Home schooling statistics

At 31 December 2019, there were 6072 children in 3808 households registered for home schooling in Victoria.

The number of children registered for home schooling in Victoria is growing gently year-by-year.

We register children for home schooling in Victoria under the Education and Training Reform Act 2006 and the Education and Training Reform Regulations 2017.

There is no national register for home schooling. Each state and territory has its own registration procedures. 

Home schooling registration in Victoria

Graph 1: Number of home schooling registrations and households with at least one child registered

2015: 4461 students, 2742 households; 2016: 4743 students, 3006 households; 2017: 5647 students, 3568 households; 2018: 5742 students, 3525 households; 2015: 6072 students, 3808 households

Home schooling registrations grew 5.7 per cent in 2019. 

This means the ratio of registered children per household has been consistent over the last five years. 

New home schooling regulations commenced in 2018. Recent growth began in the years preceding the new regulations.

Graph 2: Applications for home schooling, 1 January - 31 December 20191882 submitted, 1788 approved, 24 refused. 1 January - 31 March: 559 submitted, 447 approved; 1 April - 30 June: 363 submitted, 356 approved; 1 July - 30 September 2019: 430 submitted, 443 approved; 1 October - 31 December: 530 submitted, 542 approved.

In 2019, we received 1882 applications for home schooling. We assessed and approved 1788 applications. At the end of the reporting period, we were still working with some families to understand their needs and finalise their applications.

For more data about applications, registrations and reviews in 2019, see:

Home schooling students

Graph 3: Age of Victorian children registered for home schooling at 31 December 2019Age 5: 175 students (2.9%); Age 6: 455 students (7.5%); Age 7: 503 students (8.3%); Age 8: 570 students (9.4%); Age 9: 546 students (9.0%); Age 10: 609 students (10.0%); Age 11: 579 students (9.5%); Age 12: 546 students (9.0%); Age 13: 544 students (8.9%); Age 14: 520 students (8.5%); Age 15: 476 students (7.8%); Age 16: 315 students (5.2%); Age 17: 188 students (3.1%); Age 18: 57 students (0.9%)

Children of compulsory school age (6-17 years) must either be enrolled in a school or be registered with us for home schooling. 

We register five-year-olds who turn six in the year their home schooling commences. 

Although children can be registered for home schooling until they turn 18, the number of home schooled children decreases in the senior secondary age group. This may be because they transition to other educational pathways. Children who are home schooled cannot be awarded a secondary school qualification, such as the VCE or VCAL or International Baccalaureate. These qualifications can only be awarded by a registered school or education provider. 

Graph 4: Gender of children registered for home schooling in Victoria at 31 December 201952.2% male, 47.7% female, 0.1% self described(a)

Male participation in home schooling is slightly higher than female. 

(a) This information is collected at the time of registration. We added an option for self-described gender to the home schooling registration form in 2019.

Home schooling households

Chart 1: Location of home schooling households at 31 December 2019 compared to location of Victoria's general population

Home schooling households: 53% Greater Melbourne area, 47% Rural and Regional Victoria; General population (b): 76% Greater Melbourne Area, 24% Rural and Regional Victoria (b): Australian Bureau of Statistics, 2016

Around half of Victoria's home schooling households are located in rural and regional areas.

A higher proportion of home schooling households are located outside Melbourne compared to the general population. 

Within Melbourne, many home schooling households are in the outer suburbs where there are large numbers of young families.

For previous years' home schooling statistics, see: