How to Withdraw Your Child from School in Scotland

Scotland's withdrawal process trips up families who have read English home education guidance. In England, you notify — in Scotland, you apply for consent. That single difference determines whether your child stays on roll for weeks longer than necessary or gets clean withdrawal paperwork the first time you submit it.

Here is exactly what you need to do, what the council can and cannot ask of you, and how to write a letter that gets approved.

Why Scotland Requires Consent (and What That Actually Means)

Under Section 35 of the Education (Scotland) Act 1980, when you withdraw a child from a public school (a state school managed by the local authority), you need the council's written consent before the withdrawal takes effect. The legislation explicitly states that consent shall not be unreasonably withheld.

In practice this means: you make the application, the council reviews it, and absent specific safeguarding concerns they must approve it. It is not a discretionary veto. Councils cannot refuse simply because they disagree with your educational philosophy, because your child has attendance difficulties, or because they would prefer the child remain enrolled.

The consent requirement does not apply in these situations:

• Your child has never been enrolled in a local authority school (home education from the start)
• You are withdrawing from an independent (fee-paying) school
• Your child is in the transition gap between primary and secondary (they are technically not on roll)
• The school itself has closed

If any of these apply to your family, you do not need to apply for consent — you simply need to be providing suitable education.

What Counts as a "Suitable" Education in Scotland

The legal standard, confirmed in Harrison & Harrison v Stevenson (1981), is that a suitable education must prepare the child for life in modern civilised society and allow them to achieve their full potential. That is it. You are not required to follow the Curriculum for Excellence. You are not required to produce a lesson plan, timetable, or scheme of work at the point of withdrawal. Your letter does not need to be a curriculum proposal.

Keep this in mind when you write your application — less is often more.

The Six-Week Timeline

Scottish Government guidance (updated January 2025) asks councils to process withdrawal consent applications within six weeks. Some councils, particularly Edinburgh City Council and Glasgow City Council, have dedicated home education officers and typically respond faster. Others — especially smaller authorities like Clackmannanshire, Argyll and Bute, or Na h-Eileanan Siar — may work closer to the six-week limit.

During the processing period, your child technically remains on roll. The guidance instructs authorities to take a reasonable approach to attendance procedures in the meantime, meaning the school should not be treating your child as truanting while your consent application is pending.

What Your Withdrawal Letter Must Include

Your letter applies under Section 35. It goes to the local authority's home education team (not the school — the school is notified separately after consent is granted). Scotland's 32 local authorities each have slightly different administrative arrangements, so check your council's website for the correct address and team name.

Required content:

• Your child's full name and date of birth
• The school they currently attend and their year group
• A clear statement that you are applying for consent to withdraw under Section 35 of the Education (Scotland) Act 1980
• A brief statement of your intention to provide home education
• A short description of your intended educational approach — two or three sentences is sufficient

Optional but useful:

• Your contact details and preferred communication method
• An indication of when you would like withdrawal to take effect

What to avoid:

• Do not use English terminology. "Deregistration" is an English concept. In Scotland the process is "withdrawal" or "elective home education consent." Using the wrong terms signals that your letter was drafted from an English template and may prompt follow-up queries.
• Do not make sweeping philosophical statements or detailed curriculum breakdowns in the initial letter. If the council wants more information, they will ask.
• Do not submit a letter to the headteacher as your first step. The consent decision sits with the council, not the school.

What Happens After You Submit

The council should acknowledge receipt of your application. From there, the most common outcomes are:

Straightforward approval — most families with a standard application receive written consent within a few weeks. Once approved, you write a brief separate letter to the school's headteacher confirming you have received consent and that your child will not be returning. The school removes the child from roll.

Request for a meeting or further information — some councils will ask to meet with you or request additional detail about your educational provision. You are not legally obligated to meet in person, though cooperating with reasonable requests generally speeds up approval. If a meeting is requested, it should be framed as an information-gathering exercise, not an inspection.

Involvement of Co-ordinated Support Plan (CSP) processes — if your child has a CSP (the Scottish equivalent of an EHCP), the council will need to consider whether home education can continue to meet the child's additional support needs. This process takes longer and may involve consultation with support services before consent is granted.

School Attendance Orders: What They Are and When They Apply

If the council refuses consent and you proceed without it, or if they later determine that the education being provided is not suitable, they can issue a School Attendance Order (SAO) under Sections 36–38 of the Education (Scotland) Act 1980. You have the right to appeal an SAO to the Sheriff within 14 days of receiving it. SAOs are uncommon in practice but worth understanding.

Education Scotland and HMIE have no authority to inspect home educating families. Their remit covers registered schools only.

Local Authority Variations Worth Knowing

Scotland's 32 local authorities have notable differences in how they handle withdrawal applications:

• Edinburgh City Council has a dedicated home education team with published guidance and an online application form.
• Glasgow City Council processes applications through its Additional Support for Learning service.
• Highland Council covers a large geographic area and has strong engagement with home educators in rural communities — their process tends to be more conversational.
• Fife Council and Aberdeen City Council both have written policies published on their websites.

If your authority is not listed above, search "[council name] elective home education" — most Scottish councils now have at least a basic guidance page.

After Withdrawal Is Approved

Once consent is in hand, your responsibilities as a home educator are straightforward: provide an efficient, suitable education appropriate to your child's age, ability, and aptitude. There is no registration, no mandatory reporting, and no curriculum requirement beyond that standard.

The council retains a general duty of oversight and may make contact from time to time — annually in most cases — to satisfy themselves that suitable education is still being provided. Cooperation with reasonable oversight requests is generally advisable. You are not required to allow home visits, but a written update or portfolio summary is typically sufficient.

The Scotland Legal Withdrawal Blueprint at homeschoolstartguide.com/uk/scotland/withdrawal/ includes a ready-to-use Section 35 withdrawal letter template, a council-by-council reference for all 32 Scottish local authorities, and a complete step-by-step walkthrough of the post-consent process — so you can move from decision to approved withdrawal without guesswork.

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