What it does
Most home-educating families in England will, at some point, be asked to describe the education their child is getting. Sometimes that's an informal enquiry from the council; from 2026, England's Children Not in School register adds a set of details families are obliged to supply.
The readiness check looks at what you've actually recorded in AltEd over a period and tells you, in plain terms, which of the usual questions you could answer and which you couldn't. It sits at the top of the Reports screen, immediately above the education record it's checking.
It is a preparation aid, not a compliance product. AltEd doesn't submit anything to any local authority, can't know what your particular council will ask, and nothing here is legal advice. The exact registration detail is still subject to secondary legislation. It's England-only. Check GOV.UK and your own council for what actually applies to you.
Where to find it
Navigation: Learning → Reports (/dashboard/reports). Choose a learner and a period; the check appears above the record.
It shares the learner and period with the record below, so the two always describe the same window.
Step by step
- Go to Reports.
- Choose the learner and the period you want to check.
- Read the summary line: for example, "2 things worth a look — 5 of 7 covered."
- Anything needing attention is listed underneath, each with a link straight to the screen where you'd fix it.
- Select See the full list to view everything that gets asked, including what you've already got covered.
- When you're happy, use Print / save as PDF to produce the record itself.
What each status means
| Status | What it means | | --- | --- | | Covered | There's enough recorded to answer this. | | Worth a look | Something's recorded, but it's thin enough to be worth checking nothing went unlogged. | | Nothing recorded | Nothing for this period. Not a failure — you may simply not use AltEd for this. | | You supply this | AltEd deliberately doesn't hold it. Your home address is the main one: it isn't needed to keep a record of learning, and we'd rather not hold a database of children's home addresses. You put it on the form yourself. |
Only the first three count towards the "X of Y covered" score. Something AltEd was never going to answer isn't a mark against you.
What gets checked
Who the child is — their full name and date of birth, a parent or carer's name and contact details, and a note that the home address is yours to supply.
What the education looks like — how much education is taking place (days and hours logged), what subjects are covered, evidence that work is being done, and examples of what the child has produced.
Anyone else teaching them — which tutors or settings provide education and how many hours with each. This is a specific register question, and the one families most often can't answer from memory once more than one tutor is involved.
Tips and good to know
- "Worth a look" is a nudge, not a telling-off. Home education doesn't run to a school timetable, and the thresholds are deliberately generous.
- Recently joined? It won't nag you. How densely you've logged is measured from your first record, not from the start of the period — so a family who started in June doesn't look sparse just because the window covers the previous autumn.
- A handful of portfolio items goes a long way. It's the item most often empty, and the one that makes the biggest difference to how a record reads.
- Linking work to a lesson (and therefore a subject) is what lets the check list your subjects. Unlinked work still counts as work, but can't be described by subject.
- The check only sees what's in AltEd. Anything arranged elsewhere — a class you book directly, a group you attend — won't appear unless you record it.
Troubleshooting
| Problem | What to try | | --- | --- | | It says no subjects, but we do plenty | Subjects come from the curriculum a piece of work is linked to. See Curriculum and link work to a lesson. | | Hours look low | Check the period. Days logged outside it aren't counted — see Progress & attendance. | | A tutor we use isn't listed | Only delivered sessions count. If a session hasn't been confirmed by both sides, it won't appear — see Sessions. | | The panel doesn't appear | It needs a learner selected. If you've no learners yet, add one first — see Students. | | I want the register details AltEd doesn't hold | Your address and similar details go straight on the council's own form. AltEd never asks for them. |