UK Homeschooling Resources 2024
Image Credit: Photo by sofatutor
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There are many reasons why you may be considering homeschooling your child.
Your child may respond better to the freedom to learn at a speed that suits them. Maybe your child has endured bullying, has been excluded from school or has special needs. There are as many reasons to home educate as there are children.
Whatever your reason for home education, you will need as much support as you can.
Here are the best resources for those home educating and homeschooling children in the UK, with information about how to educate at home, free resources for home educators in the UK for KS1, KS2, KS3 and KS4, GCSEs, iGCSEs and A-Level study at home, as well as how to organise the home school day and the legal aspects of home education.
Homeschooling - Where To Begin
- GOV.UK
If you are considering homeschooling your child, the very first place that you should go is the UK government website, which outlines your legal responsibilities with regard to homeschooling your child.
It also includes lots of advice on the national curriculum and any help that you can recieve from your local council.
- GOV.SCOT
Advice for home educators in Scotland from the Scottish Government. Scotland's devolved government is responsible for education in Scotland.
This gives you all you need to know about your responsibilities as a home educator in Scotland
- NIDirect
Northern Ireland's devolved government is resposible for education in the country. The guidelines on home education in Northern Ireland can be found on the Education Authority website.
- GOV.WALES
Wales' devolved government is responsible for education in Wales.
The Welsh government offer a Home education handbook for home educators, which includes information for parents and carers who are educating their child at home and those who are considering doing so.
- The Home Schooling Association
The HSA is a community of home educators which provides UK home school families with opportunities to network, share experiences, and give them a voice to shape the future of alternative education.
It offers free guidance for families considering home schooling. a voice for home schooling families to shape education policy and platform for home schooling families to share best practice
- Education Otherwise
Education Otherwises is a membership organisation that provides support and information for families whose children are being educated outside school.
It also supports any family who wish to take direct responsibility for the education of their children, whether at school or in home education.
- Home Education Advisory Service
HEAS is a national home education charity based in the United Kingdom.
Their aim is to provide good quality advice to home educators in the UK about the legal and practical aspects of home educating, as well as advice on good quality educational materials.
Primary Education Homeschooling Resources KS1 and KS2
- EdPlace
EdPlace is a well established subscription based app which covers English, Maths and Science across the National Curriculum in Key Stages 1 to 4 (age 5-16).
They blend the best online tools with leading resources, which are 100% aligned to the National Curriculum and created by qualified teachers.
- The Maths Factor
The Maths Factor is TV presenter and Maths campaigner Carol Vorderman's maths tuition site which teaches through online videos, fun tasks and tests to build a child's confidence in Maths.
All the topics are matched to the National Curriculum and the site is aimed at children from ages 5 to 11. This aims to give the children a solid grounding in Maths before they reach secondary school.
- SparkleBox
This website has a huge collection of useful downloadable resources which is completely FREE to download. They are aimed at younger primary school aged children.
- Teacher's Pet
This website has unique and engaging classroom content and everything a teacher or homeschooling parent could need all under one roof, with masses of content that matches the National Curriculum and Early Years guidelines.
It has thousands of high quality, downloadable primary classroom resources aligned to the KS1 and KS2 curriculum and the EYFS framework.
- Science Museum Group
The Science Museum has learning resources to support KS1, KS2 and KS3, with contributions from all the museums in the group, which along with London's Science Museum also includes the Railway Museum in York and the Science and Media Museum in Bradford.
There are resources on topics including maths, climate and environment and WonderLab which as experiments, games, quizzes, crafts and more.
- Teach Your Monster
Help you little monster build their confidence with this free educational website focusing on primary reading and maths, funded by the Usbourne Foundation.
It has lots of maths and reading games which can be played on a computor and it is also available as an app for iPhone or Android.
- Twinkl
Twinkl offers a huge range of primary level teaching materials which cover everything from maths and english to science, history, languages, religion, geography, computing and PSHE.
Whilst the main focus is primary school age children they have some resources for students up to A-Level and beyond.
Secondary Education Homeschooling Resources KS3 and KS4
Secondary school may be the time where homeschooled children consider re-entering mainstream education, as they approach GCSE and A-Levels.
However it is possible to study both GCSEs and A-Levels completely online.
- EdPlace
EdPlace is a subscription based app which covers KS3 studies as well as English Language & Literature, Maths, Biology, Physics and Chemistry up to GCSE level and is created by qualified teachers.
They can also help kids in school to prepare for 11+ exams and SATs.
- Neon Edu
Neon Edu offer live online classes, mentoring, quizzes and assessments aimed at children from year 7 right through GCSEs and up to A-Level in Physics, Biology, Chemistry, Mathematics, English, Spanish and French .
They focus on achieving the high grades required for admission to top universities, and also offer preparation for UKCAT & BMAT, Oxford Cambridge MAT, essays and acing university interviews.
- Oxbridge Learning
Oxbridge Learning offer online courses for GCSEs and A-Levels, and have not only the usual subjects but offer some of the more difficult to find A-Level subjects such as Classical Civilisation, Business Studies, Law, Computor Science and History of Art.
Or why not try GCSE Astronomy, Psychology or Sociology? They also have a number of vocational courses in Counselling, Health and Social Care and Childcare amongst others, as well as courses in Sport and Fitness and Writing and Journalism.
- Open Study College
OSC has over 650 distance learning courses. You can choose to study with a printed course pack or by using e-learning courses, with tutor support throughout your course.
As well as GCSE and A-Level courses they offer a range of professional qualifications and certificates.
- King's InterHigh
King's InterHigh is an online school and sixth form college allows pupils to study the British curriculum, in full or in part, from home, anywhere in the world. Children attend online classes of no more than 20 pupils, and there are options to add languages, music, drama and computor science modules.
They offer homeschooling support for parents and guardians who home educate.
- ICSLearn
ICSLearn offers GCSE, iGCSE and A-Level distance learning courses with tutor support.
The subjects are restricted to english, maths and science, but do give the opportunity to study science qualifications that many schools do not offer, such as psychology, human biology and law.
- NEC
The National Extension College offers online study for students aged 13 and over. School aged students recieve extra tutorial support.
You can study GCSEs and A-Levels and some professional qualifications are also offered, as well as courses on creative topics.
- Cloud Learn
Cloud Learn is a dedicated GCSE & A-Level online learning provider, which will also arrange exams for students.
Their philosopy involves harnessing emerging technologies, embedding social platforms and using digitised distance learning materials so you can learn in a format that suits you.
- Oxford Learning College
OLC work with highly respected education partners to provide quality home study courses for A-Levels and Accredited Diplomas worldwide.
You can also study for BTEC HND/HNC courses as well as studying for fast track A-Levels and retakes.
- Wolsey Hall Oxford
Wolsey Hall have courses aimed at home educators from Primary and Secondary school age and right through to iGCSE and A Level to students in the UK and in over 100 countries around the world.
- Duolingo
Language learners around the world of all ages love this free language learning app which gives you the opportunity to learn dozens of languages.
It won't prepare you for a GCSE on it's own, but is an excellent way of reinforcing language learning and widening your child's vocabulary outside of the narrow words taught in the school language curriculum.
Beyond The National Curriculum
Image Credit: Cookie the Pom getting down to some serious studying.
- MEL Science
MEL Science is a science subscription box company that combines hands-on experiments with VR/AR technologies to engage kids in studying science.
Each month kids receive an age appropiate science kit which contains up to seven exciting and safe science experiments curated especially for children of all ages.
For younger kids there are STEM based kits, while for secondary aged students there are physics and chemistry boxes.
- Smithsonian Learning Lab
This US musuem organisation puts the treasures of the world's largest museum, education, and research complex within reach.
It is a free, interactive platform for discovering digital resources to help you understand history, art, culture, and the sciences through inquiry and analysis.
- GoNoodle
Education isn't just about bookwork!
GoNoodle is a US based website which is designed especially for kids (age 4-10) to get moving using Dance, Sports, Exercise, How-tos, Yoga, Stretching, Deep breathing and Mindfulness. Plus they encourage you to get outdoors and have adventures too.
You can also download the GoNoodle App for Android.
- Scholastic Learn At Home
This is a UK focused site from educational book publisher Scholastic, with stories, educational videos and craft activities. There is everything from worksheets and reading lists to arts and crafts projects and advice on preparing for school.
Advice is organised on a year by year basis in line with the national curriculum.
- Storyline Online
Perfect for younger kids, this site streams videos featuring celebrated actors reading children’s books alongside creatively produced illustrations.
Readers include big name celebrities such as Viola Davis, Chris Pine, Lily Tomlin, Kevin Costner, Annette Bening, James Earl Jones, Betty White and dozens more.
- TED-Ed
TED has hundreds of TED-Ed Animations and TED Talks designed to spark your child’s curiosity, along with thousands of other video-based lessons organized by age-level and subject.
They also have lots of useful advice for young people about mental health issues, friendship, time management, problem solving and critical thinking.
Learn Coding
Computors are not going anywhere, and learning coding is both fun and exciting for kids.
Home education is the perfect opportunity for computer-mad kids to learn about coding at a level way beyond anything that they will encounter in a formal school setting, unless they opt for GCSE computing. Here are some places to learn coding, aimed at kids.
- Scratch
Scratch is a free programming language intended for teaching kids coding, provided by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. You can learn how to animate, create music and make a game.
The non-profit Scratch Foundation promotes computational thinking and problem solving skills as well as creative teaching and learning. It encourages self-expression and collaboration and promotes equity in computing.
- Code Kingdoms
Code Kingdoms is a subscription service which teaches your kids how to become coding experts by learning to develop their own Roblox games and Minecraft mods. Starting from an beginners level kids can learn valuable Java and Lua coding skills.
Tutoring
If a child needs one-to-one teaching or support in a particular subject, tutoring may provide a cost effective solution.
- MyTutor
MyTutor is a platform for finding 1 to 1 tutoring, aimed at students from KS2 (7 years old) to A-level.
Offering all the most popular GCSE and A-Level subjects, they work on a pay-as-you-go basis rather than requiring a subscription.
- Superprof UK
Superprof UK is an online platform to help parents and students find private tutors for school subjects and adults to find coaching for anything from languages and musical instruments to fitness and finance.
Mainly aimed at students studying at A-level and beyond.
Higher Level Educational Resources
- OpenLearn
OpenLearn is the home of free learning from The Open University. Your child could find new topic to explore, or dig deeper into something that fascinates them, with a broad range of topics from history, sports, business, languages, the environment, politics and law as well as science, maths and technology.
There are also courses parents may be interested in too, with topics on parenting, teaching and ecucational development.
- Class Central
Class Central has a list of over 600 free online courses from universities around the world. If your child has a special interest in a subject and is beyond school level in their study level they may find something to challenge them here.
Thesubjects listed tend to be focused on science, maths, computers and engineering topics, but there are also courses on art, music and social science as well.
Homeschool and Home Educating Blogs
If you are considering homeschooling, you might be able to get a taste of what you are letting yourself in for with these homeschool bloggers who share their homeschooling journey.
- Home Education in the UK
This UK based Homeschool blog was created by home educator Sue nearly 20 years ago and is still regularly updated with information about UK home education issues and advice.
With a collection of resources and advice up to GCSE level, it is clearly written and covers different home education styles and techniques.
- Free Homeschool Deals
If you are looking for free homeschooling resources this is the place to look.
It is is a frugal living homeschool site with useful ideas for homeschool families throughout the world. As well as thousands of printables, it has articles about keeping the cost of homeschooling to a minimum.
- Simple Homeschool
Simple Homeschool is a multi-contributor US homeschooling blog with articles on how to homeschool, organising your day as well as addressing some of the philosophical aspects of homeschooling.
With a generally encouraging outlook, the study lists and resources are mostly only US relevent but the vibe will resonate with all homeschoolers.
- The Guardian
The Guardian's education section has home education news and regular topical articles about homeschooling, along with articles on a broader range of education topics from babies to higher education.
- Mumtastic Life
Mumtastic Life is a lifestyle and parenting blog with a big home education section by UK blogger Amanda.
If your children are approaching exam time, you might also find our extensive list of free revision resources for 11+, GCSEs and A-Level useful as well.