School waiting list while home educating

[Mrsdoodle]

Hi,
I am in the very early stages of thinking about home educating and I cannot find the answer to this question anywhere.

My DD is currently in reception. We are thinking about moving to a new area with a different LEA, where all the local schools are oversubscribed. I am considering home educating my daughter for a few months in the hope that she will at some point be offered a place in a local school. Some things I have read seem to suggest that if you decide to home educate you have to withdraw from the state school system altogether. Does anyone know whether this is the case, or can I be on a waiting list for a particular school while I am home educating?

I'd be very grateful for any advice.

I know several people who are HEing while waiting for a place. You just deregister and Home Educate and, even before you start HEing, you can apply for the school place at the desired school.

Seriously, I can think of 2 families off the top of my head who we see a fair amount of who are in that position with a reception or Y1 aged child; I bet there are more in our community but we just haven't had the conversation together.

We are kind of in that position, MrsDoodle, except that we are waiting for a private school place. I withdrew DS2 from his state primary last March and he has been on the waiting list for a local private school ever since. I have deregistered him. In my letter of deregistration, I explained that he was on a waiting list for a school. However, we have been having such a happy time home educating that I'm not sure now if we'll now accept the school place if it's offered...

Yes, waiting lists are unaffected by the child's current educational setting. It doesn't matter whether your child is at another state school, or a private school, or home ed.

You do have to "withdraw from the state school system altogether" in the sense that you will have full responsibility for your child's education while she isn't in school. But she can certainly be on a waiting list during this time. It is not uncommon. Some parents dislike the school they are offered, some withdraw a bullied child from his current school and home ed while waiting for a place elsewhere, some find the offered school completely impractical to get to.

The only thing to be careful about is that you must ensure the LA don't assume that because you're home educating, you've chosen that path and now can to be removed from waiting lists. Just write them to clarify that you are home educating as a temporary measure while remaining on the waiting list for your preferred school(s). If no place becomes available at a local school and you get fed up with waiting for one, you can change your mind and accept whatever place is offered to you.

Good luck!

Thank you so much for the helpful responses. More helpful information from 5 minutes on here than from hours of fruitless internet searching!

:)