Most people don’t choose home education. They run out of other options.
Some families home educate by conviction, and that is a good reason. But a great many of the SEND families we meet arrived here differently — after a placement broke down, after months of school refusal, after being told their child was fine when they plainly were not.
If that is you, two things are usually true at once. The decision was right. And nobody has given you any help since.
The questions that follow are almost always the same:
- Am I actually teaching them the right things?
- How far behind are they, really?
- What do I say if the local authority asks?
- How would I even know if this is working?
Those are answerable questions. They just need someone who understands both SEND and the curriculum to look properly.
If you haven’t deregistered yet, pause
This is the part families most often wish they had known earlier, so we will say it plainly even though it may cost us the enquiry.
Deregistering can switch off funded provision
Where a parent makes suitable arrangements to educate their child at home, the local authority’s duty to secure the special educational provision in the EHCP generally falls away. The plan stays. The funded delivery usually does not.
EOTAS may be what you actually want
If school is genuinely inappropriate for your child, the local authority can be required to arrange and fund provision outside school under section 61 of the Children and Families Act 2014. Same child learning at home — completely different duty, and completely different funding.
Special school placements need consent
If your child is on roll at a mainstream school, you can deregister without the local authority’s agreement. If they are on roll at a special school, you need the local authority’s consent first.
Not sure which route fits? Read EOTAS, home education or high needs funding: who pays for each, how flexi-schooling works, and the 2026 ruling that made part-time EOTAS lawful.
This is general information, not legal advice. Before you deregister a child with an EHCP, take free specialist advice from IPSEA or SOS!SEN, or in Kent, IASK (Information, Advice and Support Kent, 03000 41 3000). We are also happy to talk it through on a free call — including when the honest answer is that EOTAS, not home education, is what you should be pursuing.
How we support home-educating families
Whether you are three weeks in or three years in, the work is the same: find out exactly where your child is, build a plan around how they learn, and produce evidence that it is working.
Gap Analysis Assessment
An independent picture of exactly where your child is — learning, cognition, working memory and processing, measured against the national curriculum.
- Identifies academic gaps in English and maths, and why they are there
- Screening indicators for ADHD, autism, dyslexia and processing difficulties
- Carried out in a familiar environment, at your child’s pace
- Full written report, no waiting list
A provision plan you can actually teach from
The assessment tells you where they are. This tells you what to do on Monday morning.
- Targets and strategies mapped to your child’s profile, not a generic scheme
- Sequenced so gaps are closed in the right order
- Written for a parent to deliver, not a classroom teacher
- Reviewed and adapted as your child progresses
Evidence of progress
For local authority enquiries, EHCP annual reviews, or simply your own peace of mind.
- Written progress reporting in professional language
- Demonstrates suitable, full-time, appropriate education
- Suitable for EHCP annual review and tribunal evidence
- Reassessment to show measurable movement over time
Assessment and planning here. Teaching next door.
Education With Lauren does the assessment, the provision plan and the written progress evidence — the things that tell you what your child needs and prove they are getting it.
Tuition With Lauren does the actual teaching — SEND-informed one-to-one sessions across Kent, East Sussex and online, so the same understanding of your child carries straight through. EHCP Personal Budget and EOTAS funding accepted by both.
What happens next
Every one of these is a home-educating family, in their own words.
So pleased we chose Lauren when looking for home education. From being so far behind and now flying through GCSE maths in year 9 is a massive achievement — something I think he wouldn’t have been able to do in a school environment. Lauren made the transition a breeze and my son loves learning again. He comes out every time over the moon. This is the best decision we made.
Well, all I can say this tutor is miles above any other I’ve met!! She has turned my adhd/autistic son around within a few months since being home schooled. He has gone from a child who didn’t want to learn at all, due to his primary school not meeting his needs, to suddenly showing his actual capabilities AND enjoying learning!!
I approached Lauren when looking for a tutor for my son who has SEN and has been home educated for 3 years due to a traumatic time at secondary school. Lauren has the patience of a saint and has been so understanding of my son’s needs adapting sessions and putting strategies in place to unlock him from his mutism. I wish I had found Lauren years ago.
Lauren has been teaching my son for around a year now & the change in him has been nothing short of amazing! Thanks to Lauren he will soon enter back into full time education. Something I didn’t think possible before Lauren entered into his life.