Virginia homeschool law

Notice, days or hours, subjects, testing and records, in plain words, with the source for each.

This is general information, not legal advice; check your state's own page. Laws change, and Virginia's own statute and education department are the final word. The links below go straight to them.

Checked on October 27, 2026 against the sources linked on this page.

What to file in Virginia

File: A notice of intent, each year, with a list of subjects and evidence of one of the four qualifications. §
To: Your division superintendent. §
By: August 15 each year; if you move in or start mid-year, as soon as practicable. §
Keep: No records listed in the statute. The notice and the evidence of progress are what you send. §
Test: By August 1 after the year: a test score in or above the 4th stanine, or an evaluation showing adequate progress. §

Starting this year

By August 15: Notify the division superintendent of your intention to provide home instruction, with a list of subjects for the coming year and evidence you meet one of the four criteria.
If you move in or start after the school year has begun: Notify the division superintendent as soon as practicable, and meet the rest of the requirements within 30 days.

Already homeschooling

By August 15: Notify the division superintendent of your intention to provide home instruction, with a list of subjects for the coming year and evidence you meet one of the four criteria.
By August 1: Give the division superintendent evidence of progress for the year just finished: a test score in or above the fourth stanine, or an evaluation.

Open your attendance record Write the letter Start the Tap Clock, if you want to

What Virginia's law asks you to keep, as tools: Evaluation packet. The same rows for every state: what to file, by state.

Checked October 31, 2026. § = source: Code of Virginia 22.1-254.1, home instruction (General Assembly). Information, not legal advice.

Quick answers

Notice: Notice every yearEach year, notify the division superintendent in August of your intention to provide home instruction, no later than August 15. Include a list of the subjects to be studied in the coming year and evidence that you meet one of the four ways to qualify (high school diploma, teacher qualifications, a program of study or curriculum, or evidence you can provide an adequate education). If you move into a division or start after the school year has begun, notify the superintendent as soon as practicable and comply within 30 days of that notice. Checked October 27, 2026. Source: Code of Virginia 22.1-254.1, home instruction (General Assembly)
Days or hours: No number givenThe home instruction section (22.1-254.1) sets no number of days or hours for home instruction. The general attendance section (22.1-254) says attendance is for the same number of days and hours per day as the public schools, and lists home instruction as one way to meet that section. Checked October 27, 2026. Source: Code of Virginia 22.1-254, compulsory attendance (General Assembly)
Subjects: The law names no required subjects. The yearly notice must include a description of the curriculum, limited to a list of subjects to be studied during the coming year, and the parent chooses that list. Checked October 27, 2026. Source: Code of Virginia 22.1-254.1, home instruction (General Assembly)
Testing or evaluation: A test or an evaluationBy August 1 after the school year, give the division superintendent either (i) evidence of a composite score in or above the fourth stanine on a nationally normed standardized achievement test (or an equivalent score on the ACT, SAT or PSAT), or (ii) an evaluation or assessment the superintendent finds shows adequate growth and progress, such as a letter from a person licensed to teach in any state or with a master's degree or higher, or a report card or transcript from a college, distance learning program or home-education correspondence school. This does not apply to children under age six as of September 30 of the school year. Checked October 27, 2026. Source: Code of Virginia 22.1-254.1, home instruction (General Assembly)
Records: The statute lists no records a parent must keep at home. What goes to the division superintendent is the August 15 notice and the August 1 evidence of progress. The superintendent and school board may not share that information outside the school division without the parent's written consent, other than reporting to the state the number of students receiving home instruction. Checked October 27, 2026. Source: Code of Virginia 22.1-254.1, home instruction (General Assembly)

Who must attend school: A child who will have reached the fifth birthday on or before September 30 of the school year, and who has not passed the eighteenth birthday, must attend a public, private, denominational or parochial school, be taught by an approved tutor or teacher, or receive home instruction under Code of Virginia 22.1-254.1. Source: Code of Virginia 22.1-254, compulsory attendance (General Assembly)
Education savings accounts and vouchers: No program foundWe did not find a state-funded education savings account or voucher open to homeschool families (checked 2026-10-27). Virginia's scholarship foundation tax credit (58.1-439.25 and following) funds scholarships from donations and defines qualified educational expenses as school-related tuition and instructional fees and materials; we did not find that it covers home instruction. Check the Virginia Department of Education's school-finance pages for current rules. Source: Code of Virginia 58.1-439.25, scholarship foundation definitions (General Assembly)

What to do first

Read Virginia's own pages, linked under each row below, so you know what applies to your situation.
Notice: By August 15 each year To: Division superintendent (your local school division).
Plan the year around the days or hours and the subjects below.
Start your records on day one: a simple attendance log, a list of books read and a work sample or two for each subject.
Put the testing or evaluation date on your calendar.

Other legal routes in Virginia

Religious exemption. A school board must excuse a pupil who, together with his parents, by reason of bona fide religious training or belief is conscientiously opposed to attendance at school (22.1-254 B 1). The law says home instruction under 22.1-254.1 does not prevent getting this excuse.
Tutor or teacher. Children may be taught by a tutor or teacher of qualifications prescribed by the Board and approved by the division superintendent (22.1-254 A).
Private, denominational or parochial school. Attendance at a private, denominational or parochial school meets the attendance law. The law says instruction in the home by the parent is not classified or defined as a private, denominational or parochial school (22.1-254 A).

Records to keep

The statute lists no records a parent must keep at home. What goes to the division superintendent is the August 15 notice and the August 1 evidence of progress. The superintendent and school board may not share that information outside the school division without the parent's written consent, other than reporting to the state the number of students receiving home instruction. Whatever the law asks, many families also keep a simple attendance log, a list of books read and a few work samples for each subject; they cost nothing and help if you move or return to school.

Good to know

Who may teach: a parent may choose home instruction if he holds a high school diploma, is a teacher of qualifications prescribed by the Board, provides a program of study or curriculum (which may come from a correspondence course or distance learning program), or provides evidence he is able to provide an adequate education.
If the evidence of progress is not provided, the home instruction program for that child may be placed on probation for one year. The parent then files evidence of ability to provide an adequate education and a remediation plan. If the plan and evidence are not accepted, or progress evidence is not provided by August 1 after the probationary year, home instruction ends and the parent must arrange education that complies with 22.1-254.
A party aggrieved by a decision of the division superintendent may appeal within 30 days to an independent hearing officer.
School boards must make Advanced Placement, PSAT/NMSQT and PreACT examinations available to students receiving home instruction, and must adopt written policies with a registration date for those exams.

Where this comes from

Checked on October 27, 2026. This is general information, not legal advice; check your state's own page, and confirm with your school district or the department before you rely on a date. Something out of date? Tell us and we will fix it.