It's that time of year again
Academic years are starting again, and for home educating parents and carers, now is the time to make a start on building up the information you’ll be asked for by the council.
A new school term always brings a bit of a reset. New books, new routines, maybe a new decision about how this year of home education is going to look. It’s also a good moment to pause on something a lot of home educating parents never quite get straight: what information about your child’s education you want to share, what you’re actually required to share by law, and how you’re going to keep track of it all.
If you’ve ever felt a flicker of anxiety when a council email lands in your inbox, wondering whether you have to answer it the way they’ve asked — you’re not alone, and this isn’t a sign you’re doing anything wrong. Most of the uncertainty out there isn’t your fault. It’s because home education law in England has always been quite loosely defined, and right now, it’s also about to change.
So here’s where things actually stand.
What's legally required now:
- A suitable education. Under Section 7 of the Education Act 1996, you must provide your child with a full-time education suited to their age, ability, aptitude, and any special educational needs they have. That’s the core legal duty — but the law doesn’t prescribe how you deliver it.
- The school notifies the council, not you (in most cases). If you’re deregistering a child from a school roll, it’s the school’s legal duty to inform the local authority, not yours.
- Responding to genuine concerns. If your council has a real concern that your child isn’t receiving a suitable education, they can make informal enquiries. If they remain unsatisfied, they can ultimately issue a School Attendance Order — and that is legally enforceable.
- EHCP reviews, if this applies to you. If your child has an Education, Health and Care Plan, the local authority has ongoing statutory duties to review it, and you’ll need to engage with that process regardless of where your child is educated.
What's optional (for now)
- Sharing your curriculum, timetable, or teaching resources
- Following the National Curriculum
- Sticking to school hours, term dates, or a set number of teaching hours a day
- Agreeing to a home visit or meeting — many councils ask, and it’s often the easiest way to reassure them, but it’s currently your choice; a written report is a reasonable alternative
- Formal tests, assessments, or exams to “prove” progress
- Holding a teaching qualification yourself
What's changing (and when)
Here’s the caveat, in brief. The Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Act 2026 received Royal Assent on 29 April 2026, and it introduces something home education has never had before: a compulsory “Children Not in School” register, run by every local authority in England. Once it’s in force, most home educating parents will need to register and be able to provide an overview of their child’s education, along with details of any tutors or providers they use.
The important word there is once. Royal Assent isn’t the same as commencement — the actual register duties only switch on through separate regulations, and no firm date has been confirmed.
Estimates in the sector currently range from late 2026 at the earliest, to considerably later, and the detailed guidance on exactly what information will be requested is still being worked through. So nothing on your “required” list above has changed yet.
But it’s a sensible moment to get organised before it does.
What to do now...
You don’t need to overhaul anything overnight. But it’s worth asking yourself three simple questions this term:
- what do I actually want my council to know about how we’re educating our child
- what am I legally obliged to share if asked
- how am I going to keep a record of it so I’m not scrambling to remember details from six months ago when a request arrives
That last one is where most of us fall down, not because we’re disorganised, but because home education doesn’t naturally produce paperwork the way school does.
This is where a Home Ed Report TEMPLATE can help!
That's exactly why we've put together a Home Ed Report Template - a clear, ready-to-fill format for keeping an honest, organised record of your child's education, so you always have something considered and complete to hand, whether that's for your own peace of mind or to share if your council ever asks.
It's editable in Canva, so you can make it your own.
I’m offering it free to the first 20 people who email me for it – just get in touch and I’ll send you the links to the editable CANVA templates straight away.