Home education checks
The local authority has a duty to be satisfied that children who are educated at home are receiving a suitable education.
Our checks are carried out in stages. These help us understand your plans, see how home education is working in practice, and keep our information up to date.
Stage 1: Initial information
If your child has recently been removed from a school roll for Elective Home Education (EHE), the school will notify Lincolnshire County Council.
Once this referral is received, you will automatically be sent an email with a secure link to complete the Stage 1 form.
Stage 1 is designed to help you:
- confirm your intention to home educate
- provide an initial outline of how you plan to meet your child’s educational needs
At this stage, we are not asking for detailed evidence. The information you provide helps us understand how you intend to begin home education, including:
- your educational approach
- how you will meet your child’s needs
- the learning resources and methods you plan to use
You will receive a separate link for each child who is being home educated.
Once submitted, your form will be reviewed by the Elective Home Education (EHE) team.
If you have not received your Stage 1 form, please contact us at ehe@lincolnshire.gov.uk.
If your child is not currently on roll at a school, or you are new to Lincolnshire and wish to home educate, please email ehe@lincolnshire.gov.uk so we can register your child and arrange for the Stage 1 form to be issued.
Stage 2: Review
Approximately 3 to 6 months after you complete Stage 1, you will automatically be sent an email with a secure link to complete the Stage 2 form as part of our routine review process.
Stage 2 builds on the information you provided at Stage 1. While Stage 1 focuses on your initial plans, Stage 2 focuses on how home education is working in practice.
This form gives you the opportunity to:
- Explain how home education is working
- Share information about the progress your child has made since starting home education
We recommend including supporting information where possible. A separate link will be provided for each child.
Once submitted, your information will be reviewed by an EHE Adviser and you will be notified of the outcome via email.
If you have not received your Stage 2 form when expected, please contact ehe@lincolnshire.gov.uk.
Ongoing reviews
After Stages 1 and 2 are completed, we will usually contact you every 12 months to update our information, unless there is a change in circumstances.
If the education is found to be unsuitable
If provision is judged to be unsuitable at any stage you will receive an outcome email sating what the next required action is.
If your child is still not receiving a suitable education after this support, we may serve a School Attendance Order (SAO) as a last resort. An SAO means you must register your child at a school or demonstrate that you are providing suitable education.
We will always give parents every opportunity to provide their child with a suitable education. An SAO will only be used when all other options have been exhausted.