Home schooling (EHE) and EOTAS

On this page you will find information and practical advice about educating your child at home (EHE) and about 'Education Other Than At School', known as EOTAS.

Home schooling (EHE)

Home schooling is when a parent chooses to provide education for their child at home instead of sending them to school full-time. This is also called Elective Home Education (EHE).

This means that parents are responsible for the education of their child and for making and funding any suitable arrangements.

Parents should not feel under pressure to remove their child from school to avoid formal exclusion, or because they are having difficulties with their learning or behaviour.

This is known as off-rolling and if you are experiencing this, you should report it to Leeds City Council.

What do I need to do?

If you have made the decision to home school, you do not need to inform the school, but we recommend that you do. The school will then inform Leeds City Council that your child has been removed from their admissions register.               

If you are unsure about whether it is the right decision, you could ask for a meeting with the current school or setting to discuss this. We can help you to prepare for a school meeting.               

If your child has SEND but does not have an EHCP, you could consider whether an Education Health and Care (EHC) needs assessment would before helpful before making a final decision to home educate.               

You can contact the Leeds Elective Home Education (EHE) team by calling 0113 378 5028 or emailing         for more information or to discuss your intention to home educate.               


What if my child has an EHCP?

If your child has an EHCP and you choose to home school, then this means that Leeds City Council no longer has a legal duty to secure any of the special educational provision that is written in the plan.               

You must write to Leeds City Council to let them know of your decision and ask for Section I of the EHCP to be amended to record this.               

Leeds City Council will need to review the EHCP at least once every 12 months to make sure that it’s up to date and that any SEND are being met.               

If your child attends a specialist school or setting and this was arranged by Leeds City Council, then permission must be obtained before they can be removed from the admission register.               

You can contact the SENSAP team by calling 0113 3785 256 or by emailing sensap@leeds.gov.uk to discuss your intention to home educate.               

Education other than at school (EOTAS)

EOTAS is educational provision for children and young people who cannot attend a mainstream or specialist school.

Types of EOTAS

When a school or setting is not suitable for a child or young person, the local authority can arrange an alternative option (sometimes referred to as alternative provision). For example:   

  • Home tutoring
  • Hospital schooling
  • A place at an alternative provision or tutoring centre
  • Virtual or on-line schooling

Medical needs placements

Leeds offers a medical needs teaching service to children who:

  • are aged five to 16
  • are unable to attend their mainstream school due to their medical or health needs
  • have missed more than 15 days of school in the academic year

A team of specialist teachers work across a range of different school settings to teach young people an age appropriate core curriculum. This includes English, Math and Science. Their aim is to make sure young people can continue to access education and allow them to return to their own school.               

Referrals to this service is on the advice of a medical professional who manages the young person’s treatment pathway.               

You can find more information about this service on our medical needs page.               

Useful resources

Leeds Sendiass are not responsible for the content of sites or services offered by third parties.

You can find more links on our Useful SEND resource page.