Do You Get Funding for Home Schooling in the UK? What's Actually Available

The honest answer to whether you get funding for home schooling in the UK is: mostly no, but there are meaningful exceptions that many families do not know about. The default position is that parents who choose elective home education take on the full financial responsibility themselves. The state does not pay for the choice to educate outside a school. But within that framework, several specific funding streams exist that can significantly reduce the cost of home education for qualifying families.

No General Government Grant

There is no national grant, voucher scheme, or direct payment available to UK families who choose elective home education. This is different from some other countries — several US states offer education savings accounts or scholarship programmes for home educators, and some Canadian provinces provide curriculum grants. The UK does not.

If you have seen references to a "home education allowance" or "government funding for curriculum materials," these are usually either out-of-date information from other jurisdictions, or confusion with the EOTAS funding described below.

EOTAS Funding for Children with EHCPs

The most significant funding stream available to home-educating families applies specifically to children with an Education, Health and Care Plan (EHCP). If a child's EHCP specifies that their educational needs cannot reasonably be met in a school setting, the local authority has a legal duty to arrange and fund suitable alternative provision — a framework called Education Otherwise Than At School (EOTAS).

Under EOTAS, the local authority is responsible for funding the agreed educational provision directly. This can include funding for home tutors, specialist therapeutic support, online courses, and other provision specified in the EHCP. The key distinction from elective home education is that EOTAS is not a parental choice to opt out of the system — it is an agreed alternative to a school placement, governed by the EHCP process, and funded by the authority.

Accessing EOTAS requires that a child already has an EHCP or is going through the EHC needs assessment process. It also requires that the EHCP specifically names an EOTAS arrangement rather than a school placement. This requires advocacy — often specialist support from IPSEA (Independent Provider of Special Education Advice) or a SEND solicitor — and is not automatic.

If your child has complex needs and is not in school, this is worth investigating seriously. The funding amounts vary considerably by authority and by the content of the individual EHCP, but some families receive substantial budgets that cover tutors, specialist programmes, and therapeutic support.

Personal Budgets Attached to EHCPs

Where an EHCP is in place, families may also be able to access a Personal Budget — an amount specified within the EHCP that parents manage directly rather than the local authority arranging provision on their behalf. A Personal Budget can be used for agreed provision including tuition, therapy, and educational resources.

Personal budgets are not available to all EHCP families and require the local authority to agree that this arrangement is appropriate. The SEND Code of Practice makes clear that families have the right to request a Personal Budget if they are dissatisfied with the provision the authority would otherwise arrange.

SENDIF and Local Grants

Some local authorities operate their own discretionary funds for children with SEND, including those educated at home. These vary enormously by council — some operate a Disabled Children's Grant or Special Educational Needs Inclusion Fund (SENDIF) that home-educating families can apply to for contributions towards specialist equipment, therapies, or educational activities.

Contact your local authority's SEND team directly and ask explicitly whether any local fund exists for children with SEND who are home educated. The answer varies by council, and these funds are not widely publicised.

County Music Services: ABRSM Exam Discounts

The Associated Board of the Royal Schools of Music (ABRSM) operates an Exam Discount Scheme administered through Music Mark, enabling County Music Services to apply discounts of up to 95% on ABRSM exam fees for financially eligible students. Home educators can access this scheme by contacting their local County Music Service, which acts as the official private centre for booking subsidised exams.

This is not technically a government grant to the home educator, but the effect is equivalent: exam fees that would otherwise cost £70 to £100 per grade become negligible. For a home-educated child pursuing music qualifications as part of their extracurricular programme — and ABRSM grades from 6 to 8 carry UCAS points relevant for university applications — this subsidy is significant.

Charitable and Community Grants

Several charitable trusts provide small grants for educational purposes that home-educating families can access. These are not home-education-specific, but families with genuine financial need and a specific educational purpose (a specialist course, a music instrument, sports equipment for a serious pursuit) have accessed them successfully.

The Family Fund provides grants to families of disabled or seriously ill children for a wide range of purposes including educational equipment, holidays, and activities. The Educational Grants Advisory Service (EGAS) provides a searchable database of charitable grants for educational purposes.

The Scouts, Girlguiding, and Duke of Edinburgh organisations all have hardship funds that can contribute to participation costs for eligible young people. DofE's Gold Award has an access fund specifically aimed at reducing financial barriers to participation.

Free Resources That Reduce the Cost

While not funding in the technical sense, the range of genuinely free civic resources available to home-educating families in the UK substantially reduces the cost of providing a broad, rich education:

• Public libraries provide books, digital resources, and increasingly offer home educator-specific sessions and extended borrowing limits
• BBC Bitesize, Khan Academy, and Oxford Owl provide curriculum-aligned content at no cost
• The National Trust's Education Group Access Pass (£63/year) covers entry for families with two adults to over 500 properties during school hours
• Many major national museums — British Museum, Natural History Museum, V&A, Science Museum — offer free entry and home educator workshop programmes
• Cadw in Wales offers free self-led educational visits for home-educating families at all monument sites

The cumulative effect of using these resources systematically, combined with any funding you are entitled to through EOTAS or local grants, can make a high-quality home education significantly more affordable than the headline cost of private curriculum packages suggests.

For practical guidance on building the social and extracurricular side of your programme — including accessing free museum networks, identifying daytime leisure centre discounts, and planning a varied schedule without excessive cost — the United Kingdom Socialization & Extracurricular Playbook covers the full landscape of funded and low-cost provision available to UK home-educating families.

See more United Kingdom homeschool guides →