Virginia Homeschool Laws & Requirements

Compulsory School Attendance Age

Virginia compulsory attendance generally applies to children who will have reached age 5 on or before September 30 and who have not passed their 18th birthday.

Parent Qualification Pathways

A parent may provide home instruction if the parent meets at least one of the following:

• Holds a high school diploma • Is a teacher with qualifications prescribed by the Board • Provides the child with a program of study or curriculum, including correspondence or distance learning • Provides evidence that the parent is able to provide an adequate education

Annual Notice of Intent

Parents must notify the division superintendent every year no later than August 15.

The annual notice includes evidence that the parent satisfies one of the statutory qualification pathways and a description of the curriculum limited to a list of subjects to be studied.

A family moving into a division or beginning home instruction after the school year starts must notify the superintendent as soon as practicable and then complete the statutory requirements within 30 days.

Instructional Days and Hours

Virginia's home-instruction statute does not prescribe a separate homeschool-specific daily schedule or annual hour total in the same form as some states. Parents choose the schedule and method of delivering the curriculum.

Required Subjects

Virginia's home-instruction statute does not prescribe one detailed homeschool subject checklist. The parent submits a list of subjects to be studied as part of the annual notice and must provide an adequate educational program.

Annual Evidence of Progress

By August 1 after each school year, the parent must generally provide evidence of academic progress.

Acceptable evidence includes:

• A nationally normed standardized achievement test with a composite score at or above the fourth stanine • An equivalent qualifying score on the ACT, SAT, or PSAT • An evaluation letter from a licensed teacher in any state • An evaluation from a person with a master's degree or higher in an academic discipline who knows the child's progress • A qualifying report card or transcript from an institution of higher education, college distance-learning program, or home-education correspondence school

The annual progress requirement does not apply to a child who is under age 6 as of September 30 of the school year.

Parent Teacher Qualifications

Virginia does not require every homeschool parent to hold a teaching license. Instead, the parent must qualify under one of the statutory pathways listed above.

Curriculum Freedom

Parents may use correspondence courses, distance learning, printed curriculum, online programs, parent-created instruction, or other educational resources.

Graduation

Virginia does not automatically award a public-school diploma for completion of a parent-directed home-instruction program.

Families should maintain a complete high school transcript and graduation documentation and verify postsecondary, employment, military, scholarship, and licensing requirements.

Alabama Church School Services for Virginia Families

Virginia families may choose Alabama Church School for complete curriculum, academic records, report cards, transcripts, diplomas, graduation documentation, and educational support.

A transcript or report card supplied by an eligible correspondence or distance-learning program may be useful for Virginia's annual progress requirement in some circumstances, but families remain responsible for the annual notice and for ensuring any progress documentation satisfies Virginia law.