Thinking about travelling long-term with your children? Ben and Claire share what they learned about deregistering their children from school, what surprised them and the trade-offs every family should understand before making the decision.

Of everything we had to organise before leaving the UK, this was the process we felt least prepared for, and, it turns out, one that even the school itself wasn’t entirely sure how to handle.

How We Deregistered Our Children From School

What we did

We spoke to the school directly. They were honest that they didn’t often deal with this and suggested we look into the process ourselves and come back to them. So we did. What we found was simpler than expected: we needed to formally write to the school, stating the children’s names and the date we intended to deregister them. The school then took care of the rest on their end, removing them from the register and informing the local authority and council.

How We Deregistered Our Children From School

The assumption we carried in, and the reality underneath it

Before we looked into it properly, we assumed that leaving the UK to travel would mean stepping into some version of “official homeschooling”, curriculum checks, a local authority monitoring what we were teaching, that sort of thing. That assumption turned out to be only half true, and the missing half genuinely surprised us.

If we had stayed in the UK and educated our children at home, the education department would have been in touch to understand what home education we were providing and what curriculum we were following. But because we’re not remaining in any one country, we’re moving between them, that oversight doesn’t apply to us in the same way. We’re not under UK home-education law, because we’re not resident under it.

We think this is worth spelling out clearly, because it’s the kind of thing that quietly stops a lot of families from even considering this path: the belief that leaving means either enrolling in an official alternative or being pursued for it. In our experience, it’s more nuanced than that.

How We’re Educating Our Children While Travelling

What our children’s education actually looks like right now

While we’re travelling through Europe, our approach is, honestly, informal, home education on our own terms. We brought resources and materials with us, and the children work through them as and when it suits, without pressure from us. We firmly believe they’re getting a genuine education from the travel itself, from the countries, the differences, the conversations, the unfamiliar, regardless of whether that day includes a workbook.

Further into the trip, we’re planning to explore worldschooling hubs in some of the countries we’ll be visiting, structured communities built specifically for travelling families and their children’s learning. That’s a thread we’ll come back to as it develops.

The Trade-Off Families Should Understand

The bit worth being upfront about

One detail we think it’s important to be honest about, rather than soften: deregistering is not a pause button on your child’s exact place. If we return to the UK and want to put the children back into mainstream school, we’d need to reapply for a place, the same as any other family moving into an area, there’s no guarantee it would be the same school, or the same class they left. It’s a genuine trade-off, not a risk-free door left ajar, and it’s worth any family considering this weighing that honestly rather than assuming continuity that isn’t actually there.

What else is possible, when you check what the rules actually say instead of what you assume they say?

Frequently Asked Questions

Can you deregister your child from school to travel?

In our experience, yes. We wrote to our children’s school requesting deregistration, and the school completed the formal process with the local authority.

Do you have to homeschool if you travel abroad?

Our experience has been that educating our children while travelling looks very different from home educating in one place. We’re combining learning resources with the educational opportunities that travel naturally provides.

Can your child return to the same school after travelling?

Not necessarily. One of the trade-offs we accepted was that we’d need to reapply for a school place if we returned to the UK, without any guarantee it would be the same school.

What is worldschooling?

Worldschooling is an approach to education where travel, culture and real-world experiences form a significant part of a child’s learning. It’s something we’re planning to explore further during our travels.

Is deregistering your child the right decision?

Every family is different. For us, understanding the process properly helped us make an informed decision rather than relying on assumptions.

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Related reading: The Cost of Different: What We Actually Gave Up · The Turning Point: How We Finally Decided to Leave