When young people are struggling with full time education in mainstream schools, it can be difficult for families to find out what their options are. Elective home education is one of the options, alternative provision is another.
What are the options for alternative education?
Alternative education is the term used to describe types of education provision that are not “mainstream.” It covers a huge range of providers and the industry is currently unregulated. Alternative provision can include outdoors and even farm based provision for outside learning and therapy, extended work experience, home based online learning, private providers that offer full time provision either onsite or online and anything in between. An alternative education provider must be OFSTED registered if they offer a full time provision or provide for the substantial part of a child’s education but a large number offer part time or short courses that don’t require OFSTED registration. This doesn’t mean they don’t provide a quality service, many do, but they are unregulated so it can be difficult to know.
What alternative provision is available to you varies greatly depending on where you live, which local authority is responsible for your child, if your child has EHCP funding and what their school policies are on accessing alternative provision.
Elective home education
Some families choose to home educate. That means they remove their child from the school roll, and take full responsibility for their child’s education. It's a huge responsibility and not to be taken on without careful consideration. Here are some of the key facts about home educating:
The family takes full responsibility for the child’s learning, that means every subject, what level of education and how each subject is learnt.
If the child is to take exams such as GCSE or A level qualifications, the family is responsible for finding a private exam centre and paying the exam fees for each subject.
The family takes full financial responsibility for any private tutoring, learning resources or learning experiences.
Learning can take place anywhere and at any time, there are no set expectations.
Most families who home educate will want to consider getting expert help for some if not all of the specialist teaching and this can be expensive. Paying for private tutoring and online programmes are a good way of sourcing well qualified teachers but it comes at a premium.
Despite all the challenges, there are benefits to home educating, not least the freedom to study any subject, to whichever level a child wishes or is capable, in any way that suits them. If funds allow, an immersive education full of real life experience, captivating visits to amazing places and following a particular area of interest are all hugely rewarding and beyond what a mainstream school can offer. Families looking for increased flexibility can also benefit from home educating. Learning can fit around sporting and training commitments or travel for example.
Before you commit to home education, there are some alternatives you may like to consider.
Flexi-learning is a commitment entered into by the school and family where an agreement is made by both parties that the family will take responsibility for part of their education and the school for another. For example, a student may attend school for Science and PE teaching because the family cannot provide specialist education in those subjects, but their other subjects will be studied at home. Schools are not under any obligation to agree to this, but families are able to approach their school to discuss this if they feel their child would benefit.
Requesting alternative provision is another alternative to home education. If you have an alternative provision you would like your child to be part of, you can request the school or local authority to consider using it for your child. Again the school and local authority are under no obligation to agree but will usually want to work with you to find the best solution for your child. If your child attends the provision whilst enrolled in school, you will not foot the bill for the provision.
Looking at alternatives to mainstream school can be daunting. Families are often looking during a time of significant stress and pressure. Wanting to do what is right by your child whilst balancing that with financial constraints and your wider responsibilities of work and family commitments can feel overwhelming. The difficulty in getting straight answers and clear facts around what actions you can take can be huge hurdles as well as finding the right person to speak to.
The Phoenix project provides an alternative option in the form of online learning. We are committed to responding to your inquiries in a direct and informative manner. If you are thinking about home schooling by choice and wish to learn more about the assistance we offer and your obligations and entitlements, please feel free to get in touch with us for a discussion.
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