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Join when you’re ready.
Free guides for UK home-educating families — written by people who’ve been there. No sign-up required. Browse before you commit.
The essentials, in one place
The guides most new families need first, gathered up front so you can begin without combing the whole library. Some are unique to Foundations; others are surfaced from their full category — the same guide, one page, two places to find it.
What to do, what to skip, and what you genuinely don’t need to have figured out yet — everything that matters in your first month.
Why deschooling matters, how long it takes, and how to build a structure that works without recreating school at home.
Section 7, LA enquiries, School Attendance Orders, and SEN & EHCPs — the English framework without the jargon.
s.30 Education (Scotland) Act 1980, UNCRC in law, consent to withdraw, and a collaborative LA relationship.
ALN not SEN, IDP not EHCP, Estyn not Ofsted. Curriculum for Wales exists — you are not required to follow it.
Royal Assent April 2026. What is in force now, what requires secondary legislation, and what it means for home educators.
Charlotte Mason, Montessori, unschooling, eclectic — an honest tour of home-education philosophies.
Why the concern exists, why the evidence points elsewhere, and what the social life of a home-educated child actually looks like.
Get out into the world
Why home education works best as a community endeavour, and how to build the network of people, places, and connections that make it sustainable.
How home education works best when it uses the world as a classroom — and the practical case for getting outside, visiting places, and learning on location.
Why context beats curriculum, the three scales of project any family can run, and how LifeLearn coordinates the community-scale ones no family could arrange alone.
🚀 Looking for real-world learning?
Child-led projects and Into Industry visits are things you do, not guides you read.
⚖️ L · Legal
The legal framework.
Deregistration law, safeguarding rights, Legal Compass guides, and the Wellbeing Act 2026 — four nation-specific sets covering everything before, during, and after leaving school.
📅 Mostly live · more coming July 2026What the law says about home education and safeguarding in England — why deregistration does not trigger child protection, and how to respond if contacted.
Every provision — what is in force now, what requires secondary legislation, the registration scheme timeline, and what it means for each nation.
🚀 P · Pathways
What comes after.
Eleven guides for the years after home education — qualifications, college, work, university, business, and the paths that don’t fit into a single box. All built specifically for home-educated young people.
📅 Launching July 2026How home-educated young people access DofE — licensed providers, four sections, and what counts as volunteering and skill.
Sixth-form, FE colleges, and access programmes — how home-educated young people transition into formal education after 16 without a school behind them.
How apprenticeships work in the UK, who is eligible without traditional qualifications, and what the application looks like without a school referee.
Foundation years, Access to HE diplomas, portfolio entry, mature student routes, and how universities assess non-traditional applicants.
How to document home-education learning in a way that is readable, credible, and useful — for colleges, employers, and universities.
How to write a first CV when you have no school grades, no work experience, and no institutional references — what you do have, and how to present it.
How to approach job, college, and university applications as a home-educated candidate — what to expect, prepare, and how to answer questions about your education.
How to find, arrange, and record work experience without a school coordinator — and how to make the most of it when you get there.
What counts as meaningful volunteering for college applications, DofE, CVs, and UCAS — and how to find opportunities that match your child’s interests.
Practical steps for a young person starting a business in the UK — legal structures, tax, what you need, and how to make it count.
For young people — and the parents of young people — who don’t have a plan. Navigating the gap between home education and whatever comes next.
GCSEs and formal qualifications
The real cost as a private candidate, how to find a centre, key deadlines, the government’s position on free exams, and why most home educators choose iGCSEs.
What’s actually examined, how grading works, how to enter as a private candidate, and what good preparation looks like.
What’s examined in both English GCSEs, the speaking complication for home-educators, and when an IGCSE alternative serves you better.
Organic farming content that maps to home-ed projects, the coursework complication, and why home educators often lead school pupils on this qualification.
What Functional Skills are, how they compare to GCSEs, which colleges and employers accept them, and how home-educated students access them.
How home-educated young people attend college from 14, what courses are available, how funding works, and how to apply without a school behind you.
AQA vs Edexcel vs Cambridge iGCSE — content differences, coursework, exam entry, and which route most home educators choose.
Full comparison of GCSE and iGCSE English pathways — why the speaking endorsement creates complications, and which routes avoid it.
WJEC, Level 2 Food Safety, hospitality qualifications, and how food-focused home educators access formal recognition.
Know your rights, keep your records
Specific needs and finding providers
What actually changes when a SEN child starts being educated at home — why so many families see significant differences in weeks.
What happens to your child’s EHCP when you home educate — LA continuing duty, annual reviews, ceasing and refusing to cease, and using the EHCP in your provision.
For families where school caused harm. How to approach home education as a therapeutic environment — pacing, deschooling, sensory needs, and building trust before curriculum.
Find DBS-checked, insured, parent-reviewed home-ed providers across the UK — tutors, classes, workshops, and project leaders.
Project briefings
🚀 Pilot projectWater Purification Plant Tour
A pre-visit briefing for families joining LifeLearn’s first Into Industry pilot. Six stages, five sciences, one morning.
Read the briefing →More briefings coming
Into Industry visits are being planned across the UK. Briefings are published here for registered families.
See upcoming visits →The whole library,
almost complete.
Legal, Pathways, Qualifications and SEN guides — for all four UK nations — are landing across July. Create a free account and we’ll tell you the moment each one goes live.
