There have previously been stigmas attached to homeschooling with many people assuming it to be an inferior form of education and an approach popular among ‘hippies’; if truth be told, every child has an individual learning style that best suits them. Some thrive in a school classroom environment and some benefit from a 1-1 setup, so there can be huge value in homeschooling.

In fact, the Association of Directors of Children’s Services (ADCS) estimated that as of October 2021 there may have been over 80,000 registered home educated children in England and there’s evidence to suggest that this number continues to increase year on year.

There are a number of reasons a parent might choose to educate their child at home. It could be to better support special education needs (SEN), unhappiness in their current school, emigration or to tailor education to a child’s unique learning style. Whatever the reason, there are in fact a number of benefits to homeschooling and a plethora of resources and support available, from online materials to specialist tutors, to ensure your child receives a strong education.

The Advantages of Homeschooling

• Tailored Lessons – Whether you choose to teach your child yourself or bring in an experienced homeschool tutor to help, homeschooling allows you to tailor lessons to suit your child’s strengths, weaknesses and passions. 
• Flexible Learning Styles – Everyone learns differently so regardless of whether a parent or tutor is teaching, lessons can be adjusted to suit your child’s individual needs so they engage with subjects and can digest information in a way that suits them
• Online & In-Person Tutoring – If you are engaging a tutor, lessons can be delivered at home or online (or a combination of the two) and is suitable for children of all ages, from primary school through to Sixth Form.  
• No Distractions – Your child can be free from distraction during lessons in a 1-1 environment
• Confidence To Ask Questions – Many children are hesitant to ask questions in a classroom out of fear of judgement from peers. Homeschooling will allow your child the freedom to ask questions in a ‘safe’ environment and explore areas that they’re perhaps unclear on or need further explanation.
• More Opportunity To Experience Things – Homeschooling means  opportunities to leave the ‘classroom’ are more frequent and you are able to decide on the school trips you feel will most benefit your child’s education. Venturing out to museums, exhibitions or on excursions can help further a child’s understanding of a topic as well as develop their natural interest in a subject and thirst for knowledge.

The Process: How To Apply and Get Setup For Homeschooling

Generally speaking, getting setup to start homeschooling is quite straightforward and will follow a process similar to the below. Each London Borough and county will have individual requirements that need to be met so be sure to check your local council’s website for the latest guidance and specific steps to follow.

1. Register your intent to homeschool

If your child is currently enrolled in a mainstream school, you will need to put your intent to homeschool and withdraw your child from the school in writing to the headteacher. They will then arrange for your child to be formally removed from the school’s register and notify your local authority or council.

If your child is not yet at the compulsory school age but you’re already homeschooling them, there is no need to inform anyone but you should notify your local authority once they reach the compulsory school age.

2. Complete the Elective Home Education Statement of Provision

The second step is to complete a Statement of Provision which outlines how a parent plans to provide a suitable and sufficient education for any children they intend to homeschool. 

Within this, you may be asked questions about your child(ren)’s age, the format in which they will be educated and any timetabling involved, the opportunities to interact with peers or other adults and how you’re responding to any specific needs your child may have.

Once your statement of provision and intent to homeschool have both been received you can usually begin homeschooling but your local authority will be in contact if there are any further requirements ahead of that. 

Do note that if your child has special education needs (SEN) and therefore attends a specialised school, you’ll need to first get permission from your council to educate them at home as extra measures will need to be taken to ensure the child is receiving an adequate education and the necessary support. 

Engaging Specialist Tutors To Support with Homeschooling

It is a legal requirement for every child of compulsory school age to receive “an efficient and full-time education” that is reflective of their age and ability and caters to any specific learning needs they may have. But, at the time of writing, there are no strict requirements that dictate how a curriculum should be delivered. 

We know that parents choose homeschooling for a variety of reasons and there’s no one size fits all approach to it. While some parents prefer to lead on educating their children themselves and have their own programme in mind, many turn to the help of specialist tutors to support with home education.

There are a number of benefits to hiring a tutor to help with homeschooling your child. Our highly experienced homeschool tutors work with parents to devise a bespoke learning plan, designed to maximise your child’s potential – both academically and beyond. Our specialist tutors can also answer practical questions about the national curriculum, public assessments and educational regulations.

At the time of writing, there is no legal requirement for children receiving elective home education to sit public exams or standardised tests so it is up to the parent or homeschooling tutor to find and register at an exam centre. 

At Hampstead and Frognal Tutors, our specialist tutors have a wealth of experience preparing students for GCSE and A Level assessments, as well as school entrance exams 7+, 11+, and 13+ should you decide you’d like your child to sit public exams at any stage. Exam boards such as the AQA or OCR also provide information about registering for exams privately as well. 

How often should my child work with specialist tutors when homeschooling?

At the time of writing, the law does not specify the number of hours considered to be ‘full-time’ but it is advised that children should spend between 21 and 25 hours on schoolwork for 38 weeks of the year.

Some families prefer to homeschool their children on a full-time basis and primarily use tutors to support in extra tuition for weaker subjects or homework help. Other families look to engage a tutor full-time and or split between tutor and parent-taught lessons.

Our tutors can adapt to the needs of your family but we will help you find the right tutor and, depending on your requirements, we can provide: 

• Live-in Homeschooling Tutors
• Full-time Homeschooling Tutors
• After-school Tutors to help with homework
• Tutor Nannies to assist with the school run, after school snacks and homework help
• Residential Tutors for school holidays 
• General study skills support 

We know that embarking on the home education journey can be both exciting and daunting but we are here to help and can match you with one of our highly experienced homeschool tutors to help you get started and find what’s best for you. All you need to do is get in touch! 

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Useful resources

• Get information from your local council about elective home education
• Additional information on elective home education for children with special education needs (SEN)

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After months of Zoom lessons and home schooling, all children will head back to school next Monday. Boris Johnson announced last week that primary and secondary schools will reopen on 8th March, with breakfast and after-school clubs also allowed to resume. Attendance at school will be mandatory once they have reopened, meaning parents have a legal duty to send their children to school regularly.

There is also news on the exam front. Ofqual, the exam watchdog, has confirmed that national GCSE and A Level exams will be cancelled in England and replaced by grades decided by teachers. Schools can determine grades by using a combination of mock exams, coursework and essays. Teachers also have the option to use ‘mini’ external exams – set by exam boards – to help guide their grading this summer. 

Students will be excited to return to real life lessons and catch up with friends. However, many teenagers will be feeling anxious about their upcoming GCSEs and A Levels. Meanwhile, younger children may be worried that they have fallen behind in their schoolwork during the long months of lockdown. 

Don’t panic. Here are five tips to help students prepare for the upcoming term.

Gentle revision

No one is suggesting that children embark on a seven-day revision spree before heading back to school. However, it may be worth spending some time this week reviewing topics that have been covered in class, identifying tricky areas, and writing a list of questions to ask teachers once in-person lessons have resumed.

For subjects like Maths and Science, why not attempt a few practice exercises? Meanwhile English Literature students should re-familiarise themselves with their set texts. This way, pupils can resume their real-life studies with confidence – rather than feeling like they are on the back foot. 

Past exam papers

A big question mark still hangs over this year’s GCSE and A Level qualifications. However, exams watchdog Ofqual has confirmed that results are to be decided teachers, who can use a combination of tests, coursework and written assignments to evaluate their pupils. Schools will also be able to use questions set by exam boards to determine grades. 

While it is tempting to take the foot off the pedal in the knowledge that public exams have been cancelled, it is important that teenagers are prepared for whatever form of assessment they encounter this summer. Past papers – many of which are available for free on exam board websites – are a great way to help pupils stay focused and motivated. 

If teenagers come across questions they are struggling with, encourage them to talk to their school teachers when they are back in the classroom – or to contact them via email beforehand. Alternatively, one-to-one tuition could bring them up to speed ahead of this term’s assessment period. 

Existing work

Schools have been setting work for children to complete during lockdown. However – away from the classroom environment – it is difficult for teachers to ensure every student is keeping up with their assignments. Before school starts next Monday, encourage your child to make sure they are up-to-date with their workload. Nobody wants to start school anxious about uncompleted work, or getting into trouble with their teachers. 

Sleep routine

During lockdown, many children have been going to bed later and getting up later. While this may be sustainable when everyone is at home, lack of sleep can have a big impact on children’s concentration and ability to absorb information during lessons. In the run-up to schools reopening, therefore, try to introduce a more rigid bedtime routine. 

Screen time is also a battle in many households. A report by the Guardian says that children’s screen time has soared during the pandemic. Based on anonymous online habits data provided by 60,000 families, website and app visits in the UK more than doubled in January compared with January 2020, spurred by YouTube, TikTok and BBC News. The average daily time spent on apps rose by 15%.

Research has suggested that screens can negatively affect how quickly children fall asleep and how long they sleep for. Having a couple of screen-free hours before bed therefore could have a beneficial effect, therefore. Removing electronic devices from children’s bedroom – be it smart phones, tablets or Play Stations – could be a good place to start. 

Covid chat

A number of new measures will be in place at schools once pupils return, which might feel strange or scary – particularly for younger children. For starters, secondary school students (i.e those in Year 7 and above) will take part in voluntary asymptomatic Covid testing. This means all secondary school and college students will take three Covid-19 tests as they return to the classroom from the 8 March at existing school testing facilities. After the initial programme of three tests in school or college, students will be provided with two rapid tests to use each week at home.

Staff and students in secondary schools and colleges are also advised to wear face masks in all areas, including classrooms, where social distancing cannot be maintained. 

These new measures will feel alien to students, parents and teachers alike. It is important, therefore, to talk to your child about what precautions are in place to keep them safe, and how this will affect their day-to day-lives. 

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What is homeschooling?

In recent years, the idea of homeschooling children has become increasingly popular. Homeschooling essentially means that children are educated at home or within small groups outside of mainstream schooling, which can provide children with a personalised, enriching learning environment, suited to their individual needs. With appropriate support (for example using maths tutors) children can benefit from specialised and flexible instruction. Indeed, in an educational climate that seems beset with continuous curriculum change and uncertainty, a growing number of parents are choosing to home-educate; in April of this year, the BBC reported that the number of homeschooled children has risen by approximately 40% in the last three years.

Why are more parents turning to the homeschooling model for their children?

There are various reasons why homeschooling is becoming more popular with parents. A 2016 Guardian report suggested the rise in homeschooling could be attributed to mainstream schools’ failure to cater for special educational needs. Other reports cite the pressure students are under in mainstream education and a culture of constant testing as motivating factors.

Homeschooling also offers flexibility; for families who travel frequently for work it allows children to access education more freely. Moreover, given the level of competition for places at the best London schools, it is a welcome alternative source of provision for families seeking quality schooling. The proliferation of quality maths tutors and English tutors available through agencies also allows families to access expert instruction more easily.

Where do we homeschool?

Homeschooling can mean individualised, one-to-one instruction at home with a tutor or parent. However, some instruction, especially for GCSE tuition, is now delivered to small groups in communal spaces. The School Run website has a range of advice for parents who home-educate and how you can liaise with other likeminded parents in your area: Researching local groups of home-educators will give you access to an important  source of advice and support, as well as enabling your child to socialise with their peers.

If you are considering educating your child one-to-one with a tutor, researching Maths and English tutors in your area (for example using the search term ‘English tutors near me’ or ‘Maths tutors near me’) would be an important first step. This is especially important if your child is preparing for national qualifications such as GCSEs or A Levels. The new GCSE specifications for Maths, the sciences and English are incredibly rigorous and require the support of tutors to ensure students cover not only the most basic content but also more specialised, esoteric areas of the curriculum. The much-coveted GCSE Grade 9 essentially demands ‘A Level’ skills of fifteen and sixteen-year-olds; if homeschooling is to truly support and extend students’ thinking and wider knowledge, the support of external GCSE English tutors or private Maths tutors will be invaluable.

A Typical Homeschooling Timetable

Whilst homeschooling allows for flexibility, it is also useful to have a semi-structured programme of activities to give your child a sense of continuity, especially if they are studying towards a qualification such as GCSE or A Level. It is worth developing a timetable involving private English tutors or maths tutors to ensure your child is following a well-planned curriculum.

A typical day might involve an hour of English (perhaps with a private English tutor) in the mornings, followed by numeracy with a local maths tutor. You then might incorporate two hours studying the humanities and sciences in the afternoons. Many families who home-educate also set aside a day each week for educational visits or other activities; Fridays could be used to visit museums and galleries, for example.

Alternatively, working with a private tutor, you could develop a project-based programme of study (this is especially beneficial for younger children). When studying Ancient Egypt, your child could calculate resources needed for a city (using numeracy) design a monument or write a passage of description based on their knowledge. Cross-curricular work requires careful planning but it can be a fruitful way to engage your child across a range of disciplines.

It is also important to include some physical activity as part of the programme each day, whether that be swimming, a long bike ride in a park or a gentle jog around your local area. Discuss the options with your child: some children are demotivated by team sports, whilst for others the competitive element is the most thrilling part. It is important to tailor activities to your child’s interests, while also developing habits that will keep them healthy and active in the long term.

How do I get the right tutors?

There are several factors to consider when hiring a tutor. There are independent tutors available, yet it is worth considering how they may not be professionally vetted – hiring a tutor through an agency ensures the tutor will have undergone reference checks, and they are also more likely to be appropriately qualified. It is imperative that any tutor you hire has an up-to-date DBS (Disclosure and Barring Service) check – this is a further benefit of hiring a tutor through an agency, as they will need to have provided this during the recruitment process.

Some of the best tutor agencies in North-West London are Athena Tuition, Able Tutors, and Hampstead and Frognal Tutors. In South London, there is also a wealth of choice, with Kensington and Chelsea Tutors, Gabbitas Education and Kings Tutors proving some of the most popular options. These agencies have all been visited in person by the Good Schools Guide and are notable for keeping in close contact with their tutors so that they can provide a more personalised and trustworthy service. Their tutors also tend to have specialised qualifications and teaching experience, so you are more likely to find well-qualified physics and maths tutors or A Level Maths tutors with an agency.

Alternatively, you can investigate maths tutors or ‘English tutors near me’ through online hiring platforms such as Tutorful (which offers the option of online tuition), First Tutors and Tutorhunt. These platforms operate as an open marketplace, where tutees assess which tutor may be best for them. This can provide a greater degree of choice and flexibility than operating through an agency, yet agencies offer more expertise, as many are run by the former teachers of prestigious London schools.

Part-time Homeschooling

One of the principal benefits of homeschooling is the flexibility it offers, and some families opt for part-time home-education alongside part-time mainstream schooling, known as ‘flexi-schooling.’ There are many reasons why families might opt for this – it could be helpful to stagger a return to school after a long period of absence, or a child might wish to join their parent for a day of outdoor education once a week. Where schools are supportive of flexi-schooling, it can foster excellent links between families and schools, yet it is worth noting that you must have the support of your child’s school if you wish to homeschool them part-time – otherwise, any time your child spends away from school will be considered as unauthorised absence.

When should you start homeschooling?

There is no ‘correct’ time to start homeschooling – ultimately, this depends on the needs of both the family and the child. However, with very young children it is best to adopt a child-led approach, encouraging learning through play. It is also inadvisable to withdraw children from mainstream schooling when they are in the middle of preparation for external exams – for example, it would be disruptive to withdraw a child when they are half-way through a programme of GCSE study.

The flexibility of homeschooling allows you to begin educating your child at any point during the year. Nonetheless, it is worth considering whether you will want your child to re-join mainstream education in the future. If so, the academic calendar and key entry points of mainstream schools are worth bearing in mind. For example, if you wish to homeschool prior to 7+ or 11+ entry, you should be aware that the closing date for registration is usually in October of the preceding year.

Home education and the benefits of supporting tutoring programmes

There are numerous advantages in choosing home education; it can provide a more nurturing and flexible environment for your child, allowing them to pursue their passions with greater freedom and intensity. If you are considering homeschooling, it is worth finding out as much as possible about local home-education groups in your area, as well as seeking the support of tutoring programmes through an agency so that you can devise a suitable curriculum for your child with expert advice.

Furthermore, it is important to consider that the benefits of education are not only academic but also psychological, spiritual and social. Extra-curricular activities and time with peers are an instrumental part of the overall educational experience. Before researching activities in your area, have an exploratory discussion with your child to find out what would best suit them. Are they intrigued by astrophysics? They might benefit from visiting the Royal Museums of Greenwich to listen to ‘Think Space’ lectures. Or perhaps they are a budding designer, in which case attending a short ‘Get into Design’ workshop at the Design Museum might spark their creativity further. Equally, liaising with local home-education groups will provide your child with opportunities to socialise and forge relationships with peers.

Ultimately, homeschooling can be a brilliant opportunity for your child to develop at his or her own pace, exploring their passions without being subject to the demands of an increasingly rigid mainstream curriculum. With the right support, your child can benefit from a holistic approach, tailored to their personal needs, talents and interests.

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