What is Flexi-Schooling?
For some children, five full days a week in school is simply too much and this is particularly true for children with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (“SEND”). For them, flexi-schooling - which occupies something of a grey space between full-time school and full-time home education – can work really well, either as a stepping stone (back) into full-time education or on a longer term basis.
Flexi-schooling is a formal arrangement between parent and school in which a child stays on the school roll and attends for part of the week, while the parent takes responsibility for educating them for the remainder. Typical patterns involve three or four days in school and one or two days at home; although every arrangement is agreed individually. Crucially, flexi-schooling is not the same as either Elective Home Education (“EHE”), where a child is taken off the school roll and the parent is responsible for all of their education. It is also not the same as Education Otherwise Than At School ("EOTAS"), where education in a school is deemed inappropriate.
The starting point when considering flexi-schooling is section 7 of the Education Act 1996. This says that parents must ensure their child of compulsory school age (roughly 5-16yrs) receives efficient full-time education suited to their age, ability and aptitude, and to any special educational needs, either by regular attendance at school or otherwise (emphasis added). This means that parents who combine their child’s school attendance with suitable education at other times can still be meeting their duty.
There are some important caveats, however:
There is no right to flexi-schooling. A parent can ask, but it is for the headteacher (acting with the governing body or trust) to decide whether to agree. A school can say no.
It should be parent-initiated. If you feel the school is steering you towards it - perhaps as an implied alternative to exclusion - and this is not something you want, don't feel pressured to agree.
Education on home days is the parent's responsibility. The school does not supervise it, and the arrangement only works if the education you provide, together with school, is suitable and full-time.
Agreement is not permanent. Because flexi-schooling is at the discretion of the headteacher it can be reviewed and/or withdrawn at any time.
Before compulsory school age. Children are not legally required to be in school until the term after their fifth birthday. Under the School Admissions Code, parents of younger children can ask for part-time attendance until then.
In addition to the law, there is also statutory guidance; which is not binding but should generally be followed unless there is a very good reason not to. This makes clear that:
Schools are not obliged to offer flexi-schooling.
Flexi-schooling is different from a part-time timetable.
Time at home under an agreed arrangement is recorded in the attendance register as authorised absence (code C), rather than being treated as unauthorised absence[1].
If your child is struggling to attend because of anxiety, remember that flexi-schooling is one option among several. Others include reasonable adjustments, a time-limited phased return, a review of the support in place, or an Education Health and Care Needs Assessment. It can help to ask the school to set out what has already been tried and go from there.
If you need someone in your corner to help you secure the education your child or young person deserves, contact SEND Advocacy today.
[1] Elective Home Education: Departmental Guidance for Local Authorities (April 2019 ed) and Working together to improve school attendance (July 2026 ed)
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