VA

How to Start Homeschooling in Virginia (2026)

Virginia allows home instruction under section 22.1-254.1 of the Code of Virginia, which requires an annual notice of intent and annual evidence of academic progress. The Code also preserves the excuse from school attendance by reason of bona fide religious training or belief.

Legal framework

Section 22.1-254.1 of the Code of Virginia makes instruction of children by their parents an acceptable alternative form of education when the section's requirements are satisfied. A parent of a child who will have reached the fifth birthday on or before September 30 of the school year and who has not passed the eighteenth birthday may elect to provide home instruction if the parent (i) holds a high school diploma; (ii) is a teacher of qualifications prescribed by the Board; (iii) provides the child with a program of study or curriculum, which may be delivered through a correspondence course or distance learning program or in any other manner; or (iv) provides evidence that he is able to provide an adequate education for the child. The parent annually notifies the division superintendent in August of the intention to instruct the child and provides a description of the curriculum, limited to a list of subjects to be studied during the coming year, and evidence of having met one of those criteria; the annual notice is due no later than August 15. By August 1 following the school year, the parent gives the division superintendent either evidence that the child attained a composite score in or above the fourth stanine on a nationally normed standardized achievement test (or an equivalent score on the ACT, SAT, or PSAT) or an evaluation or assessment that the division superintendent determines to indicate an adequate level of educational growth and progress, such as an evaluation letter from a person licensed to teach in any state or a person with a master's degree or higher in an academic discipline, or a report card or transcript from an institution of higher education, college distance learning program, or home-education correspondence school. Section 22.1-254.1(D) separately preserves the excuse from attendance for bona fide religious training or belief under section 22.1-254.