Guides
Guides for parents, carers and home educators
Plain-English, UK-focused guides for families whose children attend school as well as home educators. Find practical help with homework, half-term catch-up, free learning and year-by-year planning. The guides and printables are free to use. Some linked providers require their own account or subscription, which we label clearly.
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What your child learns
10 guidesYear-by-year guides for understanding school topics, supporting homework and planning catch-up at home.
What Your Child Learns in Year 1: A Parent Guide
Understand Year 1 phonics, Maths, English, Science and the phonics screening check, with practical ways to help at home.
What Your Child Learns in Year 2: A Parent Guide
Understand Year 2 Maths, English, Science, optional KS1 tests and the phonics recheck, with practical ways to help at home.
What Your Child Learns in Year 3: A Parent Guide
Understand Year 3 Maths, English and Science at the start of Key Stage 2, with practical homework and catch-up support.
What Your Child Learns in Year 4: A Parent Guide
Understand Year 4 Maths, English, Science and the multiplication tables check, with practical homework and catch-up support.
What Your Child Learns in Year 5: A Parent Guide
Understand Year 5 Maths, English and Science, with practical homework, catch-up and upper-Key-Stage-2 support for families.
Year 6 SATs Papers: What Your Child Learns
A practical Year 6 SATs and learning guide with direct routes to Maths, English and Science papers, skill practice and checked resources.
What Your Child Learns in Year 7: A Parent Guide
Understand Year 7 Maths, English and Science, secondary-school transition, homework and catch-up, with checked topic resources.
What Your Child Learns in Year 8: A Parent Guide
Understand common Year 8 Maths, English and Science foundations, with practical motivation, homework and catch-up support.
What Your Child Learns in Year 9: A Parent Guide
Understand common Year 9 learning and GCSE options in England, with practical questions for subject choices, homework and catch-up.
What Your Child Learns in Year 10 and GCSE: A Parent Guide
A practical Year 10 and GCSE guide to Maths, English, Science, exam-board context, homework, revision and checked topic support.
Getting started
6 guidesPlain-English starting points for families exploring home education.
How to Home Educate for Free in the UK
How to home educate (homeschool) for free in the UK: the law in England, genuinely free resources, honest costs, and a year-by-year starting point.
What Is Unschooling? A Plain-English UK Guide
What unschooling is, how it differs from structured home education, where it stands in English law, what a day can look like, and a balanced view.
Unschooling vs Home Education vs School-at-Home
Unschooling vs homeschooling in the UK: how unschooling, structured home education and school-at-home differ, what the law says, and how to choose.
Deregistering From School in England: How It Works
How school deregistration works in England: written notice, the date condition, special-school and attendance-order exceptions, and a blank letter.
Do I Need to Register to Home Educate in England?
Checked 24 August 2026: you do not need permission to home educate in England, and the 2026 Act's register duties are not yet in force. What the law says.
Home Educating on Universal Credit: A Practical Guide
Home educating on Universal Credit: an honest zero-cost setup, the free resources that carry it, community that helps, and where to get official answers.
When they’re stuck
6 guidesPractical help for homework, difficult topics and half-term catch-up.
Free Homework Help and Half-Term Catch-Up for UK Children
Find free homework help and checked catch-up resources for UK school children, with videos, lessons and practice organised by year and topic.
Child Struggling With Reading in Year 2? Start Here
Practical, non-diagnostic steps for helping a Year 2-aged child with reading, plus signs that it may be useful to ask for more support.
Child Struggling With Maths in Year 4? Start Here
Why Year 4 maths bites, how to find the actual gap, and how to help at home with checked resources by format — video, worksheet or practice.
Child Struggling With Maths in Year 6? A Calm Plan
A calm, practical plan for a child struggling with maths in Year 6: what SATs do and don't mean, finding the real gaps, and checked resources by format.
Free Year 6 SATs revision: a practical plan
Plan Year 6 SATs revision with free past papers, topic checklists and a printable planner. Check what the tests cover and choose a manageable starting point.
A Kinship Carer's Guide to Helping With School Work
Practical help for kinship carers and grandparents supporting a child's learning: tonight's homework, today's teaching methods, and checked resources.
Topic explainers
2 guidesPlain-English curriculum guides with direct routes into checked learning resources.
Science Investigation Skills: A Parent Guide for KS2 and KS3
Help children plan science investigations, choose variables, record results and evaluate evidence with a clear KS2 and KS3 parent guide.
Solids, Liquids and Gases in Year 4: A Parent Guide
Understand Year 4 states of matter, common misconceptions, safe home activities and checked videos, lessons and worksheets for KS2 science.
Evidence and planning
1 guideCurrent evidence and careful context for family learning decisions.
Home Education Statistics in England
Current home education statistics for England, with DfE term-by-term figures, local-authority data, methodology notes and honest caveats.
More guides
18 guidesFurther practical guides from TheLearnDen Editorial Team.
Applying for a Secondary School Place When You Home Educate
How home-educating families in England apply for a Year 7 place: your own council, the 31 October deadline, and why applying does not end home education.
Choosing Year 6 maths SATs books: workbook, arithmetic or practice papers?
Compare workbooks, arithmetic books and practice papers for Year 6 maths SATs in England, with free alternatives and questions to ask before buying.
Classification Keys in Year 4: What They Are and How to Use Them
What classification keys are, how Year 4 children use them in science, and a worked minibeast key you can print and try at home.
GCSE Exam Dates 2027: Timetable for the Summer Series
GCSE written exams in 2027 run from Monday 10 May to Friday 18 June. Core subject dates, start times and the contingency day, from the published timetables.
Taking GCSEs as a Private Candidate: 2027 Dates and Deadlines
Planning GCSEs as a private candidate in 2027? Check the 21 February entry deadline, centre fees, access arrangements and subject requirements.
GCSE Results Day 2027: Date, Times and What Happens
GCSE results day 2027 is Thursday 19 August. When schools get results, when grade boundaries appear, the A-level date, and what to do next.
GCSE Results Day: Resits, Functional Skills and What to Do Next
What grades 3, 4 and 5 mean for college, how November resits and private entry work, and when Functional Skills is the better route.
KS1 SATs 2027: are the Year 2 tests optional?
KS1 SATs are optional in England in 2027, with May the recommended test period. See what schools can choose and what to ask your child’s teacher.
KS2 Phonics and Sentence Support: A Guide for Parents and Teachers
A guide for England: distinguish KS2 decoding, fluency, spelling and sentence difficulties, discuss support with school, and find free practice.
Free KS2 Revision: A Practical Guide for Years 3 to 6
Use a calm 15-minute KS2 revision routine, year-by-year topic links and free subject resources for children in Years 3 to 6 in England.
Lines of Symmetry in 2D Shapes: The Complete Parent Guide
How many lines of symmetry each 2D shape has, the fold test to check, and the mistakes Year 4 children make most, explained for parents.
Multiplication Tables Check 2027: Dates and Format
The Year 4 multiplication tables check 2027 runs in the two-week window from Monday 7 June. The format, the 2028 window, and free practice.
November 2026 GCSE Resits: Dates, Entry Deadline and Results
November 2026 GCSE English and maths exams run from 2 to 11 November. Check late entries, the age restriction and the updated 13 January results date.
Phonics Screening Check 2027: Dates, Format and Pass Mark
The 2027 phonics check in England starts in the week of 14 June. Check the format, what results mean and why the threshold must be checked each year.
Primary Literacy Glossary for Parents, in Plain English
Phoneme, fronted adverbial, expanded noun phrase, SPaG: common primary literacy terms explained in plain English, with year groups.
SATs dates 2027: KS2 test week and timetable
Check the confirmed KS2 SATs timetable for 10–13 May 2027 in England, the published 2028 test week and what to ask your school if a test is missed.
SATs results 2027: release date and scaled scores
Schools receive KS2 SATs results from 6 July 2027. Find out when families hear, how scaled scores work and which questions to ask your child’s teacher.
School Application Deadlines and National Offer Day 2027
Secondary applications for September 2027 close on 31 October 2026; offers arrive on 1 March 2027. Primary: apply by 15 January, offers 16 April.
Interactive tools
1 toolShort, free activities children can use on a phone, tablet or classroom whiteboard.
Free KS2 grammar games
Practise repairing, expanding and joining sentences with four interactive activities, plus a plain-English clauses and conjunctions guide.
Printables
3 printablesUse these checklists on screen or print them for a simple year-by-year view.
Term checklists by year and subject
Every topic your child learns in each year and subject, as a printable tick list. Each topic links to checked resources, with provider access requirements shown clearly.
School Deregistration Letter Template (England)
A free school deregistration letter template for England, with a clear date, an applicability check and links to the current rules.
Year 6 SATs countdown planner
Plan Year 6 SATs revision with twelve weekly rows, space for a focus and notes on progress. Print the planner or save it as a PDF from your browser.
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