief and reasoning as to why you have chosen to EHE.
After 12 weeks of EHE the LA will contact you again to request an Education Report for your child, you will not be asked to provide samples of work.
The report should include the following:
- Style you follow and how the education is full time.
- What your child has been learning. How numeracy and literacy are covered, plus other subjects (informal and formal learning) - Discuss how the education is suitable to their age, ability, aptitude and special educational needs (SEN).
- SEN provision.
- Other informal learning or hands on activities.
- How you follow up on their learning to ensure they’ve achieved what you set out to.
- Progress made in the last year (this can be included in other sections of your report or as a separate section).
- Other activities, for example, Forest School or EHE groups, other social activities or sport.
- Resources your child uses.
- Depending on child’s age - how you are preparing them for adulthood.
We will then contact you to acknowledge receipt of the Education Report. We will contact you again annually to request further progress reports.
What is the local authority’s (LA) responsibility?
The Department for Education guidance for local authorities makes it clear that LA’s are required to make enquires of parents about the education provision for the child – in Derby city we request your Education Philosophy and later an Education Report.
Please refer to the Department for Education download Elective home education: guidance for local authorities
If we feel that the education you are providing fails to offer the child an appropriate education, we will discuss this with you and give you the support and opportunity to put things right. We will give you a reasonable period before following up.
If no improvement is evident, we will require you to register your child at school. Failure to comply will lead to a School Attendance Order being issued. But we would stress that this is rare. It will only happen if we are convinced that you are not educating your child according to his or her age, ability and aptitude, and that you have consistently failed to remedy the situation by ignoring advice and guidance.
If you change your mind
If you decide that home education is not the best course of action, you can make an application for a school:
- Refer to our Apply for a primary school transfer page.
- Refer to our Apply for a secondary school transfer page.
If your child has an EHCP you will need to contact the SEND team so that they can obtain your parental preferences. They will then consult with those schools and schools within the Local Offer to see if they are able to meet your child’s needs. Email sendadmin@derby.gov.uk.
Useful links
- GOV.UK website - Educating your child at home .
- Department of Education download - Elective home education: guidance for local authorities.
- Department of Education download - Elective home education: guidance for parents.
- Parental responsibilities.
- Resources for elective home education.
- Elective home education and examinations.
Contact us
EHE Advice and Support, Learning, Inclusion and Skills.
Council House
Corporation Street
Derby
DE1 2FS
Phone: 01332 641124 or 01332 640350
Email: EHE@derby.gov.uk