You’ve probably seen a lot on social media about home education – tips on deregistering, advice about the Local Authority (LA), lessons, subscriptions to apps, ‘how to’s’, offers of access to discounts and lots of ‘we bought this resource, so should you’. Some of it may seem reliable, even helpful, but much of it is misleading or incomplete—sometimes unintentionally, other times with an agenda behind it. Our aim is to give you free accurate, experience-based information so you can feel confident and informed. You don’t need to pay for template letters, packs, tracking apps, or support, and discounts are available to all home educators (you don’t have to have paid to receive them).
It’s easy to follow accounts that look polished and confident. But be cautious. Many “experts” on platforms like TikTok are tutors, businesses, or ‘influencers’ with limited personal home education experience. They often promote resources or products that won’t suit your child or aren’t needed at all. Some advice can even lead to problems.
We’re a well established, not-for-profit, volunteer-led organisation made up of long term experienced home educators, legal and SEN specialists, and campaigners involved in national policy, including the proposed Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill. We’ve supported tens of thousands of families over many years, and everything we offer is free and independent—with no strings attached.
Quick tip:
The correct term is home education, not home schooling. Home education means you are responsible for your child’s learning. The term home schooling implies a school’s responsibility, which can lead to confusion and even problems with deregistration or LA interactions.
It’s normal to feel unsure when the LA gets in touch. Their letters might sound polite—or even threatening—but all LAs are bound by the same law, regardless of what they claim. Their legal role is to identify children missing from education (by asking about the home education provision) it is not to assess, support, or monitor the home education. If you are looking for support then reach out to us and the community. Be aware that LA support (if provided) usually comes with ties.
LA staff often lack any training in home education or SEND. The majority will overstep the law, misquote guidance, or request more than is required. They are also only human, personality clashes can and do happen, affecting their response. Others may appear friendly—but even a “good” LA can change depending on staffing or local policy, often when you look closely, the “good” wasn’t so good! A rare positive story online doesn’t guarantee a positive experience for you.
LAs are not legally required to visit you, and in many cases, visits lead to problems: reports with false claims, pressure on children, or even unnecessary referrals to children’s services.
To put it simply: letting the LA into your home or sharing more than the law requires opens the door to potential issues.
Many LAs use language in letters or calls that suggest things are mandatory, like providing samples of work or a timetable. In reality, these are optional, but the wording often doesn’t make that clear. Some LAs even misquote the law or omit key facts in their forms to keep requesting more from you. Across social media you may see offers of help dealing with the LA or suggestions of just giving what the LA asked for – we advise extreme caution. An LA that recognises template reports or the use of recording apps or AI, or sees they can push boundaries will push harder. They will come back demanding more and more of you, then use you as an example of what others should provide. Understanding the legal requirements will ensure you and other home educators are protected.
Whilst now adays the goal within the LA is not openly declared as wanting to bring the number of home educators down, you only need to listen to an LA or MP talk to hear them say they are concerned about the high numbers (they don’t want to fix the school issues). It is also about control for the worst LAs. About forcing you to comply with what they want and what they think a suitable home education is. There are some LAs that openly state they do not care what the law or government recommend, some will stand in court and fight that they can decide what is right for your child. This is why we do what we do, to prevent these situations happening, but to also support if you’ve found us after a problem has arisen.
It is usually simply down to a lack of experience. They don’t volunteer for one of the large support services, they don’t see the widespread daily problems. Some say what they say to get the views, likes and comments and the pay-outs!
Or worse still they think that it is ok for the LA to overstep. They believe that home educators should be assessed and monitored. This is extremely dangerous for the community moving forwards. We have been around long enough to see new generations come to home education, and how they behave, unfortunately since COVID there’s been a new wave of home educator who jumps right in, creates school like learning, lets the LA walk all over them, but then they declare home education didn’t work and they send their children back to school. These families did not fully embrace all that home education can offer, the flexibility to learn in a way that suits the child, free of interference from the LA.
The mythical support some LAs claim to offer, is often just that – none existent. There is no requirement for them to offer support. It usually comes with strings, if you ask for the LA help they may give you some suggestions but then become aggressive if you did not do exactly as they said. We have even seen some cases where the LA made a ‘suggestion’ of a resource, the family used it, but the LA then claimed the education was unsuitable as the resource was not appropriate! The LA would not be who we suggest you reach out to if you need support. Other home educators have the lived experiences, find lots of them here in our Facebook group.
You are not required to track every detail of your child’s learning. Learning happens in so many informal ways—through chats, baking, nature walks, and more. Most tracking apps are unnecessary and time-consuming, and some are marketed as if they’re needed for LA reports (they’re not).
When you provide information to the LA you need only write 1-2 pages as an overview of the previous year, you are not needing to recall every worksheet, place visited or cake made. Unfortunately many of these apps are hoping you won’t know that.
If you want to keep hold of everything your child has learned, or keep a record, these are for your own use. Set up a free private Facebook group, or Tiktok etc. You and your family can then look back on how the child has progressed.
We tell you all of this not to scare you, but to help you avoid getting into a situation of needing to get support at a later date when the LA causes you issues or the education is feeling a struggle.
You may have thought, until now, that you knew the ins and outs of home education, and now suddenly feel overwhelmed. We have been where you are, though some of our team are so old that social media was very new when we started home educating, we know this new generation of home educator is bombarded by information that appears to be based on fact, and now you’re being told otherwise. We aren’t saying unfollow everyone, we are just suggesting you get the factual info from a reputable and established free source like us.
Take some time to read through our website, or watch our TikToks (yes we see the irony here) (though these don’t cover everything from our website). And come join us on our private Facebook group where you’ll be able to chat to our amazing team and tens of thousands of other home educators.
You’ve got this—and we’re here to help, without pressure or sales.
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