- Projects.
- Online resources.
- Practical activities.
- Tutors.
- Museums.
- Nature.
- Community experiences.
- Conversations.
- Independent study.
- Everyday life.
- Plan learning.
- Find resources.
- Create routines.
- Record activities.
- Capture evidence.
- Review progress.
- Include learner voice.
- Work with authorised professionals.
- And keep the learner journey connected if education changes again later.
- Home Education
- Elective Home Education
- EHE
- Home Schooling
In UK official guidance, home education or elective home education is generally the preferred terminology. Home education means the parent or carer takes responsibility for arranging the child’s education rather than relying on ordinary full-time school attendance.
The exact legal process depends on where in the UK the family lives.
England
Parents can educate their child at home either full-time or, where agreed with a school, as part of another arrangement. For a child of compulsory school age, parents are responsible for ensuring that the child receives a suitable full-time education.
In England, home-educated children do not have to follow the National Curriculum. If a child currently attends a mainstream school and the parent decides to withdraw them completely for elective home education, the school should be informed.
Different rules can apply where a school attendance order is in force or where a child attends certain special-school provision.
Wales
Home education is also recognised in Wales. Parents remain responsible for providing a suitable education, while local authorities have responsibilities around children living in their area.
Families should use current Welsh Government and local-authority guidance when considering withdrawal from school, support and local arrangements.
Northern Ireland
Parents can choose to educate their child at home in Northern Ireland. They are responsible for ensuring that the child receives suitable full-time education.
Processes around leaving school, the Education Authority and special-school arrangements should be checked against current Northern Ireland guidance.
Always check current government and local-authority guidance for your circumstances.
EdiWay supports the learning and evidence journey. It does not determine whether a family’s arrangements meet their legal obligations.
Scotland
Home education is a recognised and legitimate education choice in Scotland. Parents are responsible for providing their child’s education.
Where a child currently attends a state school, the process for withdrawing them differs from England and generally involves local-authority consent. Scottish Government guidance also emphasises the child’s rights and the importance of considering their views.
- 9:00 Maths
- 10:00 English
- 11:00 Science
- every weekday.
- Some families prefer a clear timetable.
- Others use flexible routines.
- Some work through subjects.
- Others organise learning through projects and interests.
Many use a mixture.
EdiWay is designed to support that flexibility. The platform can provide structure without forcing the family to copy a school timetable.
Learner Profiles
Keep the individual learner at the centre.
Parent-Managed Access
Allow parents and carers to manage the family-led pathway.
Education Plans
Record the family’s learning approach and priorities.
Learning Journals
Capture what actually happened.
Portfolio Evidence
Preserve useful examples of learning.
Progress Tracking
Review development over time.
Parent Reports
Organise useful summaries and evidence.
Learning Resources
Bring appropriate educational material into the journey.
Community
Connect families with suitable EdiWay learning and community opportunities where enabled. EdiWay’s product foundation explicitly includes home-education profiles, parent accounts, education plans, learning journals, portfolio evidence, progress tracking and resource-library capabilities.
No Longer Attends
The learner has left that school.
Moved School
Their education continues under another school relationship.
Home Educated
Their pathway continues through the family-led Home Education experience.
The former school’s active relationship can end while the learner’s wider EdiWay journey continues.
- Learning plans
- Activities
- Resources
- Learning journals
- Learner evidence
- Progress review
- Family observations
- Learner reflections
- Professional collaboration
- Future transition planning
This helps prevent a move into home education from becoming another break in the learner’s information journey.
Subjects
Find material connected to areas of learning.
Projects
Use resources as part of longer learning journeys.
Practice
Work through activities appropriate to current learning.
Exploration
Follow interests into wider topics.
Evidence
Connect suitable activity back to the learner portfolio.
Resources support the family’s education approach. They do not dictate it.
Public Means Public Resource
Only the selected resource becomes available.
Private Remains Private
The school’s internal resource library does not become open.
Learner Records Stay Separate
Accessing a public resource gives no access to school learners or school information.
School Choice
The school controls which suitable resources it makes available. This can create a richer shared education resource environment while preserving organisational boundaries.
Interests
What does the learner want to explore?
Strengths
Where do they engage confidently?
Priorities
What matters most now?
Areas of Learning
Which subjects, skills or experiences should be developed?
Support Needs
What makes learning easier?
Future Goals
Where might the learner want to go next?
The education plan can then provide a reference point without becoming a rigid school curriculum.
- Reading
- Maths
- Writing
- Projects
- Practical learning
- Outdoor learning
- Online study
- Tutor sessions
- Community activities
- Creative work
- Independent interests
The routine can change as the learner changes. A home-learning routine is not a school attendance register.
- A visit becomes a history discussion.
- Cooking becomes maths.
- A question becomes a research project.
- A hobby develops into a significant skill.
EdiWay’s learning journal helps families preserve the real learning journey. Record:
Activity
What happened?
Observation
What did the family notice?
Learner Reflection
What did the learner think?
Evidence
Is there something worth keeping?
Next Step
Where could the learning go next?
- Written work
- Photographs
- Projects
- Presentations
- Artwork
- Practical work
- Research
- Reading records
- Learner reflections
- Parent observations
- Tutor feedback
- Appropriate professional evidence
The aim is to preserve a useful picture of the learner’s education. Uploading evidence does not automatically turn it into a formal assessment or qualification.
- What is the learner enjoying?
- What has become easier?
- Where are they showing greater independence?
- What remains difficult?
- Which strategies appear helpful?
- What interests are developing?
- What should we explore next?
Progress review should support family decision-making rather than reduce every learning experience to a score.
Strengths
What engages the learner?What happened?
Communication
What approaches help?
Sensory Preferences
Which environments are easier or harder?
Learning Strategies
What appears useful?
Family Observations
What is being seen over time?
Evidence
What helps explain the learner’s experience?
Professional Contributions
What authorised specialist evidence is relevant? The platform can support understanding. It does not diagnose autism, ADHD, dyslexia, speech and language needs or any other condition from family observations.
- Tutors
- Mentors
- Educational advisers
- Educational psychologists
- Speech and language professionals
- Occupational therapists
- Counsellors
- Careers advisers
- Other authorised professionals
Where Professional Collaboration is enabled, families can create a defined learner-specific relationship rather than simply sending unrestricted records by email. The professional can receive the information appropriate to their work.
The family record remains controlled.
What I Enjoy
What engages the learner?What happened?
What Helps Me
Which approaches work well?
What I Find Hard
Which environments are easier or harder?
What I Want to Learn
What appears useful?
What I Am Proud Of
Which evidence matters to the learner?
What I Want Next
What goals or future pathways are important?
The learner’s contribution remains recognisably their own.
- Education approach
- Learning plans
- Learning journals
- Activities
- Portfolio evidence
- Progress information
- Parent reports
- Relevant supporting documents
This can make it easier for a family to understand its own education journey and prepare information where appropriate.
However:
EdiWay does not certify that home education is legally suitable.
It does not replace the local authority.
It does not automatically make legal determinations.
And the existence of a professional or authority account does not itself mean EdiWay has an official integration with a UK public body.
- EdiWay does not certify that home education is legally suitable.
- It does not replace the local authority.
- It does not automatically make legal determinations.
And the existence of a professional or authority account does not itself mean EdiWay has an official integration with a UK public body.
- College
- Alternative provision
- Specialist provision
- Training
- Another flexible pathway
EdiWay can help preserve selected learning history so the next conversation starts with more context. Useful information might include:
Strengths
What has gone well?
Learning Evidence
What has the learner been doing?
Family Views
What does the family want understood?
Learner Voice
What matters to the learner?
Helpful Strategies
What approaches supported learning?
Progress Context
What has changed during the home-education journey?
The new setting remains responsible for its own assessments and decisions.
- Learning evidence
- Qualifications
- Educational assessments
- Achievements
- Strengths
- Aspirations
- Future learning
- Adult education
The learner can continue using EdiWay rather than losing their identity simply because childhood education has ended.
1. Create the Learner Journey
Keep the learner at the centre.
2. Define the Approach
Record priorities and education style.
3. Build a Routine
Add as much or as little structure as helps.
4. Find Resources
Use appropriate EdiWay and available public learning material.
5. Learn
At home, online, in the community or through suitable support.
6. Record the Journey
Use the learning journal.
7. Capture Evidence
Build a useful portfolio.
8. Review Progress
Understand what is working.
9. Bring in Support
Connect authorised tutors or professionals where appropriate.
10. Continue
Move into school, college, another pathway or adulthood without throwing away the useful learner journey.
Yes.
Parents and carers can educate children at home across the UK, but the specific legal framework and withdrawal process differ between England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland.
The terms are often used interchangeably.
UK official guidance more commonly uses home education or elective home education.
In England, parents providing elective home education do not have to follow the National Curriculum.
Requirements and guidance differ across the UK, so families should check the rules for their nation.
Home education does not necessarily need to follow ordinary school hours or a school timetable.
The education provided still needs to meet the applicable legal requirements in the family’s nation.
Home-educating parents are generally not required to be qualified teachers.
They remain responsible for arranging appropriate education.
Yes.
Families can choose to involve tutors and other support.
Parents remain responsible for the education arrangements and should satisfy themselves that people working with their child are suitable.
Where an appropriate family relationship is already established, the learner can continue in EdiWay through the Home Education pathway rather than the school simply deleting their wider learner identity.
The school can update its relationship with the learner to reflect that the learner no longer attends or is now home educated.
Yes.
Home-educated learners can access appropriate EdiWay learning resources available to their pathway.
Where a participating school chooses to publish an appropriate learning resource for wider public learner use, eligible home-educated learners can access that resource.
Private school resources remain restricted.
Yes.
Learning-journal capability forms part of EdiWay’s Home Education pathway.
Appropriate learning evidence can be added to the learner portfolio.
EdiWay can help families organise evidence and review progress over time.
The family remains responsible for interpreting the learner’s education and choosing appropriate next steps.
No.
EdiWay can help organise plans, learning and evidence, but it does not make legal determinations or certify compliance with home-education law.
Controlled authority or professional collaboration workflows may be available where specifically enabled and appropriately authorised.
This should not be interpreted as EdiWay having automatic integration with every local authority.
Yes, where appropriately authorised.
Professional access can remain learner-specific and purpose-limited.
No.
EdiWay can support educational evidence, screening workflows and learner-support records, but diagnosis remains with appropriately qualified professionals.
Yes.
Home education does not prevent a learner later moving into another education setting.
The receiving school or authority remains responsible for its own admissions and placement processes.
EdiWay’s Adult Learner Record is designed to support appropriate continuity from age 18.
Parent and Learner Experience
See how families and learners participate across EdiWay.
Home Education
Continue the learner journey when education moves from school to family-led learning.
Home Education Resources
Discover learning material and resources for family-led education.
SEND, Sensory and Wellbeing Support
Keep appropriate learner-support context connected.
Professional Collaboration
Bring authorised tutors and professionals into a purposeful learner relationship.
Transition Packs & Learner Continuity
Carry selected context into school, college or another pathway.
- Build learning around the child.
- Choose a structure that works for your family.
- Use EdiWay resources.
- Explore suitable resources shared by participating schools.
- Record the learning that happens beyond worksheets.
- Build evidence over time.
- Include learner voice.
- Bring in trusted support.
- Return to school or move to college with useful continuity.
- And carry the learner journey into adulthood.