General information about England, not legal advice. Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland have their own rules. The law here is changing, so check the GOV.UK pages linked below before you act.
The short version
- If your child is at a mainstream school, tell the school in writing that you'll be educating them at home. The school must accept it and take your child's name off its register. You don't need anyone's permission, and you don't have to give a reason.
- If your child attends a special school, or is under a school attendance order, you need your local council's agreement first.
- The school tells your council, which may then get in touch to ask about the education you're providing.
- Once the Children Not in School register starts, you'll also be expected to give your council some details within a short window. It isn't running yet.
What the law asks of you
In England, parents must make sure a child of compulsory school age gets a suitable, full-time education, "either by regular attendance at school or otherwise". Home education is the "otherwise". There's no set timetable or number of hours, and you do not have to follow the national curriculum.
Step by step: leaving a mainstream school
1. Decide when the last day will be
Your child's place ends when the school receives your letter and removes their name. Until then they're still on the roll and expected to attend. If you'd rather finish at the end of a week or a term, time the letter to arrive then.
2. Write to the head teacher
A short letter or email will do. Include your child's full name and date of birth, a clear statement that you're now educating them at home, and the date that takes effect. For example:
Dear [head teacher's name],
I am writing to tell you that from [date] I will be
educating my child, [full name, date of birth, class],
at home. Please remove their name from the school's
admission register.
Yours sincerely,
[your name]You don't need to explain why, describe your plans or go to a meeting first. Some schools invite you in to talk it over. Whether you go is up to you.
3. Keep proof that you sent it
Any of these works: email with a read receipt, a letter handed in at reception with a copy stamped, or recorded delivery. If anyone later asks which absences counted, the date on your letter settles it.
4. Expect to hear from your council
A school that takes a child off its register for home education has to tell the local authority. The council will usually write to you. That might be within a few weeks, or much later.
When someone else has to agree first
For some children, a letter to the school isn't enough.
- Special schools. If your child has special educational needs and attends a special school, you need the council's permission to educate them at home. This applies only to special schools. A child with an education, health and care (EHC) plan at a mainstream school can be deregistered in the usual way, but tell the council about the EHC plan, because it still has duties under it.
- School attendance orders. If your council has served an order naming a school your child must attend, you must get its permission before educating them at home.
The Children's Wellbeing and Schools Act 2026 adds to this list. Once the relevant parts are in force, more children will need council consent: a child who is the subject of child protection enquiries, or has been in the last five years. Consent will have to be refused where the council thinks school is in the child's best interests, or where suitable arrangements for the child's education haven't been made. These parts weren't in force at the time of writing, so find out which rule applies on the day you write.
If your situation is complicated (a special school, an attendance order, or a child protection plan), ask your council or a home education support organisation before you act. AltEd is software for planning and recording home education. It isn't a legal service and can't advise on cases like these.
After you deregister
Informal enquiries
Your council can make an "informal enquiry" to check your child is receiving a suitable education. It usually arrives as a letter or email asking you to describe what you're doing. You aren't currently obliged to have a home visit. Many families reply in writing, with a short description of their approach and a few examples of their child's work.
Replying is far easier if you've kept a record from the start, and home education records suggests what's worth keeping.
If the council has doubts
If it appears to the council that your child isn't getting a suitable education, it must first serve a notice asking you to show that they are. You get at least 15 days to answer. Only after that can it issue a school attendance order. Most enquiries never get this far: a clear written description and some evidence of real work settles them long before.
When the register starts
Among much else, the Children's Wellbeing and Schools Act 2026, which received Royal Assent in April 2026, requires every council in England to keep a register of children who aren't on a school roll. Parents will have to give their council certain details for it, and the Act allows 15 days to do that once a child needs to be on the register. Councils will also be able to ask to visit, and to take a refusal into account when deciding whether to act.
It hasn't started. The start date and much of the detail are left to regulations and guidance that haven't been published. Our plain-English guide to the register tracks what's known and what isn't.
For now, deregistering works as described above. When the register does start, the letter to the school stays the same. The new step is a form, or a set of details, for your council.
Before you send the letter
- Exams. A home-educated child can still take GCSEs and other qualifications as a private candidate. You arrange and pay for them, though, and centres book up early, so if exams are a year or two away, look into it now.
- Getting a place back. Deregistering gives up your child's place. If you change your mind later, you apply for a school place like anyone else, and the old school may be full.
- Flexi-schooling. Having your child in school for part of the week is an arrangement the school can agree to or refuse. It isn't deregistration.
Official guidance
- Educating your child at home on GOV.UK: the rules in brief.
- Elective home education, the Department for Education's guidance for parents and for local authorities.