Taking Your Child Out of School Mid-Year: What Actually Happens

January is the month home education groups fill up. Autumn term has been long, something has not worked, and families who spent September telling themselves it would settle decide it has not. Then someone says you have to wait until the end of the year, or that the school has to agree, and the whole thing stalls for another term.

Almost none of that is true. Here is what actually happens when you take a child out mid-year.

Can I take my child out of school in the middle of the year?

Yes. There is nothing in the law about when in the year you do it. Your duty under section 7 of the Education Act 1996 is to make sure your child receives efficient full-time education suitable to their age, ability and aptitude, “either by regular attendance at school or otherwise”. The word “otherwise” does not come with a calendar attached.

A January start is ordinary. So is a Tuesday in February.

Does the school have to agree?

No, and this is the part that gets misreported most. Regulation 9(1)(f) says the pupil’s name must be deleted from the admission register where a parent has told the school in writing that the child will no longer attend, the day stated has passed, and no school attendance order naming that school is in force.

It is a notification, not an application. Schools sometimes respond by asking you to come in for a meeting first. You can go if you want to. You do not have to, and the duty to remove your child from the register does not depend on it.

When does it actually take effect?

On the day you state in your letter, once that day has passed. If you write on 6 January saying your child will no longer attend from 9 January, the school removes them after 9 January. Until that point they are still a registered pupil, which matters for the next question.

Will I be fined for the days before it goes through?

Penalty notices apply to registered pupils. Once your child is off the register, school attendance fines are not a thing that can happen to you, because there is no attendance to enforce.

The risk sits in the gap. If you keep your child at home for a fortnight first and send the letter afterwards, those absences happened while they were still on roll and can be treated as unauthorised. GOV.UK sets the penalty notice at £80, rising to £160 if it is not paid within 21 days, with a limit of two fines per parent per child in any three-year period. Beyond that councils go to court instead, where the maximum is a £2,500 fine, a community order or up to three months in prison.

The practical lesson is dull but it matters: send the letter first, then stop sending them, not the other way round.

What if my child is at a special school?

This is the real exception. Under regulation 9(2), where a child of compulsory school age is at a special school under arrangements made by the local authority, their name cannot be removed from the register unless the authority consents.

That consent is not a formality to skip, and it is also not a refusal waiting to happen. Ask in writing, keep the correspondence, and give them something to say yes to by setting out what you intend to provide.

What if there is a school attendance order?

If an order naming the school is in force, regulation 9(1)(f) does not apply and you need the council’s agreement before educating at home. A school attendance order is issued when a council believes a child is not receiving an education, and GOV.UK gives parents 15 days to show either that the child is registered at the named school or that they are being educated at home.

If you are not sure whether an order exists, you will know: it arrives formally, in writing, naming a school.

What happens after the school takes them off the register?

Usually a letter from the council’s elective home education team, asking what you intend to provide. That is an informal enquiry, which councils have always been able to make. It is not the new register, which is not in force and has no start date, as covered in our piece on what has changed and what has not.

You are not required to follow the national curriculum, keep school hours, sit exams at the usual ages, or provide a timetable.

Is January a bad time to start?

It is arguably the easiest. Groups and activities restart in January with places free, museums and heritage sites are at their quietest and cheapest midweek, and nobody else is doing anything ambitious either. The idea that you have missed a boat by not starting in September is school logic, and you have just left that behind.

Give yourself the first few weeks to decompress rather than recreating a classroom at the kitchen table. That is the single most common regret of families who did it in a rush.

What should I do first?

• Write the letter. Keep it short: your child’s name, date of birth, class, the date from which they will no longer attend, and that you are taking responsibility for their education under section 7. Our step-by-step guide to deregistering covers the wording.
• Send it to the head teacher, in writing, and keep a copy. Email is fine, and it gives you a timestamp.
• Keep sending them to school until the date in your letter.
• Keep the reply. Whatever arrives from the school or the council, keep it with dates.

Where to check this yourself

• Regulation 9, School Attendance (Pupil Registration) (England) Regulations 2024
• Section 7, Education Act 1996
• GOV.UK: legal action to enforce school attendance
• GOV.UK: home education

For free advice on education and SEND, contact IPSEA, Education Otherwise or your local SENDIASS.