What age is considered appropriate before a child can do this...

[Poppymayday]

Get themselves home from a local school, let themselves in and stay home alone for an hour or so until adult gets back home?

Yes, these are my thoughts too.

I tried it when S1 was 8 because of an after-school clash. He was perfectly OK but said he didn't enjoy it so we asked a favour from friends instead.

When I was in [Y5-6] I would 3 mornings a week take the key to school, let myself and younger siblings into the house and make a start on whatever needed doing for lunch before my dad got in about half an hour later. Sometimes my dad wouldn't be able to get home and we were on our own till my mum got back, so maybe up to an hour.

It was never a problem. The worst thing that happened was a slight miscalculation over the instant mash

Thinking aloud, what competencies do you need to be able to be safely home alone? Children are developmentally different despite being the same age.

Safely keep key so you are able to get into house each day
Be able to get into house and keep it secure
Fix snacks for self without being likely to harm self/house with sharp implements/water/fire
Be sensible enough with enough impulse control/foresight to prevent harm to self or building through your actions
To know what to do if the doorbell rings, and to not let strangers in/wander off with strangers
To understand what an emergency is and to know who to call and be able to confidently seek help if needed
(related to the above, as it would become an emergency eventually), to know when it would be a problem if parent(s) haven’t arrived home as expected and what to do in that situation.

And then of course, the child has to feel comfortable without having parents there.

What else?

Based on the above, my 9 year old is not there yet, but not far off. However, she would currently also get quite scared if she did not have a parent in the house.

EDIT - having read this through, I realise it is equally appropriate when thinking about relatives at the other end of life, if they start having cognitive problems.

No, that isn't true. Even in the 90s I don't remember anybody that left 8 year olds alone. I wasn't left to do what the OP is asking about until 12, it didn't follow that my Mum and Dad checked on my uni work. I am the same and only in year 9 does my youngest occasionally have to do this. My eldest was the same and took himself to see a couple of universities on Open days, he is very capable even though I didn't leave him at 8!

Nope. That’s too young.

DD walked alone from age 7 and I'd leave her for a short time (up to 15 minutes) but I was always home when she got back from school until she was 8, at which age I gave her a key and a Nokia brick phone and was occasionally out when she got back. Not for as long as an hour, though.

Now she's 9 I would trust her alone for an hour but I wouldn't necessarily want that to be every day.

I was raised in the nineties and certainly spent short periods of time home alone at the age of 8. I also walked the five minutes to the local shop/chippy with a friend at a similar age.

I was home alone all day in the holidays from 12 - it honestly surprises me when I read of similarly-aged kids who aren't even left for an hour.

How do you know they are English?

Yeah this. ^ The 'I walked 5 miles in 6 foot of snow aged 6 and it did me no 'arm' brigade are talking shite. Take no notice OP. Lots of things happened pre 1980s that should NEVER have happened, especially to children!

I know a woman who used to let her daughter light her cigarettes for her when the girl was 8!

A couple I knew allowed their sons to drink whiskey with them, (the 2 lads occasionally had 20-25% of a bottle between them, aged 12-13.)

And another woman I know used to shag different men she brought back home, in the dining room - whilst her DD and DS (both between 5 and 10) were in the lounge. They heard everything.

Even my own parents used to allow me to walk home from school at 7-8 (two thirds of a mile walk, with a mixture of quiet pathways, woodlands, and main roads.) It was 15-20 minutes ... Batshit. I would NEVER have let my DC do this.

In answer to your question @Poppymayday Around 12 or 13.

thinking it's OK to have a child walk home alone, let themselves into the house, and spend an hour or more alone, at 6 to 8 years of age, (as some have suggested,) is fucking batshit, and I hope these posters don't have children.

.

Mine two were 9 and 7 when they started doing this and they were fine with it. But it was a 10 min walk, no busy roads and both sensible children.

When a child starts senior school is soon enough to let them walk, get the bus home.
I would not be comfortable leaving an 11 year old home alone, maybe 12 or 13, depending on how sensible they were.

10 or 11

But it isn't an absolute is my point. You were left but I don't know anybody that was left on their own at the age of 8. It wasn't commonplace at all. In fact my Mum wouldn't have been left on her own, aged 8 and that would have been the late 1950s!

Not until senior for me but that was mainly because there are a couple of busy roads I’d be concerned about. I’m a worry wart anyway so probably wouldn't have felt comfortable about it till they were yr 7.

At home for a bit, probably yr 6 but i would have texted them to reassure myself they were ok.

At my dc's primary they weren't allowed to leave without an adult until year 6, so it would have been age 10.

Yes, I agree. I used to walk home from school in the 90s, aged 9 with a main road to cross (less cars on the road back then, so not busy by todays standards). I'll never forget a neighbour who was picking her child up, asking where my Mum was. It wasn't usual where I lived. I told my dm when I got home, and she thought it was a right cheek 😂

I totally agree with you. I started walking home from school at 8 (like you a couple of miles with two busy roads to cross) although my sister (4.5yrs older) tended to be at home, or would be shortly after I arrived.
Maybe all the mums saying that from age 8 is "madness" or "crazy" should watch the marvellous 2019 ITV three-part documentary, "Planet Child". Hosted by the Van Tulleken twins, three groups of British children, aged 4 - 7, were tasked to find the London Eye alone. Spoiler alert: they all achieved it and had no idea they were being observed (covertly from a distance, but close enough to intervene if anything went awry). I cried tears of joy at the end when the children individually spoke about how their experience boosted their confidence (they looked so HAPPY!). It's such a pity that some parents seem to underestimate their children's abilities. I honestly think if parents watched the children in this series expressing their feelings of what they'd achieved, they'd realise the only people holding their children back is them. 😞
OP, only you know your child and what they can cope with; their courage and sense of responsibility - AND whether you can trust them to cross roads safely, react appropriately to strangers who might approach them, not lose their door-key and not set the house on fire. 😂

Year 7

10/11 but does depend on the individual child. I think 8 is much too young.

I never said it was an absolute, but it was definitely common amongst my peers - I was far from the only one being left for short periods at that age.

Being left for 10-20 minutes while a parent popped to the shop, or to collect a takeaway, or to go for a short run was very normal. It's interesting how experiences vary depending on your area.

Where I am now, it's still normal to see 8-9 year olds walking home from school alone. Many will pop in Tesco or go to the park as well.

My son got himself home from school (2 buses) once a week in year 6, so just 11 - but there would always be someone at home.

He's now in y7 and almost 12 and has just recently started letting himself into an empty house on occasion.

yes for 2hrs plus until I was home from work.

Y7

South England seems more risk adverse and schools are more likely to refuse to let a child under around 10 or 11 to walk home by themselves

Further north 8 + ( child dependent ) would be acceptable

12/13.