Deregistering your child from school to homeschool: The UK process

Deregistering a child from school to home educate is one of the simpler parts of the process on paper: a letter to the head teacher and the school removes the name from the admission register. In practice a few details matter, especially if your child is at a special school or has an EHC plan, and the rules differ between England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.

This guide walks through the current process end to end. It's written for parents about to send the letter, not for those still weighing up the decision.

In England, deregistration for home education is governed by the School Attendance (Pupil Registration) (England) Regulations 2024. These came into force on 19 August 2024 and replaced the older 2006 regulations, though the underlying process is broadly the same.

The relevant provision is Regulation 9(1)(f), which allows a school to remove a pupil's name from the admission register where the parent has given written notice that the child will be educated otherwise than at school. There's no prescribed format for the notice. There's no legal duty on the parent to give a reason. And there's no advance-notice period required, though the letter should make clear the last day the child will attend.

Once the letter is received, the school is required to delete the name from the admission register and notify the local authority under Regulation 13 of the 2024 Regulations. That's it. You don't need to notify the LA yourself, though many parents copy them in for their own records.

One detail worth flagging: until the deregistration takes effect, the parent remains at risk of prosecution for non-attendance if the child stops going in without the letter having been sent. This is why the sequence matters – send the letter first, then withdraw the child.

There's no legal requirement to use a specific format, but a workable version looks like this:

"Dear [head teacher's name],

I am writing to inform you that [child's full name], date of birth [DOB], currently a pupil in [year group / class], will be electively home educated from [date].

Please remove [him/her/them] from the school's admission register from that date, in accordance with Regulation 9(1)(f) of the School Attendance (Pupil Registration) (England) Regulations 2024.

I understand the school will notify the local authority of the deletion under Regulation 13.

Yours sincerely, [Parent name] [Address] [Date]"

A few practical notes on sending it. Send by email with a paper copy, or by recorded delivery, so you have proof of receipt. Keep a dated copy for your records. If the school pushes back or delays, the paper trail is what protects you. Copying in the local authority's Elective Home Education officer is optional but many parents find it useful, because it starts the LA conversation at the same time rather than a few weeks later.

Typically the school will acknowledge the letter within a few days and confirm the removal date. Some schools ask the parent to attend a meeting to discuss the decision – this isn't legally required and you don't have to attend, though many parents find it useful to close things off cleanly. Some schools issue a leaver's pack or ask for uniform to be returned. All of that is administrative rather than legal.

The school then informs the local authority. In England, the LA usually makes contact with the parent within a few weeks, either by letter or (occasionally) by phone. The LA's role is to satisfy itself, under Section 436A of the Education Act 1996, that the child is receiving a suitable education.

The informal enquiry might ask for a written outline of your approach, what curriculum or resources you're using, how you plan to assess progress, and (sometimes) a home visit. A calm written response is usually enough. Department for Education guidance to LAs is explicit that they "should not specify a curriculum or approach which parents must follow", so you can't be required to adopt the national curriculum or enter your child for exams.

There are two situations in England where the school cannot unilaterally remove your child from the register on receipt of your letter.

Special school arranged by the LA. Under Regulation 9(2) of the 2024 Regulations, if your child became a registered pupil at a special school under arrangements made by the local authority, the child's name cannot be removed from the admission register without LA consent (or a Secretary of State direction). Consent "must not be withheld unreasonably". Department for Education guidance says the LA "should consider whether the home education to be provided would meet the special educational needs of the child, and if it would, should give consent".

School Attendance Order in force. If a School Attendance Order is in force naming the current school, the LA must first revoke the order (or amend it to name a different school) before the name can be removed. You can't circumvent the order by deregistering.

There's no equivalent consent requirement for a mainstream school pupil who has an EHC plan. Parents can deregister a child with an EHC plan from a mainstream school without LA consent, though engagement with the LA is encouraged.

Dual registration (a child registered at more than one school, common for hospital schools or PRUs alongside a mainstream setting) also has its own rules – the letter needs to specify which school you're deregistering from. If your child is dual-registered, contact Education Otherwise or IPSEA for tailored advice.

There's no statutory restriction on when in the school year you can deregister. Home education is legal at any point during compulsory school age. You can deregister mid-term, mid-year, mid-exam-course – it's a parental choice.

That said, a few practical points on timing. If your child is in Year 10 or Year 11 and you're mid-GCSE-course, exam entries transfer to your responsibility as private candidate entries. Booking centres often have February deadlines for June exams, and centres near you may have limited availability, so the earlier in the process you plan this the better.

If you're deregistering close to the end of a school year, some parents wait until the summer holiday so the school year finishes cleanly. There's no legal reason to do this – it's a matter of preference.

If you're mid-year and the LA becomes aware of the deregistration, expect the informal enquiry to arrive within a few weeks of the school notifying them. Have a written response ready to send when it does.

The Scottish process is materially different. There are no pupil registration regulations equivalent to England's. Instead, Section 35 of the Education (Scotland) Act 1980 requires local authority consent before a child who is a registered pupil at a public school is withdrawn for home education. Consent "shall not be unreasonably withheld".

Scottish Government home education guidance (updated January 2025) is clear that the term "deregistration" doesn't apply in Scotland – the correct term is "withdrawal". Consent is not required if the child has never attended a public school in the first place.

In practice, parents write to the local authority requesting consent, including a brief outline of the proposed home education. The LA has a duty to respond within a reasonable time and can't refuse consent without good reason. If consent is refused, there's a right of appeal to Scottish Ministers.

Wales still operates under the Education (Pupil Registration) (Wales) Regulations 2010, which are broadly similar to the old English 2006 regulations. Written notice to the school is sufficient for a mainstream pupil. LA consent is required to withdraw from a special school. Welsh Government guidance runs alongside the regulations. Note that the Children's Wellbeing and Schools Act 2026 will amend the Welsh regulations in due course – keep an eye on gov.wales for updates.

Northern Ireland is governed by Article 45 of the Education and Libraries (Northern Ireland) Order 1986 (the parental duty to secure a suitable education) and the Education Authority (EA) rather than local authorities in the English sense. The process is broadly notification to the school in writing, followed by an EA informal enquiry. NI Department of Education guidance is the primary reference point.

In England, a school cannot lawfully refuse to remove a mainstream pupil's name from the admission register once a valid written notice of home education has been received (outside the two exceptions above). If a school refuses or delays unreasonably, escalation is straightforward.

First, follow up in writing citing Regulation 9(1)(f) of the 2024 Regulations. Sometimes the issue is simply that the school administrator is unfamiliar with the process, and a polite second letter clarifying the legal basis is enough.

Second, contact the local authority's Elective Home Education officer. In most cases the LA will confirm to the school that the removal is required.

Third, if the school still refuses, Education Otherwise (0300 124 5690) has a legal helpline, and HEAS publishes detailed guidance on school attendance orders and pupil registration issues. In rare cases parents seek judicial review, but this is unusual – most disputes resolve through the LA route.