Your home education questions answered

Can I home educate if my child has an Education Health and Care Plan (EHCP)?

You have the same right to elective home education (EHE) if your child has an EHCP plan. If you choose to take on the full responsibility for your child's education, the local authority is no longer obliged to arrange the educational provision listed in the plan.

But it remains the local authority's duty to ensure your child's needs are met. So it will continue to review the EHC plan each year via the statutory Annual Review process. 

You'll also need to provide annual information to the Services to Home Educators team to show how you are meeting your child's needs. This is so we can agree their education is full time and suitable. 

While it is not essential, where possible, it is usually beneficial for all to align the EHCP and EHE reviews. 

Can I home educate if my child attends a special school?

Yes, you can home educate if your child has a special school named in the EHC plan. But the Local Authority will need to agree in order for the school to remove the child from its roll. They'll base this agreement on information you provide about how your child will access the provision listed in the plan. 

An emergency annual review of your child's EHC plan should be held in school to consider provision options. This is so all parties are fully informed about the decision to home educate. 

The EHE officer and EHCP coordinator will review the information you provide about how your child will access the provision laid out in the EHC plan. This is so they can agree to your child's removal from the school roll. 

What's the difference between elective home education (EHE) and Education other than at school (EOTAS)?

If you choose EHE, the local authority is not responsible for meeting any of the costs of education or providing any support. 

With an EOTAS package, the local authority is still responsible for arranging and paying for the provision outlined in the plan. This is usually agreed when suitable provision in a school setting cannot be found.