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

Useful websites

• Home Education Scotland (registered charity)
• Schoolhouse Home Education Association (registered charity)
• Scottish Government
• Scottish Home Education Forum