Guide · For parents
Home education in Northern Ireland: the current rules
Home education is legal in Northern Ireland and there is no statutory register. The law and the body you deal with are different from England's, so English guides and letter templates do not fit.
Last checked 10 November 2026. This is general information, not legal advice. We have relied on the Education Authority's own page and on Home Education Northern Ireland, and have not read the 1986 Order itself.
The law
The parental duty comes from Article 45 of the Education and Libraries (Northern Ireland) Order 1986. The Education Act 1996 and the Children's Wellbeing and Schools Act 2026 register do not apply.
Who you deal with
One body: the Education Authority. It has a single Elective Home Education team for all of Northern Ireland. There are no local authorities in the English sense.
Withdrawing a child from school
The Education Authority says parents write to the school principal to say they are deregistering their child. The school then sends an attendance form to the Education Authority, which keeps a record.
Home Education Northern Ireland, the parent-led support group, says you inform the head teacher and do not need to inform the Education Authority yourself.
If your child has never been to school
The Education Authority's page describes no duty to register. It says a parent who never registered a child at school can still ask it for advice and support.
What the Education Authority does afterwards
- contacts the school to check whether the move needs support
- sends you its guidelines and information on support
- keeps in touch with updates and advice
Its page does not mention home visits or set a frequency for contact.
The guidelines
The Education Authority's Elective Home Education Guidelines followed a public consultation in 2019. They were designed with Home Education Northern Ireland, the Children's Law Centre, the Safeguarding Board and the Department of Education. Ask the EHE team for the current copy.
Special educational needs
The Education Authority keeps obligations towards children for whom it maintains a statement of special educational needs. Ask the EHE team how that works alongside home education in your case.
Contact
The Education Authority's EHE team can be reached at ehe@eani.org.uk.
Will Northern Ireland get a register?
There is none in force, and the 2026 Act does not create one there.