General information about England, not legal advice. Policies differ from council to council, and the law is changing: confirm anything important against the GOV.UK and legislation.gov.uk pages linked below.
Why councils have a policy
Educating your child is your duty. The council's is narrower. Section 436A of the Education Act 1996 requires it to arrange, as far as it can, to find any children in its area who are neither registered at a school nor receiving a suitable education. With home-educating families it does that through informal enquiries, and the policy says how it makes them.
The national guidance is the Department for Education's Elective home education, published in April 2019 as a pair of documents, for parents and for local authorities; the local authority one was updated in August 2024 for new attendance regulations. Neither is law, but the local authority version asks councils to review their policies regularly so they reflect current law and are compatible with it (local authority guidance, 3.6).
Finding yours
The policy that applies to you belongs to the council responsible for education where you live: your unitary authority or London borough, or in a two-tier area the county council rather than the district (parents' guidance, paragraph 5.1). If you're not sure which that is, GOV.UK's find your local council tool will tell you from a postcode.
On the council's website, search for "elective home education". It ought to be there, since councils are expected to publish clear, accurate written information online setting out the legal position (local authority guidance, 10.18). If it isn't, email the home education team and ask for the current policy and the date it was last reviewed.
What the guidance says a policy should do
The local authority guidance wants each council to have a written policy (3.6). It should be:
- clear, transparent and easy to get hold of, in other formats if needed;
- consistent with the current law, and preferably drawn up with local home-educating families;
- clear about how the council will engage and communicate with parents;
- reviewed regularly;
- backed by clear details of the council's complaints procedure.
Other paragraphs say what the policy should explain: how the council keeps its oversight proportionate for families already providing a suitable education (5.2), what it weighs when judging suitability (9.6), and when it's likely to take safeguarding action (7.4). It also recommends a named contact who understands home education, and contact with each family at least once a year as a rule, often brief where there were no concerns (5.4).
What a policy can't require
Hold the policy up against these limits from the guidance.
| If the policy says | What the guidance says |
|---|---|
| We will visit you at home | Education law doesn't oblige you to agree to a meeting, and the council's safeguarding duty gives it no right to insist on a home visit, or on seeing your child, purely to monitor home education (parents' guidance, 5.4 and 5.11). It has no right of entry and may only come in at your invitation (local authority guidance, 8.7). |
| Fill in our form, or send a teacher's report | You don't have to produce specific evidence (parents' guidance, 5.4). The council shouldn't dismiss information because it isn't in the form it prefers, such as a report by a qualified teacher (local authority guidance, 6.12). |
| Follow the National Curriculum, or set hours | Home education doesn't have to follow the National Curriculum, and councils shouldn't set rigid criteria about the pattern of a day or the subjects taught (9.4) or specify a curriculum or approach (10.14). Full-time has no legal definition, and school timetables needn't be copied (9.8). |
| You must register with us | Registration isn't currently a legal obligation for parents (3.7). |
None of this makes silence safe. No law makes you answer, but if you don't, the parents' guidance lets the council conclude that your child doesn't appear to be getting a suitable education (5.3). What you do send is expected to show education taking place and progress being made, with an idea of the hours a week and weeks a year it fills, and a refused visit can sometimes justify a formal notice (local authority guidance, 6.12, 9.9 and 6.6). How to answer an enquiry is a separate subject, covered in replying to the council.
Changes on the way
The Children's Wellbeing and Schools Act 2026 adds new sections to the Education Act 1996. Section 436B will require each council to keep a register of children not in school. Section 436H lets a council that is deciding whether to serve a new "preliminary notice" ask to visit the child at home, and a refusal must then count as a relevant factor.
On 23 October 2026 legislation.gov.uk still listed both as prospective, in force only for the power to make regulations. Until they start, the 2019 guidance and your council's current policy apply. Our guide to the Children Not in School register follows the changes. When the new duties begin, read your council's policy again.
The home education team and children's services
The elective home education team works under education law: informal enquiries, then if needed a notice under section 437 and a school attendance order. Children's services work under the Children Act 1989, and can make enquiries under section 47 if there's reasonable cause to suspect a child is suffering, or is likely to suffer, significant harm (parents' guidance, 5.12).
The two overlap. The local authority guidance says a lack of suitable education can meet the significant harm threshold, depending on the facts, and that the teams should share relevant information. It also says there's no proven correlation between home education and safeguarding risk, and that home-educated children aren't automatically "vulnerable" (7.5, 7.2, 7.3 and 3.8). So if a policy says that declining a visit will lead to a referral as a matter of course, it's fair to ask which part of the guidance it's relying on.
What to read for
Read it through once, then go back for these:
- How the council first gets in touch, and how soon after a child leaves school.
- What it asks for, and whether a written report, a meeting elsewhere and a home visit are offered as options or as requirements.
- Any deadlines for replying. For families just starting, the parents' guidance says a reasonable timescale should be agreed, without a significant break between school ending and education at home (5.5).
- How often it reviews.
- Flexi-schooling. The guidance treats part-time school as one way of meeting your duty (local authority guidance, 6.7). The school doesn't have to agree, and time at home is marked as authorised absence (parents' guidance, 6.3). More in flexi-schooling in England.
- Special educational needs. A child having SEN gives the council no right of entry (parents' guidance, 5.20). An EHC plan is still reviewed every year, and leaving a special school where the council arranged the place needs its consent, which mustn't be withheld unreasonably (local authority guidance, 8.12 and 8.6). More in SEND and home education.
- Who to complain to, and how.
If the policy asks for more than the law allows
Start by asking in writing: email the team, quote the line, and ask which legal power or duty it relies on. A reply calling it a request rather than a requirement is worth keeping.
If that doesn't settle it, use the council's complaints procedure. The guidance tells councils to publish clear details of it and to handle complaints sensitively and promptly (3.6).
After that comes the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman, which is free to use. You have to complain to the council first, and the Ombudsman suggests giving it up to 16 weeks in most cases. A problem you first knew about more than 12 months earlier generally falls outside its reach, as does one that a court or tribunal is better suited to. What it looks for is fault in how the council acted. Whether your child's education is suitable isn't its question.
In a June 2025 decision about a council's demands for evidence, the Ombudsman declined to investigate. A parent who believes the council is asking for information it isn't entitled to, it said, doesn't have to provide it. The council would then decide whether to take legal action, where the parent could defend themselves, and the Ombudsman has no part in that.
Whichever route you take, send what you're willing to provide in the meantime. A full written report still counts as engaging, even with the visit declined.