What England actually asks of a family teaching their own children. Written plainly, and honest where the answer is that nobody asks for anything.
United KingdomFiling requiredWho is in charge
The local authority (LA) for the area where the child lives
Who actually reviews your child
Local authority Elective Home Education officer, under a named senior officer with responsibility for EHE policy
Only if the child is on a school roll. The parent tells the proprietor in writing that the pupil will no longer attend after a stated day and will receive education otherwise than at school. This is the trigger for deletion under reg 9(1)(f). DfE's 2019 parents' guidance still says a parent is 'not obliged' to give this notice; the LA guidance re-issued in 2024 warns that until the child is off roll the parent remains at risk of prosecution for non-attendance. TREAT WRITTEN NOTICE AS EFFECTIVELY MANDATORY.
Required where the child was placed at a SPECIAL SCHOOL under arrangements made by the local authority (reg 9(2)), or where a school attendance order is in force naming the school (the order must be revoked or amended first). If consent is refused, the parent may ask the Secretary of State to settle the dispute.
Once served, the parent must satisfy the LA in writing, within the period stated in the notice, that the child is receiving efficient full-time suitable education. THIS is the point at which a UK family in England must actually produce a document. There is no prescribed content: whatever satisfies the officer.
Registration or notification to the local authority
Not required. There is no legal duty on parents to inform the local authority that a child is being home educated. DfE guidance recommends it and some LAs run voluntary registration schemes, but neither is compulsory.
Response to the LA's informal enquiries about the education provided
Not required. Parents are under NO legal duty to respond. But non-response has a hard consequence: current case law means a refusal to provide any information will in most cases oblige the LA to serve a s.437(1) notice, because the only conclusion it can
Standardised test scores
Not required. Never required. No national testing obligation on home-educated children in England.
Attendance records / hours logged
Not required. Not submitted as a return, but DfE tells LAs they should be 'enabled by parents' to assess the overall time devoted to education in hours per week and weeks per year. A family that can state its hours is answering a question the officer is
key stages · programmes of study · subject content · attainment in line with national norms for children of the same age (with an explicit allowance for ability and aptitude) · literacy and numeracy · breadth of learning experiences · progress · socialisation / interaction with peers
efficient full-time education suitable to his age, ability and aptitude and to any special educational needs he may have
Filing on time is the easy half. The harder half is the year in between: showing what your child actually learned, in words the reviewer recognises, without turning your home into a school.
That is what this app is for. You say what your child did, in a sentence. It maps that to the real curriculum for England and builds the record you can hand over the day someone asks. See how it works.