Home Educating for more than 2 months

Updated 15/12/2025

If the Local Authority (LA) has requested information about your home education provision—either by letter or by completing a form—and you have been home educating for more than two months, we recommend following our guidance and submitting a written report outlining your educational provision and resources. We feel 2-3 months is adequate time to have settled in and have educational provision to update. 

LA forms are often school-centred and may not ask relevant or appropriate questions about home education. Using our report guide ensures you provide the necessary information, in a format that accurately reflects your approach to learning.

Important reminders

• You are not required to recreate school at home.

• You do not need to provide:

  • Details of your own education

  • Tutor information

  • Personal or intrusive family information

  • Copies of learning

• You do not need:

  • A timetable

  • Marked or graded work

Responding to a First Request for Information

The following suggestions may help when replying to an LA that is requesting information for the first time, once you have been home educating for a couple of months.

⚠️ Please note

You should always respond to the LA.
Failure to do so may place you at risk of a School Attendance Order being issued.

If the LA requests a meeting, phone call, or makes an unannounced visit

Suggested response:

In response to your letter/email/phone call/visit of [date], we wish to opt out of the meeting or call offered. We are well supported both locally and nationally; however, we will contact your service should we require support in the future.

We respectfully request that all future correspondence is kept in writing and that our telephone number is removed from your records.

We are satisfied that the home education provision for [child’s name] is suitable to their age, ability, and aptitude, is full-time, and takes into account their special educational needs (include SEN only if applicable).

If the LA asks for copies of work

At this stage, we suggest not addressing this directly. Instead, provide a written report describing the educational provision and resources in use.

If the LA sends forms to complete

Suggested response:

Thank you for including the forms with your correspondence. However, these appear to be designed for school-educated children and do not allow for the wide range of approaches used in home education.

We will therefore provide written information outlining the educational provision and resources in place. Please see the attached report.

We trust this information is sufficient to satisfy your informal enquiry. Please confirm receipt.