3. Home schooling registration at a glance

• The requirements for home schooling registration relate to the educational program for the child and records of implementing the educational program.
• The parent is responsible for the educational program for the child – see section 5 of the Guidelines for information about methods and resources.

For further details see section 4.

• A parent or a person with parental authority may apply to NESA for home schooling registration.
• Children can be registered at the beginning of the calendar year if they turn 5 years of age on or before 31 July of that year. Children may be registered up to the age of 18 years and for a continued period, up to 2 years, in order to complete schooling.
• Applications can be made at any time of the year.
• Applications can be made for children with disability and/or additional learning needs
• Application forms are published on the NESA website

For further details see section 6.

• When an application is received, it is processed by an administrative officer and then allocated to an Authorised Person for assessment by home visit. The assessment considers the materials prepared by the parent to support the application. The child is not assessed.
• It may take up to 12 weeks to complete the process from the time of application to receipt of a certificate. However, generally it takes much less time.
• During the home visit, the Authorised Person will review the educational program for the child in discussion with the parent. For renewal of registration, the Authorised Person will review records of the implemented educational program.
• The Authorised Person will recommend to NESA whether the application should be approved and, if so, the period of registration. Most applications are approved. Generally, a shorter period of registration is granted for new applicants.

For further details see section 6.

• Curriculum means the courses of study to be studied. The curriculum for home schooling is the NSW curriculum as provided by the Act and published on NESA’s website.
• The NSW curriculum may be adjusted for children with additional learning needs.

Primary curriculum (Kindergarten to Year 6) – see section 8

The educational program must include:

• English
• Mathematics
• Science and Technology
• Human Society and Its Environment (HSIE)
• Creative Arts
• Personal Development, Health and Physical Education (PDHPE).

Secondary curriculum (Years 7 to 10)

The educational program must include:

• English
• Mathematics
• Science
• HSIE

AND 2 more subjects, as selected by the parent, from 2 different key learning areas to be selected from:

• Creative Arts
• Technology
• PDHPE
• Languages

Some key learning areas such as HSIE, Creative Arts, Technology, PDHPE and Languages have a number of different subject options. A parent can choose to focus on only one or a range of subjects from the key learning area. The selected subjects can change from one year to the next.

For further details see section 9.

Senior secondary curriculum (Years 11 and 12)

The Act requires that the educational program for Years 11 and 12 is based on a pattern of study (selected courses) for Years 11 and 12.

For further details see section 10.

• See section 15 of the Guidelines for information about support groups, examples of home schooling records developed by parents and other resources.
• Also see ‘Support Information’ on NESA’s home schooling webpage.