United Kingdom

Homeschooling in the United Kingdom

Status: Legal (England and Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland have their own education laws each with slight variations regarding education otherwise than at school.)

Education provided outside a formal school system is primarily known as Home Education within the United Kingdom, the term Home Schooling is occasionally used for those following a formal, structured style of education – literally schooling at home. To distinguish between those who are educated outside of school from necessity (e.g. from ill health, or a working child actor) and those who actively reject schooling as a suitable means of education the term Elective Home Education is used.

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Homeschooling#United_Kingdom

Homeschooling Resources

England: Education Otherwise (EO) is a registered charity based in England for families whose children are being educated otherwise than at school, and for those who wish to uphold the freedom of families to take responsibility for the education of their children.

Scotland: Schoolhouse Home Education Association, more commonly referred to as Schoolhouse, is a charity based in Scotland which provides support and information to parents about Home education in Scotland.

http://www.home-ed.co.uk/methods.html

What are the cheapest solutions for getting out of school in the UK?

I'm not sure about the status of homeschooling in England but I am sure you can do it. I do not know the specifics of your situation, but I know that I would learn far than what I get from school, cheaper too. My school board spends nearly $8900 CAD per student (about £3900). I could buy better textbooks than I get from school for less than what they spend per year on me. It's just crazy how much governments spend on education. Tutoring is expensive and in most cases the education you get is better but stills functions like school, e.g. homework. You should look up "unschooling" on the 'net. If you don't know what unschooling is, it's a form of homeschooling that revolts against the typical form of homeschooling that is just school at home. Instead unschoolers smash the idea of "real" learning happening only in schools.

-Kirby

You probably don't need any special licensed teacher; in the United States you wouldn't. Your parent could be your teacher, or just your "teacher." About the cost: You can get a lot of material online for free. You can also buy physical books that are both better and less expensive than your schoolbooks. The main part of the cost is the time that your parents may have to spend with you if they actually teach you. There's not much they (or anybody really) can actually teach you that you can not more easily learn from a book. There are some parts where a teacher would be helpful, mostly in guiding you in what to learn and in what order and maybe in starting you off. Fortunately, there are entire courses available online. If this isn't enough, you can email professors and post on forums.

-Will

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