Homeschooling in England is undergoing a remarkable transformation. With an estimated 150,000 children now educated at home and numbers continuing to rise by 3% each year, more parents are choosing to educate their children away from mainstream schools. Some are looking for a more flexible, personalised approach to learning, while others leave because they feel let down by traditional schooling. Either way, at Highgrove Online School, we help families embrace homeschooling with confidence, offering a world-class British curriculum through GCSEs and A levels. But what’s behind this growing trend, and how can families make homeschooling work effectively?
The Rise of Homeschooling in England
Families across the UK are turning to homeschooling for a variety of personal and practical reasons. For some, traditional schools simply do not meet their child’s needs, whether due to rigid curricula, insufficient support for special educational needs, or difficult social experiences like bullying. Others are drawn to the freedom and flexibility homeschooling offers, seeking a style of education that promotes learning at a level and pace that suits the student and tailors their education to reflect their needs.
Practical factors also play a part, from frequent travel or relocation to changing family circumstances, the impact of VAT added to private school fees in the UK and post-pandemic lifestyle shifts. At its core, homeschooling is often about creating a more supportive, meaningful, and connected learning environment at home.
Many families choose online school for their homeschooled children at GCSE and A level to ensure their children can perform to the best of their ability academically. Key considerations tend to focus on the structured support of a communal online school environment:
- A Structured Curriculum aligned with UK exam boards, which ensures pupils are fully prepared for exams, without gaps in content.
- Expert Teachers will explain complex concepts in a way that can be hard to replicate through self-study alone, and give feedback on areas for improvement.
- Community and social interaction offered via group classes, clubs and societies and house meetings provide a support network of other teens across the world.
- University support and UCAS references are provided through online schools, along with guidance on course selection, applications and interview practice.
- Exam registration and support registering for access arrangements. Some online schools like Highgrove even have partnerships with exam boards, allowing pupils to take their exams from home.
Organising your studies for success
At Highgrove Online School, our flipped learning model, combining interactive self-study with live lessons, keeps students engaged while helping them build lasting friendships in a vibrant online community.
Effective homeschooling thrives on structure and support, both of which Highgrove Online School provides through our academic programme. While we offer bespoke individual tuition, most pupils join us on group classes. For GCSE pupils, we offer small class sizes (maximum 12 students), with around three hours of weekly instruction per subject: two 45-minute live lessons and three 30-minute self-study sessions, with additional one-to-one support if required.
International A level pupils benefit from even smaller classes (maximum 10), and take two 45-minute live lessons and five 45-minute self-study sessions per week, again with additional one-to-one support if required.
Weekly sessions with our Learning Coaches help students manage their time, set goals, and discuss any challenges. Our coaches also help pupils plan for their next steps, whether that’s choosing A levels or a university course, or navigating internships or sports careers.
Why Choose a Leading British Online School?
Highgrove Online School combines academic excellence with flexibility. Our teachers have a track record of excellence built up while leading the world’s top-performing online school, Harrow Online School, with 50% A* grades and 75% A–A* grades at A level last summer. Students can study full-time or part-time, and have a wide-ranging extra curricular programme to provide stretch and challenge. We make sure every student is not only prepared for exams, but also supported on their journey to top universities.
Watch how one family of five made Highgrove part of their home education story:
Ready to transform your child’s education? Contact us to learn how Highgrove can support your homeschooling journey.
