Insane rise in home schooling?

[whyohwhy246]

Has anyone else noticed a huge increase in home schooling? Someone I follow in IG has just deregistered their child and I just can’t believe how many families are choosing to do this.

Of course it is sometimes the right choice for the child but it seems that more and more children are being allowed to opt out of formal education.

Teenagers need to learn that life is hard and school will throw challenges at them. How they learn to deal with this impacts how they handle things as an adult. What happens when they enter the work place and they can’t just opt out of the difficult things? Where do they learn that resilience?

I have worked in education for 20 years and whilst I agree that some aspects of the system are broken, I don’t think home schooling is the answer to this.

The social aspect alone is impossible to replicate (walking to school together, having your first crush, a detention, school trips I could go on and on…) but I also don’t see how all of these parents can have the skills to teach their children to GCSE. I also find it so insulting to teachers who spend years learning their craft. It’s not just something you can pick up and do effectively.

Has anyone else noticed this?

Doesn't sound a great school.adnittedly

As a state school teacher myself and a mom with kids on private school… if I needed to I’d homeschool any day. Schools are over subscribed, frankly dangerous with children who can hurt others and state schools really aren’t working.

But the single most important factor in being able to pick and choose your work environment as an adult in the way you describe is to have recognised, sought after qualifications. Can that be achieved through home education? Of course. But there are significant barriers to doing so in many families.

School is nothing like work. For me anyway. I haven't been systematically bullied at work. People haven't told me they care about then questioned whether I'm a liar when I mention that not everything is great. I am not being bossed about by 10 teachers who's lessons I'm in but hardly know me and a whole group of randomers that see me occasionally. I have one boss who knows me well and maybe 2 other people who know me reasonably and will cover if the boss is sick. It's completely different....

Home ed children can apply to sit GCSE exams through an exam centre, which is usually a commercial company which basically operates a network of invigilated exam halls or a local independent school/6th form college which has agreed to take on external candidates.

Most GCSEs are available this way. A few subjects are hard or impossible to sit a "school GCSE" for because of coursework requirements, and for these (or all their subjects, if they want) Home Edders sit IGCSEs - international GCSEs, which are still recognised GCSEs but exam-only (as often sat in private schools and by ex-pats etc). In Home Ed you can also choose from a wider range of GCSE subjects than most schools offer - lots of people do Environmental Management, Marine Science, Human Biology, Astronomy and so on.

There are also quite a few coursework only distance learning GCSE-level courses (NCFE board) available for home edders to choose from, in subjects such as food tech, art, photography, PE etc.

Resilience isn't putting up with abuse though. Too many kids are bullied in school and it's not handled effectively by the school. I certainly wasn't prepared to tell my DC to just tough it out and that life is hard. If you were bullied at work youd want effective action, not HR to tell you to grow a thicker skin. I know many many HS kids and they're not how you clearly imagine them.

Okay, I'll bite. Having home educated for over 12 years (home schooled is not the correct term for what you are describing), I've witnessed the swift increase in families withdrawing their children & home educating in recent years. There's a huge swathe of social groups, interest led groups, drop off classes, online classes, organised trips, etc, available, even just in my own little town. My eldest teen is at college now, studying A Levels, along with many other previously home educated students, who are great independent learners, out of the box thinkers & self motivated. Skills that are often encouraged too late by the mainstream school system, & prized by universities. Home educated children don't need to replicate school in order to experience any of the social interactions you have described. A teen's personal growth isn't dependent on attending school. In the wrong environment many people don't thrive, whether that's a child or an adult.

You speak about teens, but what about 5 year olds? Surely if they never go to school then they don't get any practice at being away from parents. Which is a usual life development

Why would school be the only way a child gets to be away from their parents?

In theory I can see why people don't want their kids in many, many state schools. I genuinely can.

But in reality I wish I'd met any examples of well-rounded, thriving home-educated, successful children. I just haven't though. I don't think it's a good alternative.

I wish all kids could have private school level of education. I don't think home educating is the answer, it's just swapping one set of problems for another.

Is there any reliable data on outcomes for children educated outside a traditional school setting?

Do the wonderfully successful home educated children of people on this thread outnumber the hopelessly neglected throw away children of struggling parents with mental health problems?

Where is the data on girls withdrawn from school for “cultural” reasons?

Responding to this as another long term home edder. I don’t believe that a 5 year old being away from parents is a good thing, I think our modern society has made it a necessity for most due to both parents needing to be in work. I don’t think that’s for the benefit of the child. That’s my personal opinion, if you did want your chiid to go off independently then childcare exists as do drop off activities.

My kids have been home educated from the very start, at that age we went to loads of things with friends; soft play, playgrounds, farms etc. As they got a bit older they started to do things where I would drop them off and leave. Funnily enough all of the things I was warned about with them not wanting to leave me etc wasn’t true. They all have happily gone off to clubs, camps, with friends independently from the age of around 7.

Where else would a 5 year old go without them then?

I think the problem is to do home school well, you either need a very invested parent or money to do it properly. If I had to home school I would but I can see the time and energy to do it properly while also ensuring social skills etc would be a tough gig. I also have a lot of sympathy with the view that a lot of secondary schools just aren’t very nice.

I have seen one child leave our primary to home school and they really shouldn’t have been allowed to. That child is not going to be getting any form of education.

The answer of this is no.

Pretty shockingly, there only started being a central government record of the number of children being educated outside school in 2023.

That’s a very misguided view to home education (home schooling is when child is still in school role) for my child and many many I know and help with the socialisation is far far wider greater than the limited experience produced at school. Also we found the national curriculum ridiculous narrow and repetitive! Remember the current in place school system was to create good workers for the Victorians. The rise in home education is a reflection of how poor the education system especially when comparing it to other countries. So many children are leaving schools and colleges unable to cope in work places or universities and may work places are now crying out for home educated people who think for themselves. Take a look at our website please to help educate yourself! https://educationalfreedom.org.uk

They still don’t know the actual number being home educated. There is no duty to inform anyone of you don’t ever send your child to school.

Functional Skills English is for very weak pupils who have no chance of passing a GCSE, I wouldn’t be bragging that your daughter passed this. It’s a very basic test of functional literacy for pupils with low reading ages and poor English skills. In my school it was only offered to pupils who were looking at GCSE levels of 1 or 2.

Maybe brush up on these things if you’re home schooling and check the academic rigour of what you’re offering your daughter. Any reasonably able pupil can get a good mark on a functional skills paper.

I think you should take a look at how many professionals home educate their own children! It’s a very high percentage! Look at the percentage of school children in prisons and on benefits compared to home education. I think you must be basing your ideas on something you’ve seen on tv

Activities, clubs, friends houses, family's houses?

If the only place your 5yo ever goes without you is school, then that's very odd IMO.

The local authorities check. Do remember that Sara Sherifs death was not due to home education but the teachers and school systems who failed her!

Is there any reliable data on outcomes for children educated outside a traditional school setting?
Do the wonderfully successful home educated children of people on this thread outnumber the hopelessly neglected throw away children of struggling parents with mental health problems?
Where is the data on girls withdrawn from school for “cultural” reasons?

All of this. Schools arent failing children- the government are. Im not sure exactly what education systems in the world are completely flexible for SEN children though as the majority involve a fair amount of sitting still and listening. Our kids go to primary and its very interactive and engaging with lots of trips and extracurriculars (not just sport).

The sheer volume of SEN children vs funding available makes the whole system completely unsustainable. We are moving to another country where parents of children with SEN are expected to fund a full time member of staff to support them and the places are limited to 2 per class. There would be absolute uproar (not unreasonably) if that happened here but it's how they are managing it.

What proportion of people in prison or on benefits (which is a weird grouping, but whatever) were home educated, and how does that compare to the percentage in the general population?

@MoreDangerousThanAWomanScorned

I query your assertion that children are safer in childcare. I haven't mentioned the recent sexual abuse cases of children in nursery.

Deaths of children in nursery below

Genevieve Meehan (2022, Stockport): Nine-month-old Genevieve died in May 2022 after being left face-down, swaddled, and strapped to a beanbag for over 90 minutes at Tiny Toes Nursery in Cheadle Hulme.
Conviction: Deputy manager Kate Roughley was found guilty of manslaughter and jailed for 14 years in May 2024.
Neglect: A second worker, Rebecca Gregory, was jailed for three years in September 2024 for the "deplorable" neglect of other babies at the same nursery.

Noah Sibanda (2022, Dudley): 14-month-old Noah died at Fairytales Day Nursery in Dudley in December 2022.
Conviction: Nursery worker Kimberley Cookson admitted to gross negligence manslaughter in June 2025.
Charges: The nursery owner was charged with failing to comply with health and safety duties, and the company was charged with corporate manslaughter.

Oliver Steeper (2021, Ashford): Nine-month-old Oliver died in September 2021 after choking on food at Jelly Beans Day Nursery.
Outcome: An inquest ruled his death was due to "misadventure," with reports highlighting "poor" first aid and inadequate staff training. A six-figure settlement was agreed upon between the nursery and the parents in November 2025..

Jude Gerrard (2025, Merseyside): Two-year-old Jude died in January 2025 following a "medical episode" at Early Learners Day Nursery in Bootle. Police concluded their investigation in October 2025, stating no further action would be take

There are many provisions outside of school right. It's not just parents sat at home with their children, it's private tutors, kip mcgrath, online school, forest school, HE clubs, sports clubs planned meet ups ect.

I work with kids with EBSA
The system is broken some kids survive it and some are destroyed by it mental health shoup always come first and you simply cannot learn resilience with a disregulated central nervous system.

Most of the HE kids will be self employed anyway as they will follow there own gifts skills and passions they have been encouraged to pursue, rather taught to repeat information so they can be copy paste office workers. Most HE kids i know are earning before they leave school with their ETSY shops ect. A well mind is the most important thing in life