Homeschooling in Virginia? Here’s your plan.

Virginia's framework is moderate in regulation and flexible in content. The law does not specify required subjects. Your annual notice includes a description of the curriculum, which the statute limits to a list of subjects to be studied during the coming year, plus evidence that you meet one of the four options. There is no minimum instructional time and no required hours or days for home instruction. Your accountability comes through the annual evidence of progress: a composite score in or above the fourth stanine on any nationally normed standardized achievement test (or an equivalent score on the ACT, SAT, or PSAT), or an evaluation or assessment the division superintendent determines shows adequate educational growth and progress, such as an evaluation letter from a person licensed to teach in any state or a person with a master's degree or higher in an academic discipline, or a report card or transcript from a college, college distance learning program, or home-education correspondence school.

Virginia's compulsory attendance law covers a child who will have reached the fifth birthday on or before September 30 of the school year and has not passed the eighteenth birthday. If your child will not have reached the sixth birthday by September 30 and you feel your child is not ready, you may notify the school board and delay attendance for one year.

Virginia law also protects your privacy: a division superintendent or local school board may not disclose information you provide for home instruction or the religious exemption to the Department of Education or anyone outside the division without your written consent.

You can provide home instruction under Va. Code 22.1-254.1 if you meet any one of four options. Option I: you hold a high school diploma. Option II: you are a teacher of qualifications prescribed by the Board of Education. Option III: you provide your child with a program of study or curriculum, which may be delivered through a correspondence course, a distance learning program, or in any other manner. Option IV: you provide evidence that you are able to provide an adequate education for your child. All four options share the same August 15 notice and August 1 progress requirements. The religious exemption under 22.1-254(B)(1) is entirely separate: a school board shall excuse a pupil who, together with the parents, is conscientiously opposed to school attendance by reason of bona fide religious training or belief. The request goes to the local school board, and the statute sets no annual renewal or deadline, so confirm the process and any ongoing expectations with your school board. Choose the pathway that fits your situation.

Under-6 exemption. Children under age 6 as of September 30 of the school year are exempt from the annual progress requirement.

Part-time public school courses. Virginia law contemplates home-instructed students enrolling in public school courses on a less than full-time basis. Ask your school division what is available.

AP, PSAT, and PreACT. School boards must make Advanced Placement, PSAT/NMSQT, and PreACT exams available to home-instructed students and set a registration date. Ask your division for its deadline.

Evidence of progress. If you do not provide evidence of progress, the program may be placed on probation for one year. You then file evidence of your ability to provide an adequate education and a remediation plan with the division superintendent. If the plan is accepted, home instruction continues for the probationary year. If you disagree with a superintendent's decision, you may appeal within 30 days to an independent hearing officer.

IEP and special needs. Under Virginia's special education regulations (8VAC20-81-150), home-instructed students are treated as parentally placed private school children. A child designated to receive services gets a services plan, which is not the same as a full IEP. Contact your school division to ask what is available.

High school. Prepare a transcript with courses, grades, and credits for college applications.