Online School UK Costs: The Real Fees for 2026/27

Last reviewed 5 October 2026. Fees change each academic year, so confirm on the school’s own page before you commit.

How much does online school cost in the UK?

Not every home-educating family wants to build the whole thing themselves. If you are working, if your child is doing GCSEs, or if you have pulled a child out of school and simply need someone to take the teaching off your hands, an online school can be the calmest option there is. It is also the most expensive, so it is worth understanding exactly what you are paying for and whether you need the full package or just part of it. This guide compares the main UK online schools, then covers the lower-cost routes most families actually start with.

How does online home schooling work?

Your child is taught online by an independent school while staying off any physical school roll, so in law you are still electively home educating under section 7 of the Education Act 1996 and the legal duty stays with you. Lessons are either live and timetabled or self-paced with a tutor, the school enters your child for IGCSEs or A levels, and you pay the fees yourself: there is no state funding for elective home education.

What is an online school (and how is it different from home educating yourself)?

When you home educate in the UK you are legally responsible for providing a suitable, full-time education (Education Act 1996, section 7), but you decide how. That can mean teaching your child yourself, using free and paid resources, hiring a tutor, or enrolling them in an online school that provides the lot. An online school gives you:

• A structured curriculum, usually following GCSE, IGCSE and A-level specifications
• Qualified teachers, either in live timetabled lessons or through recorded lessons and marking
• Progress tracking, reports and, at most schools, entry for the actual exams
• In the full-time options, a form tutor, pastoral support and a peer group

The trade-off is cost and flexibility. A full-time live school costs thousands a year and runs to a timetable; a self-paced distance school costs far less and lets your child work when they like, but puts more of the day-to-day structure back on you. Neither is “better”, they suit different families.

What are virtual schools in the UK?

Two different things: online schools that call themselves virtual schools or academies, and the Virtual School every council in England runs for the children it looks after. “Virtual school” means two unrelated things in the UK, so it is worth knowing which one you are looking at.

• Online schools. Some online schools call themselves virtual schools or virtual academies, such as Minerva Virtual Academy and Nisai Virtual Academy. These are the schools compared on this page: you apply, you usually pay fees, and your child is taught online.
• A council’s Virtual School. Every local authority in England must appoint at least one officer to promote the educational achievement of the children it looks after, under section 22(3B) of the Children Act 1989, added by section 99 of the Children and Families Act 2014. That officer is the virtual school head, and the team is usually called the Virtual School. It is not a school you can apply to. It supports looked-after and previously looked-after children in the schools they already attend. Since September 2021 it has also had a non-statutory, strategic role for children with a social worker, which was extended to children in kinship care from September 2024.

If you want your child taught online, the first meaning is the one you need.

UK online schools compared

These are the best known online schools serving home-educating families in the UK. Fees are the latest we could verify and are shown as a starting point only, because every school prices by stage and, in some cases, by subject.

*Starting fees are indicative and change yearly. Exams, materials and deposits can be extra. Confirm current fees with each school.

Deciding between the two best-known names? We compare them head to head: Minerva’s Virtual Academy vs Wolsey Hall Oxford.

Wolsey Hall Oxford

A long-established distance-learning college (founded in 1894) covering ages 4 to 18. Study is self-paced with a personal tutor rather than live timetabled lessons, and you pay per subject, which keeps costs down and makes it easy to do just one or two subjects alongside other home education. It is one of the most affordable and flexible options, and popular with families who travel or want a part-time approach. Fees are priced per subject and start from roughly £1,200 a year depending on the subjects you choose, plus a £95 registration fee. Wolsey Hall fees →

King’s InterHigh

One of the original online schools (founded 2005) and part of the Inspired Education group, King’s InterHigh runs a full timetable of live and recorded lessons for ages 7 to 19, all the way to A-level and the International Baccalaureate. It is a registered independent school offering Pearson Edexcel and Cambridge International qualifications, and it feels the closest to a traditional British school online, with a form group and pastoral structure. Its fees are published openly and are among the clearest of any school here. For 2026/27, on the annual contract, primary (ages 7 to 11) is £4,395 a year, Key Stage 3 (ages 11 to 14) is £5,995, and GCSE (ages 14 to 16) is £7,250. There is also a rolling half-term option at £955, £1,360 and £1,590 respectively, which you can cancel at the end of any half term. King’s InterHigh fees →

Minerva Virtual Academy

A DfE-accredited online school for secondary and sixth-form ages, built around live lessons plus one-to-one mentoring and a strong emphasis on wellbeing and flexibility. It is a premium option: the annual plan is around £8,830 (including a deposit), with termly and monthly plans available, and exams are charged separately. Families tend to choose it for the pastoral support and the mentor relationship rather than the lowest price. Minerva fees →

Cambridge Home School Online

An independent online school teaching in small live classes from around age 7 through to A-level, with a notably academic, exam-focused approach and a good record of progression to competitive universities. Fees are around £10,950 a year (Primary Prep £6,099), among the highest here. If your priority is academic rigour and small class sizes, it is worth a look. CHS fees →

Oxford Home Schooling

A self-paced distance-learning provider for roughly ages 11 to 18, priced pay-as-you-go rather than as a full-time school. A core subscription is around £14.99 a month for online access to the materials, and you then pay only for what you use (roughly £10 per fifteen-minute tutorial and £25 to £30 to mark a mock exam paper). Like Wolsey Hall, it suits families who want to cover one or two subjects to exam level without committing to a full timetable or full-time fees. Oxford Home Schooling pricing →

Nisai Virtual Academy

Nisai runs live online lessons with a strong focus on inclusion and pupils with additional needs, and often works through schools and local authorities as well as directly with families. If your child has SEND, anxiety or an EHCP, or if your local authority is involved, it is worth asking whether a Nisai place can be arranged. Direct fees are on application.

A note on Academy 21 and similar: some online providers (such as Academy 21) mainly deliver alternative provision commissioned by schools and local authorities rather than places bought directly by parents. If your child is on a school roll or has an EHCP, ask the school or LA whether they will fund online provision before paying yourself.

What you actually pay, on top of the headline fee

The advertised annual fee is rarely the whole bill, and the extras are where budgets get caught out. These are the ones we could verify on the schools’ own fee pages on 10 September 2026.

• A registration fee. King’s InterHigh charges £100 once. Wolsey Hall Oxford charges £95 per student, non-refundable.
• A deposit. King’s InterHigh asks for £500 for UK students, and £1,000 for students outside the UK, on its annual contract.
• Subjects beyond the package. The headline fee buys a set number of subjects, not everything. At King’s InterHigh the package is seven subjects and extras are charged at £405 each at primary, £435 at Key Stage 3 and £835 at GCSE on the annual contract.
• Exam entry. Normally not included. You pay the exam centre directly, and the centre sets its own fee on top of the exam board charge. Budget for this separately in the GCSE and A level years.
• Paying in instalments. The monthly or per-term route usually costs more than paying for the year. At King’s InterHigh, primary is £4,395 on the annual contract, while the rolling option is £955 a half term. There are six half terms in a school year, so the same year bought that way comes to £5,730.

One school does not publish a price at all

Wolsey Hall Oxford has no single annual fee to quote. Its pricing is built subject by subject through a fee calculator, with separate primary and secondary fee lists as downloads, so the only way to get a comparable number is to build your child’s actual bundle. Worth knowing before you try to compare it with anyone else on a like-for-like basis. Note too that its GCSE and full A level course fees cover two years of study, not one, which makes a straight annual comparison misleading unless you halve it.

Several other schools quote on application only. Where that is the case we have said so rather than guess, because a made-up figure is worse than no figure.

Before you pay for a full school: the cheaper routes

Most families do not start with a full-time online school, and many never need one. It is worth being honest about the ladder of options, cheapest first:

1. Do it yourself with a proper plan. A structured curriculum, planners and the legal paperwork done for you cost a fraction of a term’s school fees. Our own Complete UK Home Education Starter System was built for exactly this.
2. Add a tutor for the hard subjects. Many families teach most subjects at home and bring in an online tutor only for maths, sciences or exam years, at roughly £25 to £40 an hour. That is often all a confident home is missing.
3. Use a self-paced distance school for single subjects. Wolsey Hall or Oxford Home Schooling for one or two GCSEs, taught and examined, while you handle the rest.
4. Go full-time online only when you want the whole thing off your plate: teachers, timetable, reports and exams. That is when the £4,000-plus schools earn their fee.

The books almost every home-ed family ends up buying

Whichever route you choose, the same revision and workbook staples come up again and again. They are cheap, they map to the exam specs, and they work alongside any school or tutor:

• CGP revision guides and workbooks (KS2, KS3, GCSE) are the home-ed default for a reason. CGP guides on Amazon → or browse revision books at Waterstones →
• Subject workbooks for the year group to structure daily work without planning every lesson. KS3 workbooks on Amazon →
• Past papers, which are free from the exam boards (AQA, Edexcel, OCR) and the single best exam-prep tool there is.

Browse home-ed workbooks on Amazon →

Which online school is best for UK home educators?

There is no single best one, and the honest answer depends on the model you need. King’s InterHigh is the closest to a full-time British school online. Wolsey Hall Oxford and Oxford Home Schooling are the budget and per-subject routes. Minerva Virtual Academy leads on pastoral support and mentoring, Cambridge Home School Online on academic rigour, and Nisai on SEND and local-authority arranged places.

How to choose the right one

Work through these in order and the shortlist usually picks itself:

• Live or self-paced? A child who needs routine and social contact does better with live timetabled lessons (King’s InterHigh, Minerva, CHS). A self-motivated child, or a family that travels, suits self-paced (Wolsey Hall, Oxford Home Schooling).
• Full-time or a single subject? If you only need help with a couple of GCSEs, do not pay full-time fees. Per-subject distance schools are a fraction of the cost.
• Exams and university. Check the school enters students for the actual exams and understand how home-educated pupils get to university. Most online schools handle exam entry for you, which removes a real headache.
• SEND, anxiety or school avoidance. If your child left school because of anxiety or attendance difficulties, ask specifically about pastoral support, class sizes and flexibility. Minerva and Nisai both lead with this.
• Budget honestly. Factor in exam fees on top of tuition, and remember there is no state funding for elective home education, so this comes out of your own pocket unless an EHCP or LA arrangement covers it.

Online schools for home education: FAQ

How much does an online school cost in the UK?

Anywhere from around £15 a month to £11,000 a year, depending on the model. Self-paced options are cheapest: Oxford Home Schooling is about £14.99 a month for core materials, and Wolsey Hall Oxford is priced per subject from roughly £1,200 a year. Full-time live schools cost more: King’s InterHigh from about £4,000, Minerva Virtual Academy around £8,830, and Cambridge Home School Online around £10,950. Exam fees are usually extra. Always confirm current fees on the school’s own site.

What is a virtual school in the UK?

It can mean either of two things. An online school that calls itself a virtual school, where your child is taught online and you usually pay fees. Or a council’s Virtual School, the team led by the virtual school head that every local authority in England must appoint to promote the education of the children it looks after. The second is not a school you can apply to.

Do you still count as home educating if you use an online school?

In practice yes. Your child is not on a physical school roll, so you remain the person legally responsible for their education under section 7 of the Education Act 1996, and you are electively home educating using an online school as your chosen method. The school provides the teaching, but the legal duty stays with you.

Are online schools funded or free?

No. There is no state funding for elective home education in England, so online school fees are paid by the family, unless a child has an EHCP or a local-authority arrangement that specifically funds online provision. Always check with your LA before assuming any funding.

Can children at an online school still sit GCSEs and go to university?

Yes. Most online schools enter their students for IGCSEs and A-levels directly, and universities accept home-educated and online-schooled applicants through UCAS on the same basis as anyone else. The qualifications are identical; only the setting is different.

Which online school is best for an anxious child or one with SEND?

There is no single answer, but schools that lead with pastoral care, small classes and mentoring, such as Minerva Virtual Academy and Nisai, are often a better fit than a large full-time timetable. If your child has an EHCP, ask your local authority whether provision can be arranged or funded before paying privately.

The honest verdict

If you want the whole of secondary taken off your hands, with live teaching and exams sorted, King’s InterHigh is the established full-time choice and Minerva the more pastoral, premium one. If you want flexibility and a far smaller bill, Wolsey Hall Oxford and Oxford Home Schooling let you buy exactly the subjects you need and nothing more. And if you are only just starting out, do not feel you have to spend thousands: a solid plan, a few good workbooks and a tutor for the tricky subjects gets a lot of families exactly where they want to be. Whatever you choose, confirm this year’s fees before you commit, and start with the basics of getting home education set up properly.