‘School Anxiety’ Is Top Reason Families Choose Homeschooling

New data from the UK’s largest online learning provider highlights why more families are opting out of ‘bricks and mortar’ education.

Pandemic has made homeschooling a positive and preferred lifestyle choice for many parents.

An analysis of over 1,220 UK based families enrolled with the UK’s largest online learning provider, Wolsey Hall Oxford, has highlighted the key reasons more and more families are opting for homeschooling with nearly a fifth, 18.6 percent, citing ‘school anxiety’ as their number one reason for choosing homeschooling; followed by ‘flexibility, cited by 15.4 per cent.

Wolsey Hall Oxford’s Principal, Lee Wilcock, believes that, post pandemic, the country has entered a new era in education with more families than ever choosing to mirror workplace trends by opting to  ‘educate from home’ rather than attend a bricks and mortar school. He also highlights worrying reasons underpinning this paradigm shift which educators and government are keen to understand and address.

“School anxiety is making life a misery for many children and their families, and it is important to understand and discuss the issues behind it and explore what can be done to help” he said.

“Clearly the question of how to support all the families in this situation with informed assessments and plans is essential, as while homeschooling is transformative for our many students, it is not necessarily an option every family can take up.”

With school anxiety a ‘push’ factor, causing children and parents to explore alternatives to learning in a classroom environment, the ‘pull’ of working from home and flexible ways of living, made possible since the pandemic, is also making homeschooling a preferred lifestyle choice for many parents.

“The 15.4 percent of families citing ‘flexibility’ as their main reason for homeschooling indicates a new and wider acceptance of homeschooling as a lifestyle choice’ says Lee. He continues, “Our course enrolment figures also suggest a third force at work, where families are choosing to supplement school options with online courses, due to a shortage of qualified teachers, and lack of curriculum choices’ ‘ he said.

A Freedom of Information survey carried out by Wolsey Hall last year confirmed there are now over 86,000 children homeschooling in the UK, approaching a sixth the size of the private school population. 

“Students follow the English national curriculum, take IGCSE exams and A levels and win places at university through online learning with Wolsey Hall Oxford, just as others do in traditional schools, but with us they can do it at a pace and place that is best for them. The pandemic opened the doors to flexible office working, and the same is now happening with education.

“I would argue that the dramatic increase in homeschooling is part of the arc of change made possible by the best of new technology and pedagogical approaches we offer. However, with almost a quarter of our new students joining due to either school anxiety or bullying, it is important that traditional bricks and mortar schools address these issues.”

Wolsey Hall is running a webinar coming on School Anxiety on 19^th April at 11am BST.For more information or to sign up, interested parents can attend the webinar at https://wolseyhalloxford.org.uk/homeschooling-for-children-with-school-anxiety/