What is Elective Home Education? (EHE)
What is Elective Home Education (EHE)?
Elective Home Education (EHE) is a Department for Education (DfE) term which describes a parent or carer’s decision to provide education for their child at home, rather than through attendance at school. In electing to home educate, parents and carers assume full responsibility for their child’s education, including financial responsibility. Ordinarily, children are of compulsory school age whilst home educated. However, some post 16 learners also opt to home educate.
Elective Home Education is a discrete area of education. It does not include any of the following forms of education:
• Education provided by the Local Authority when a child is on roll at a school but unable to attend for medical reasons.
• Education provided by the Local Authority when a child cannot attend school due to exclusion or other reasons.
• Education that a child may be receiving at home provided by parents/ carers, tutors, tutorial centres and/ or their school whilst they are on roll at a school.
• Education provided at home during the pandemic – sometimes referred to as ‘home schooling.’
• EOTAS (Education Other Than At School.) Whilst a child registered as EOTAS may be educated at home, the local authority remains responsible for providing the child’s education package.
Ordinarily, a parent/ carer will remove their child from a school roll to home educate, however children not previously on a school roll and educated at home are also considered to be home educated. If a child has an EHCP and also attends a Special school, the parent/carer will require the consent of the local authority to remove their child from school. If the child has an EHCP and attends a mainstream school, they will not require the consent of the local authority to remove their child from school. Where a home educated child has an EHCP, the local authority does not have a legal duty to secure the education in the plan. However, the local authority will still review the plan annually.
How does Elective Home Education (EHE) work?
Elective home education is flexible. It doesn’t require adherence to the National Curriculum or a specific timetable. Home educated children and young people are not required to sit examinations. Home education may include the use of tutors, tutorial centres, online schools, online education providers etc. The education provided does not need to take place during school hours and school term dates. Home educated children and young people are not expected to stay at home studying during school hours. They are free to study at times convenient to them and to undertake activities outside of their homes with their parents/ carers and friends both during and outside of school hours and term dates.
Who funds home education?
Parents and carers take on all of the financial and organisational responsibility for their child’s education when they elect to home educate. The local authority and BELS do not finance home educators and/or home education. This means that there is no financial help for costs with exams, subscriptions, outings, clubs, books and tutors from the local authority and BELS. Home educated children are not provided with a laptop by BELS, the local authority or the previous school. A child’s previous school will also not provide or organise work, resources, tuition and examinations for a home educated child.
What is a suitable education?
Parents/ carers are expected to provide a full time, efficient education for their home educated child that is appropriate for the child’s age, abilities, aptitude and any special educational needs. The home education provided should also enable the child to make progress, equip the child for life in the 21st century and not limit their future options.
There are many different forms of home education, each with distinct philosophies and practices. BELS do not make any judgment in relation to a family’s philosophies and/or practices. BELS will seek to establish that a home educated child is receiving a suitable education which is appropriate for their age, ability, aptitude and any special educational needs that they may have and that the child is making progress and socialising. This is undertaken via a review of the child/ young person’s home education by BELS.