Thinking about home educating your child?
You can choose to home educate your child if you can provide an efficient education suited to their age, abilities and aptitudes as laid out in the Scottish Government's Home Education Guidance.
There are many reasons why parents may choose to home educate. These include:
- a wish to follow a particular educational or ideological philosophy
- religious or cultural beliefs
- dissatisfaction with the education system
- a child's reluctance to go to school
- a child's problems when at school (e.g. bullying)
- geographical - due to remoteness or needing mobility for work
- a wish to deal with a child's additional support needs in a particular way
- as a short-term intervention for a particular reason
Charges
There is no cost for seeking consent to withdraw from the school roll.
Education Maintenance Allowance
Education Maintenance Allowance (EMA) is a payment of £30 per week for young people aged 16-19 in post-compulsory education. This includes home education. Find out more on EMA and how to apply.
Scottish Child Payment
Scottish Child Payment is a weekly payment of £25, paid every four weeks that you can get for each child aged under 16 that you look after. The eligibility criteria for this payment is not connected with that of Free School Meals and home educators are encouraged to apply if they think they may qualify. Find out more.
Free period products
Free period products are available throughout East Lothian, not just in school buildings. Home educating families can find the venue nearest to them from our website and collect the supplies that they need.
Further information
If you have any enquiries about home education for your family setting, please contact us: educationenquiries@eastlothian.gov.uk or call 01620 927827 and ask for:
Karen Haspolat: Tranent, Dunbar and Prestonpans and surrounding areas.
Nicholas Trussler: Haddington, Musselburgh and North Berwick and surrounding areas.
Useful websites
- Home Education Scotland (registered charity)
- Schoolhouse Home Education Association (registered charity)
- Scottish Government
- Scottish Home Education Forum
(We accept no responsibility for the content of other websites.)
Contacting us
If you want to speak to someone about your case, or you'd like more information about home education please email our team or call 01620 827827 and ask for
Karen Haspolat: Tranent, Dunbar and Prestonpans and surrounding areas.
Nicholas Trussler: Haddington, Musselburgh and North Berwick and surrounding areas.
Parents who are considering home education will be provided with a named contact.