Home education in Kent

Covers Kent County Council, England. Medway has its own council. General information, not legal advice. Checked against the council's own pages on 2 November 2026.

After you deregister

If your child is at school, you write to the school asking for their name to come off the register, and the school tells the council. If your child has never been at school, Kent says you don't have to tell it, though it would like to hear from you so it can let you know about support and events (letting the school know). Our guide to deregistering from school has a letter you can adapt.

Kent suggests talking to the head teacher or the team first if you're thinking of leaving because of a problem at school, and asks you to get in touch if you feel under pressure to start home educating. If your child goes to a special school, you need the council's permission before you take them out. A child with an EHC plan can still be home educated, and the council says it keeps a duty to make sure their needs are met (home education and SEND explains how that works).

When the council gets in touch

Kent's home education policy, updated in September 2024, sets out the steps. Within 10 school days of hearing from the school or from you, the team writes to say it has recorded your decision, introduces the support and advice officer assigned to you, and sends an information sheet and an "EHE Outline Plan" form for an overview of your plans. The officer then gets in touch within 20 school days to offer a first conversation and point you to resources and local groups.

The policy says you may refuse the council access to your home, your child or your child's work, and you don't have to accept a visit. Kent does invite families to a meeting, within 20 school days, when one of these applies: persistent unauthorised absence of 15% or more, poor attainment at school, past exclusions, involvement with children's services, or an education, health and care plan. If none applies and you decline a visit, the team asks for information about the education (the policy notes you've no legal duty to give it) and keeps in touch by phone or email. Its guide puts it simply: it won't insist on meetings (how we can help you).

If the team thinks the education may not be suitable, it writes setting out its concerns and agrees a time to address them, no longer than six weeks, before any formal notice. The council offers a template, as a PDF or Word document, for writing down what your child is learning. To see how a written reply usually works, read how to reply to the council and what to look for in a council's policy.

Two timing rules are Kent's own. A child in Year 6 who leaves in the last term of primary school isn't recorded as home educated until you've confirmed home education for Year 7 and formally turned down the secondary place. And a Year 11 leaving after the end of the fifth term is recorded as no longer of school age rather than home educated.

One thing to read with care. Kent's page on what to teach quotes the weekly hours the DfE recommends for schools, from 21 hours for 5 to 7 year olds to 24 hours for 12 to 16 year olds. It offers them "as a guide". The law sets no hours for home education, as our piece on the first weeks explains.

Exams

You register your child with an exam centre yourself and pay the fees. Kent's exams page links its own PDF list of providers in Kent that accept private candidates, and names The Tutorial Foundation and AQA's list (exams). It also suggests checking early whether a course has coursework or practicals that someone approved by the board must supervise. See our guide to exam centres too.

At 14 to 16, home-educated young people may be able to go to college full-time or part-time, sometimes with government funding. Each college decides whether it takes under-16s.

Support the council lists

• A resources section split into primary, secondary, post-16 and SEN, with outdoor and virtual schools and educational days out.
• The Education at Home team's Facebook page, for updates and upcoming events.
• Help applying for a school place if you decide to go back, through the in-year admissions process.

Contacting the home education team

Email educationathome@kent.gov.uk, or phone 03000 416 969.