Private Home Schooling in England: What It Actually Means

Many parents searching for "private home schooling" in England are asking one of two different questions: Does hiring a private tutor count as home education? Or does withdrawing from state school mean you're now doing it "privately"? The answer to both is yes — but the legal implications of each path are quite different, and confusing them is where families run into trouble.

Here is a clear breakdown of what private home schooling actually means in England in 2026, and what you need to know before making any decisions.

Home Education Is Already "Private" by Default

In England, elective home education (EHE) is not a service the state provides — it is a right the parent exercises. Section 7 of the Education Act 1996 establishes that the legal duty to ensure a child receives an education rests with the parent, not the government. Schools are simply one mechanism to discharge that duty. When you withdraw your child from school and educate them at home, you are not accessing a "private home schooling service." You are simply taking full responsibility for your child's education yourself.

This means:

• You do not need to register with a government body before starting (though this is changing — see below)
• You do not need to follow the National Curriculum
• You do not need to replicate school hours or term dates
• You are not required to have teaching qualifications

There is no such thing as a licensed "private home schooling provider" that the state officially recognises in England. Once you withdraw your child, the education is entirely yours to design.

What Changes in 2026: The CNIS Register

The Children's Wellbeing and Schools Bill — currently completing its House of Lords stages and expected to receive Royal Assent by Easter 2026 — introduces mandatory "Children Not in School" (CNIS) registers across all local authorities in England.

Under this legislation, parents who home educate will be legally required to provide basic details to their local authority: the child's name, date of birth, and address. What the legislation does NOT require is curriculum detail, timetables, or evidence of how you are teaching. Understanding exactly where the legal boundary lies — what you must disclose versus what remains your private business — is one of the most important things any home educating family can know in 2026.

Parents of children not yet registered at any school, or those deregistering from a mainstream state school, need to follow the correct legal process to avoid triggering a School Attendance Order (SAO) or unwanted local authority intervention.

Hiring a Private Tutor: How It Fits In

Many families who home educate choose to hire private tutors to cover specific subjects — typically maths, sciences, or languages for GCSE preparation. This is entirely legal and very common. The tutor is not "the school" — you remain the home educating parent, and the tutor is simply a resource you are purchasing.

Some families arrange intensive tutor-led programmes that mirror a school timetable almost exactly, with different tutors covering different subjects each day. This is still legally classified as elective home education, not school attendance, as long as the child is not on a school roll.

Costs for private tutors in England in 2026 typically range from £25 to £80 per hour depending on subject specialism and location. Online tutoring has expanded dramatically, with many specialist home education tutors now working exclusively online.

Independent Schools vs Home Education

Sometimes "private home schooling" is confused with independent or private school attendance. These are completely different things:

• Independent (private) schools: Fee-paying institutions with registered pupils on a school roll. Ofsted (or equivalent) inspects them. Withdrawing from an independent school to home educate still requires following the deregistration process — but you may owe a term's fees under your admissions contract, so check the small print before acting.
• Home education: No school roll, no Ofsted oversight, no tuition fees to a school.

If you are thinking of withdrawing from a fee-paying independent school to home educate, you need to be clear that the school's contractual notice period still applies even though your legal right to withdraw is absolute. Failing to give proper notice means the school can pursue unpaid fees through civil courts.

Starting Out: The Correct Legal Path

Whether you call it private home schooling, elective home education, or simply educating at home, the process for legally starting in England from a state school is the same:

1. Write a deregistration letter to the headteacher stating you have made the decision to educate your child otherwise than at school, under Section 7 of the Education Act 1996.
2. Specify the child's last day of attendance — under the School Attendance (Pupil Registration) (England) Regulations 2024, the school must delete the child from the roll once that date has passed.
3. Keep proof of delivery — a read receipt, postal tracking reference, or written acknowledgment from the school.

The school cannot demand permission from the local authority first. For a mainstream state school pupil (not a child in a special school), deregistration is the parent's right upon written notice. Schools that claim otherwise are wrong about the law.

The England Legal Withdrawal Blueprint at /uk/england/withdrawal/ walks through this process in full, including a 2024-regulations-compliant letter template, guidance on responding to local authority enquiries after withdrawal, and what the incoming CNIS register means for families starting home education in 2026.

What to Expect After Deregistration

Once your child is off the school roll, the school notifies the local authority under Regulation 13(4) of the 2024 Regulations. The local authority will typically make an informal enquiry within a few weeks, asking for information about your educational plans.

You are not legally required to allow a home visit or submit a curriculum plan in a prescribed format. You are required to respond in some form — ignoring enquiries entirely gives the LA grounds to conclude no suitable education is taking place and escalate to formal action. A concise Educational Provision Report (one to three pages describing your approach and some specific examples of what your child is learning) is usually sufficient to satisfy the enquiry and keep things moving smoothly.

Private home schooling in England is legal, well-established, and increasingly common. Getting the deregistration right from the start — using the correct statutory language and understanding what the local authority can and cannot demand — is the single most important step in making the transition smooth.

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