Skip to the content
Peabody HomeschoolEvery homeschool law, plan, record and tool, free

Homeschooling in Wales

The parent's duty, how to leave school, what councils may do and what the 2026 Act changes.

The Welsh Government's statutory guidance says parents must give a child of school age an efficient full-time education suitable to age, ability and aptitude, and need not follow the Curriculum for Wales. Parents give the school written notice. Under the Children's Wellbeing and Schools Act 2026, a register of children not in school starts in Wales on a day Welsh Ministers set.

Checked October 29, 2026.

By Peabody editors.

This is a plain-words summary, not legal advice. Laws change: check your state's current law and its education department before you act.

Parents' duty and freedoms

  • Provide an efficient full-time education suitable to the child's age, ability and aptitude, at school or otherwise.
  • No qualifications are needed to home educate, and you need not follow the Curriculum for Wales, keep to school hours or keep a timetable.

Leaving school

Give the school written notice. The school removes the child from its admissions register and must give the child's name and address to the local authority within 10 school days. If a child at a special school was placed by the authority, the authority must agree before removal.

What the council may do

Councils must make arrangements to identify children of compulsory school age who are not registered at school and not receiving suitable education. They may make informal enquiries, and if suitability is in doubt they can serve a notice asking you to show it, giving at least 15 days. The guidance expects a meeting with the family at least once a year.

The 2026 Act

Sections 37 to 42 of the Children's Wellbeing and Schools Act 2026, including the register of children not in school, start in Wales on a day the Welsh Ministers appoint by regulations. We did not find that day. See the England page for what the register asks of parents.

Sources