Last week I wrote a short little 'rambling over coffee' blog post that I had never thought about homeschooling being legal or illegal in England. It just never came to mind. But tonight while reading a story about education, a comment from someone in Germany said that because homeschooling was illegal in Germany, that many people who believe strongly in it are actually 'educational refugee's' who have traveled to the UK or Austria in order to educate their children out of the public school systems because they believe they are so poor.
That led me to look up some of the countries that allow (and don't allow) parents to homeschool. Although there is a much longer list, the easiest to read and the one in a simple form was available on Wiki - and I just thought I'd put the European countries here as those were the ones I was wondering about in particular;
| Country or Region | Status | Statistics | Sources |
|---|---|---|---|
| Albania | Illegal, public education is mandatory without known exceptions. | Virtually no homeschooling* | WP[circular reference][35] |
| Andorra | Illegal, public education is mandatory without known exceptions. | Virtually no homeschooling* | [36][37] |
| Austria | Legal under restrictive conditions, homeschooling is allowed as long as the instruction is at least equal to that of the state school. | 2100 | WP[circular reference][38][permanent dead link][39] |
| Azerbaijan | Illegal, public education is mandatory without known exceptions. | Virtually no homeschooling* | WP[circular reference][27] |
| Belarus | Illegal, public education is mandatory without known exceptions. | Virtually no homeschooling* | WP[circular reference][40] |
| Belgium | Legal under restrictive conditions, Homeschooling is a constitutional right in Belgium. | 500 | WP[circular reference][41][42] |
| Bosnia and Herzegovina | Illegal, public education is mandatory without known exceptions. | Virtually no homeschooling* | [43][44] |
| Bulgaria | Illegal, public education is mandatory. Only children with special needs may be homeschooled under strict government control. | fewer than 100 families | WP[circular reference][45][46] |
| Croatia | Illegal, public education is mandatory without known exceptions. | Virtually no homeschooling* | WP[circular reference][47] |
| Cyprus | Illegal, public education is mandatory without known exceptions. | Virtually no homeschooling* | [48] |
| Czech Republic | Legal under restrictive conditions by law as alternative (for "serious reasons" ) for primary school. National curriculum examinations are mandatory twice a year. | 2 500 families | [49][50][51][52] |
| Denmark | Legal under control of school, as alternative to the mandatory public school system. Inspections are mandatory every year unless special agreements are made. also the inspections are controlled by the local district public school and not a third part inspector. | 349-375 children (2017) | WP[circular reference][53] |
| Estonia | Legal under control of school. Every homeschooled child must be supervised by an authorized school (can be a private school) and pass annual exams. Homeschooled children receive diploma from supervising school. | fewer than 100 | WP[circular reference][54] |
| Finland | Legal as alternative to the mandatory public school system. Written and oral examinations to check on progress are mandatory. | 400–600 | [55][56]WP[circular reference][57] |
| France | Legal as alternative to the mandatory public school system. Inspections are mandatory every year. | 5 063 | WP[circular reference] |
| Germany | Illegal, public or approved private education is mandatory with the only exception being where continued school attendance would create undue hardship for an individual child. | 400 | [58][59]WP[circular reference] |
| Greece | Illegal, public education is mandatory without known exceptions. | Virtually no homeschooling* | [60] |
| Hungary | Illegal, public education is mandatory without known exceptions. From 2019 the law says that every child must be supervised by an authorized school and pass annual exams. [61] | 7673 Children (2017)[62] | WP[circular reference][63] WP[circular reference][64] |
| Iceland | Legal only for holders of teaching certificates, in other cases public education is mandatory. | Unknown | WP[circular reference] |
| Ireland | Legal, homeschooling is allowed by the constitution. | 1100 | WP[circular reference] |
| Italy | Legal, homeschooling is allowed by the constitution. | Unknown | WP[circular reference][65][66] |
| Latvia | Legal under control of school. Every homeschooled child must be supervised by an authorized school (can be a private school) and pass annual exams. Homeschooled children receive diploma from supervising school. | fewer than 100. | [67][68] |
| Liechtenstein | Illegal, public education is mandatory without known exceptions. | Virtually no homeschooling* | [69][70] |
| Lithuania | Illegal, public education is mandatory without known exceptions. | Virtually no homeschooling* | [71][72] |
| Luxembourg | Legal, for primary school age. | Unknown | [73][74] |
| Malta | Illegal, public education is mandatory without known exceptions. | Virtually no homeschooling* | [75][76][77] |
| Moldova | Illegal, public education is mandatory without known exceptions. | Virtually no homeschooling* | [78] |
| Montenegro | Illegal, public education is mandatory without known exceptions. | Virtually no homeschooling* | WP[circular reference] |
| Netherlands | Illegal, public or private education is mandatory, with some exceptions. | 931 children exempt* (2017-2018) | WP[circular reference] |
| North Macedonia | Illegal, public education is mandatory without known exceptions. | Virtually no homeschooling* | [79][80] |
| Norway | Legal under restrictive conditions, homeschooling is allowed as long as the instruction is at least equal to that of the state school. | 400+ | [81]WP[circular reference][82] |
| Poland | Legal under restrictive conditions. Every home schooled child must be supervised by an authorized school (can be a private school) and pass annual exams. Home schooled children received diplomas from supervising school. | About 14,000 children (2017) | [83][81]WP[circular reference][84] |
| Portugal | Legal. Children living longer than 4 months in Portugal must attend school by law. Home education under Portuguese national curriculum only. Mandatory annual exams in Portuguese. | Unknown | WP[circular reference][85][86][87][88] |
| Romania | Legal under restrictive conditions. Children with disabilities, special needs or whose condition does not allow them to be physically present in a school may be home-schooled, under the supervision of an accredited teacher. Foreign Curriculum can be studied, overseen by an umbrella school from abroad. | 500 | WP[circular reference][89][90][91][92] |
| Russia | Legal since 1992, law sometimes ignored. Every home schooled child must be enrolled into a state-licensed school (can be a private school), and does not have to pass annual exams. Home schooled children received diplomas from supervising school. | 50,000-100,000 | WP[circular reference][93][94] |
| San Marino | Illegal, public education is mandatory without known exceptions. | Virtually no homeschooling* | [95] |
| Serbia | Legal. | Unknown | [96][97] |
| Slovakia | Legal, under restrictive conditions (only ill children, or ages 6–10). | Unknown (Virtually no homeschooling) | WP[circular reference][98][99] |
| Slovenia | Legal. | Unknown | [100] |
| Spain | Unknown, as Constitution recognises freedom of education, but national education law stipulates that compulsory education must be met through school attendance. | About 2,000 families | WP[circular reference][101][102] |
| Sweden | Illegal, as of June 2010; supposedly allowed under special circumstances such as student health reasons or family travel, but virtually never approved. | 200 families—half legally | WP[circular reference][103][104][105][106][107][108][109] |
| Switzerland | Legal in about three quarters of the cantons, with many being restrictive to very restrictive. | 200–500 children | WP[circular reference][110] |
| Ukraine | Legal and expressly allowed for in Articles 59 and 60 of Ukraine's Education Law. From 20 August 2019 onwards, further liberalisation of the primary and secondary education comes in force. | 100 families | WP[circular reference][111] |
| United Kingdom | Legal as alternative to the mandatory state school system. | 20,000–100,000 | WP[circular reference][112] |
| Vatican City | No indication for educational laws to exist were found. |