Homeschooling Laws by Country: US, UK, Canada, Australia, South Africa and More

Homeschooling is legal in every country covered below, but what you must do to homeschool legally varies from nothing at all to a formal application with an inspection. This is a plain-language summary to orient you. It is not legal advice, and rules change — always confirm with the authority named for your area before you act.

United States

Status: Legal in all fifty states. Regulated at state level, not federally.

Requirements cluster into three broad groups:

• No notice required (e.g. Texas, Idaho, Illinois): you may simply homeschool. No filing, no testing.
• Notification only (e.g. California via private school affidavit, Ohio, Wisconsin): file a notice of intent, usually annually.
• Notification plus assessment (e.g. New York, Pennsylvania, Virginia): notice of intent, an instructional plan, and either standardised testing or an annual portfolio review by a qualified evaluator.

Practical advice: find your state's specific requirements and calendar the deadlines. Keep an attendance log and samples of work even in no-notice states — if you later move to a regulated state, you will want the history.

United Kingdom

Status: Legal as Elective Home Education (EHE).

If your child has never attended school, you need do nothing. If they are enrolled, write to the head teacher requesting deregistration; the school must remove them from the register.

You are not required to follow the National Curriculum, sit SATs, or work fixed hours. You must provide an education suitable to your child's age, ability and aptitude. Local authorities may make informal enquiries, and most ask for an annual report or a short meeting. Providing a written outline of your approach and some work samples resolves nearly all such enquiries.

Scotland requires local authority consent to withdraw a child from a state school; Northern Ireland and Wales have their own guidance.

Canada

Status: Legal nationwide, governed provincially.

• Alberta: notification plus association with a school board; funding available for approved resources.
• British Columbia: register with a school as a homeschooler; partial funding available.
• Ontario: a letter of intent to the board is sufficient.
• Quebec: a learning project must be submitted and reviewed.

Practical advice: if you are in a funded province, keep receipts and course descriptions from day one — reimbursement usually requires both.

Australia

Status: Legal in all states and territories. Registration is mandatory.

You must register with your state authority (for example NESA in New South Wales, the VRQA in Victoria) before beginning, and registration typically requires a written learning plan covering the required learning areas, plus evidence of progress at renewal. Some states conduct a home visit or an interview.

Practical advice: the learning plan is the whole game. A scope-and-sequence document per subject, showing what will be taught and how it will be assessed, satisfies most reviewers.

New Zealand

Status: Legal with a Certificate of Exemption from the Ministry of Education.

You apply before withdrawing your child, demonstrating that they will be taught "as regularly and as well as in a registered school". Once granted, a supervision allowance is available. There is no routine inspection, though the Ministry may review.

South Africa

Status: Legal and explicitly recognised in the South African Schools Act.

Registration is handled by your provincial education department. Requirements vary by province but generally include an application, evidence of a suitable programme, and assessment records. Many families register through an established curriculum provider to simplify this.

Ireland

Status: Constitutionally protected; registration with Tusla's Alternative Education Assessment and Registration Service (AEARS) is required.

An assessor will discuss your educational provision with you, usually in your home. There is no prescribed curriculum, but you should be able to describe what you teach, how, and how you know it is working.

Philippines

Status: Legal via the DepEd Home Education Program.

Most families enrol with a DepEd-recognised provider school, which handles records, assessment and credentials while the parent delivers the teaching. You may use your own learning materials alongside the provider's requirements.

India

Status: Not separately regulated. Homeschooling is not prohibited and the Right to Education Act has not been used to compel school attendance for home-educated children.

Because there is no registration pathway, families plan backwards from examinations — typically NIOS for an Indian board route, or Cambridge IGCSE for an international one. Register with the board well in advance; entry deadlines are strict.

United Arab Emirates

Status: Permitted with approval from the relevant authority — KHDA in Dubai, ADEK in Abu Dhabi, or the Ministry of Education.

Approval processes have tightened in recent years and typically involve registering the child's education pathway. Expat families frequently follow a British or American curriculum to keep school re-entry straightforward.

Singapore

Status: Requires exemption from Compulsory Education for primary-age children.

The Ministry of Education grants exemptions where parents can show a plan meeting or exceeding national standards; exempted children are generally expected to sit the PSLE. This is one of the more demanding regulatory environments, and the application deserves real preparation.

Nigeria

Status: Not restricted at federal level. There is no registration requirement in most states.

Families typically follow a British or Nigerian curriculum at home and enter learners for external examinations such as Cambridge Checkpoint, IGCSE or WAEC.

The four records worth keeping everywhere

Regardless of jurisdiction, these four things satisfy almost every request you will ever receive:

1. An attendance log — dates and approximate hours.
2. A written plan — subjects, sequence, materials, assessment method.
3. Work samples — two or three pieces per subject per term, dated.
4. Assessment results — quiz and test scores over time.

The families who find compliance stressful are almost always the ones assembling records retrospectively. Twenty minutes of setup at the start of the year removes the problem entirely.

Fayferz generates all four automatically from your children's course activity — attendance, plans, graded work and progress reports export to PDF from your parent dashboard whenever you need them.