Home eding from age 14 (year 9/10)

[Colleger]

Has anyone done this? I'm just wondering if a child who has been in school for this length of time should then come out. Is it too late to spend the time deschooling them at the expense of their academic education/GCSE's, especially if they then decide to go back for sixth form?

I know GCSE's are not compulsory but it is a consideration for a child who may have completed the first year of them to then deschool during the Y11 exam year.

Deschooling isn't "at the expense of their academic education". The point of deschooling is to let the child reconnect with what education is all about, to step off the treadmill created by other people's expectations and think about actual learning. This helps their academic education, not just their personal development. Starting in Year 9 or 10 is a great time to do this.

If home ed is just for Year 11, I guess it is most likely to happen if the child is deeply unhappy at school. Having invested a year already in working toward GCSEs, perhaps many kids would rather stick it out for their last year instead of starting over. If they are having a truly miserable school experience then it will be more important just to get out of there. I'd leave it up to the child, making sure they understand that if they leave school they probably can't just carry straight on seamlessly with the same GCSEs they have already started. They should be able to do some IGCSEs but these may be fewer than the GCSEs they'd have done at school and it may take an extra year or two before they start college or university. That's OK, it isn't a race. Many people consider a gap year useful; why not now?

Thanks Saracen. I'm not sure what will happen in the next year. I know what I'd like to happen...

Good luck; I hope it all works out well whichever direction your child decides to go!