Home education in the United Kingdom

Home education in the UK is often termed "elective home education" (EHE) to signify the independent nature of practice from state provisions such as education for children with ill-health provided by the local authority in the family home. EHE is a collective term used in the UK to describe education provided other than through the schooling system. Parents have a duty to ensure their children are educated but the education legislation in England and Wales does not differentiate between school attendance or education otherwise than at school. Scots education legislation on the other hand differentiates between public (state) school provision and education “by other means”, which includes both private schooling and home education. The numbers of families retaining direct responsibility for the education of their children has steadily increased since the late 1970s following the formation of support groups such as Education Otherwise and Schoolhouse. Home education may involve an informal style of education described as unschooling, informal learning, natural or autonomous learning. Others prefer to retain a structured school at home approach sometimes referred to as homeschooling (a term more popular in the US) although the terms are often interchanged

England and Wales
With the Elementary Education Act 1870 came attempts to formalise and regulate what had been an ad-hoc schooling system. Campaigners to establish a school system such as the National Education League had argued that schools were for children "not otherwise receiving education" and the 1870 act specified "a reasonable excuse for non-attendance at school : 1. That the child is under efficient instruction in some other manner".

In England and Wales, the law states that all children between the ages of 5 and 16 must receive a full-time suitable education as per their age, ability and aptitude and any special needs they may have must be met, either by regular attendance at school or otherwise.

With the growth of the schooling system came fresh theories and philosophies of education such as those of Johann Heinrich Pestalozzi who would influence the likes of Herbert Spencer who in his essays on education (1854 and 1859) argued against the traditional authoritative classical form of education that disregarded the natural wishes, tendencies, and motives of the child In turn there were many further pioneers such as Charlotte Mason, Caroline Southwood Hill and Susan Sutherland Isaacs.

The twentieth century saw the opening of schools such as Summerhill and Dartington and the establishment of The Peckham Experiment. The government had set up consultative committees chaired by William Henry Hadow. The Hadow reports (1923–1933) with their suggestions such that "a good school 'is not a place of compulsory instruction, but a community of old and young, engaged in learning by cooperative experiment'. laid the foundations for the 1944 Education act which required that each child be educated according to their individual aptitude and ability either at school or otherwise. The plans for a liberal communal based education system incorporating schools, village halls and community centres floundered against local bureaucracy and finance and offered little more than a tripartite school system which itself would be abandoned as ineffectual in favour of comprehensive schools later to be dismissed as "bog standard"

During the early 1950s Joy Baker became one of the first parents to abandon the school based education system in favour of the otherwise path. She would spend ten years battling with the authorities who insisted her children should attend school. During the early 1970s Dartington school ran a scheme, known as The Terrace, with Yorkshire County Council overseen by Alec Clegg to provide education to pupils who were required to stay on at school due to the raising of the leaving age. The scheme was run by Dick Kitto who had been working at Dartington. Kitto set up an informal democratic system and was impressed by how well the pupils responded to such opportunities. Kitto planned to expand his ideas to cover more schools but he discovered that some parents had already moved beyond his ideas and had decided to abandon schooling for their children altogether. A meeting for these families was organised in the late 70's/early eighties (check date) which would lead to the establishment of Education Otherwise. The meeting included Iris and Geoff Harrison whose fight with the authorities to home educate their five dyslexic children was widely publicised in the media at that time. Education Otherwise is now a charity and organisation that helps families and children with queries relating to home education and resource-related issues. Other organisations such as AHED also exist.

Qualifications, higher education, college
Just as school is not compulsory, exams and qualifications are not compulsory either. Home educated children often go directly into higher education or vocational courses without first passing through GCSEs and A levels. However, many institutions require proof of secondary level or pre-university level qualifications before admitting a student or providing employment. To meet those requirements home educated children take GCSE or iGCSE exams privately. This option is also available for A levels. While some GCSE subjects require "controlled assessment" at a school, others don't. There is no controlled assessment for iGCSE or A level qualifications.