Getting Started
Can I Get Funding to Home School My Child?
Apr
Many parents who have just heard about homeschooling but don’t know about the details often ask this question. Before expanding our discussion, we would like to present a short answer. No, you don’t get any funding to home school your child. Deciding to home school your child does not give you access to any particular grant or fund from the government. In other words, your finances will remain the same before or after starting homeschooling, and there will be no monetary assistance from the government in the UK.
Table of Contents
Why There Isn’t Any Government-Sanctioned Funding for Homeschooling?
The UK government is responsible for providing free education to pupils through state schools. However, if any parent opts for private school or homeschooling, it is entirely their decision where the government doesn’t owe anything to them. Also, homeschooling is not supported by any branch of the education ministry. Therefore, there are no funds allocated for any homeschooling activity at any level.
Another reason homeschooling families don’t get any funding is that this education model is not considered expensive. To begin with, you don’t need to acquire any new place to start homeschooling. It is carried right from home. Moreover, parents and guardians conduct the homeschooling classes and sessions, which means no tuition fee to pay to anyone. Then, the majority of resources for homeschooling are also available for free. Even the material that is not free comes at a small cost.
Parents only have to spend on stationery supplies to educate their children through homeschooling. In case a child reaches the GSCE exams age, parents need to get the child registered as a private candidate and have to pay an exam fee somewhere between 30 and 50 pounds (per exam).
The cost of homeschooling is not too much for a family, and there is no active support in the legislature or outside for commencing homeschooling funding.
Homeschooling is on the rise; the government might set up a desk for this parallel education system and allocate funds for it.
While we are discussing homeschooling funding, let’s also answer some other relevant and recurring questions.
Can Parents Claim Benefits If They Homeschool Their Child?
No, you can’t claim any benefit just because you homeschool your child. You will remain entitled to the same benefits as before, even after removing your child from school and starting their homeschooling. You don’t get financially penalised for removing your child from the school, and you don’t get any benefit for beginning homeschooling.
Is There Any Effect on Tax Credits with Homeschooling?
Your tax credits have nothing to do with your decision to start homeschooling. Your tax credits outlook will only change if homeschooling leads you to change the job that affects your income. Otherwise, if you have the same income sources and are falling in the same tax bracket, you can’t expect any credit change only based on your homeschooling routine.
Are There Any Grants for Homeschooling?
As mentioned earlier, the government is not liable to pay anything to homeschooling families. Therefore, there is no grant allocated for homeschooling on any government and administrative level. However, if someone is removing a child from a school due to its abysmal condition, they might receive a homeschooling fund. We can find a precedent for such situations from the past. In 2009, a group of parents was granted over 10,000 pounds by the local government to take care of their homeschooling finances. Those parents refused to send their children to the local school that failed to provide quality education.
Nonetheless, some non-government avenues provide grants for homeschooling. Grants are awarded to deserving families. Different organisations and entities that provide those grants have other criteria to approve those homeschooling funds.
Where to Find Homeschooling Funds?
Organisations that fund educational projects and individual cases are the only places where homeschooling families can secure funding. These are some places where you can try your luck.
While applying for funding for homeschool, these are some factors you need to consider.
Your Financial Situation
The majority of grants and funds for any education are awarded based on the student and their guardians’ financial state. The same is applied to any application for homeschool funding. If you think you are tight on finances and need a grant to homeschool your child, write a persuasive application to the funding body and explain your situation to them. If your situation commands financial assistance, you might get it, even if it is for homeschooling.
How Old Is Your Child
Generally, organisations that provide funds for educational support choose older students over younger ones. For instance, if your child is at the secondary school level, you have better prospects of getting a fund than a family with a homeschooled child from the primary level.
Is There Anyone More Deserving
No matter how deserving you consider yourself, there might be many families more deserving than you for the educational funds and grants. People approving those grants also shortlist the successful recipients of the funds based on absolute grounds. Your fund application might not get entertained despite your best efforts to make a case for getting the fund if there is someone more deserving waiting in line.
Conclusion
The above discussion makes it clear that there is no dedicated funding available for homeschooling. Also, acquiring funds from private avenues is quite tricky because of many deserving candidates from all across the educational spectrum.
Instead of seeking grants, a good option is to make your homeschooling routine as cost-effectively as possible. For this, you should refer to a list of online sources we have shared time and again in our posts. For any guidance or teaching resources for your homeschooling activity, feel free to contact the Home Education Shop.
We provide digital information and resources for parents or guardians who are either home educators or are thinking of educating their children at home.
