Homeschooling as a Global trend in 2026.

We discuss why homeschooling continues to become a global trend in 2026, where it is most popular and why parents are choosing to do it.

Global Homeschooling in 2026

Homeschooling is a growing trend in 2026 across the globe, from the US’s 4.3 million home-educated students to the UK’s record surge in interest. This report breaks down where homeschooling is the most popular, which countries show the fastest growth, how much governments spend on education, and why parents are pulling children from schools. The study is based on national statistics or international databases, including the UN, the World Bank, UNESCO, and actual parent conversations.

Where Homeschooling Is Most Popular

The United States has 4.3 million homeschooled children, as this practice is allowed in all 50 states with varying rules.
The UK ranks second with 111.7K students officially registered as homeschooled, and the actual number is likely higher since paperwork isn't required.
Canada sits third, counting around 100K homeschoolers, with each province setting its own regulations.
Russia follows next with 75K children getting education at home with homeschooling being legal and growing in popularity across the country.
France also makes the top 5 with about 63K children getting education at home, despite heavy regulation and annual inspections needed.
The homeschooling trend is popular all around the world, with South Africa, Poland, Indonesia, Brazil and Australia all making the top 10 countries where home education is the most popular.

Rising Trend of Homeschooling

British parents enquire about homeschooling more often this year, with online interest growing by 118% in the last 3 months, one of the biggest changes in the study.
France and Chile stand out with the biggest rise in online interest, with home education being looked up 152% and 266% more often, respectively.
Canada and Poland experienced a similar rise in parental interest, around 47-48%.
The United States shows a smaller rise in online interest in homeschooling at 31%, but it can be attributed to the fact that education at home is already a widespread practice in the country.
New Zealand and South Africa’s parents are less likely to look for related information online, with queries dropping 1% in New Zealand and 14% in South Africa.
Despite ranking low when it comes to implementing homeschooling practices, Spain and Portugal are more interested in this part of the education system in 2025. The online queries grew by 113% in Spain and by 233% in Portugal in the last 3 months.

Governmental Spending on Education

The US spends the second-most on education, 5.4% of its GDP, but still trails behind in the actual education quality (with an education index of 0.909 and ranking 15th in the world).
The UK government allocates 4.9% of its GDP towards education, but the quality of the educational system ranks higher than in the US, Canada, or Australia.
South Africa has the highest budget on education among top-ranking homeschooling countries, with 6.7% of the country’s GDP.
New Zealand and Australia fund education in the same way, distributing 5.2% of their GDP to educational institutions.
Homeschooling is popular both in countries that rank high for the quality of standard education (Australia, the UK, Canada) and in regions that are rated lower (South Africa, Russia, Brazil).

Legal Barriers Don't Stop Everyone

Several countries ban or heavily restrict homeschooling, yet families still do it:

Germany Germany essentially prohibits homeschooling, with just 800 students across the country, the lowest rate globally.
Spanish courts uphold mandatory school attendance, yet 2,000 families homeschool.
South Korea officially bans the practice, but enforcement stays lax, allowing 2,000 families to homeschool their children.
China deems it illegal for citizens without approval, but 18,000 students are still homeschooled.

Regional Patterns

North America leads globally: the US and Canada occupy the top two spots with permissive legal frameworks and high participation.
Europe shows the widest regulatory spread: from the UK's constitutional right to home educate to Germany's near-total ban, with France and Poland somewhere in between requiring heavy oversight.
English-speaking countries generally show higher rates: the US, Canada, UK, New Zealand, Australia, and South Africa all appear in the top 10.
Asian countries mostly restrict or ban homeschooling, with South Korea, China, Singapore, India, and Thailand all showing very low rates despite large populations.

Why Parents Actually Homeschool

Homeschooling is a choice that parents make due to a variety of factors, including the emotional and mental health of the child, safety concerns, education quality, and personal values. Analysis of 150-200 parent discussions from Reddit threads reveals what’s really driving families out of schools:

Special Educational Needs & Neurodivergence (30%)

The special educational needs of the child are the most cited reason for parents to switch to homeschooling. Parents describe schools that punish autistic meltdowns, ignore care plans for chronically ill children, or provide sensory environments where neurodivergent kids can’t function. Several UK parents in the discussion described turning to home education after mainstream schools struggled to accommodate their child’s additional needs, particularly around sensory overload and rigid disciplinary systems.

These aren’t families who planned to homeschool: they tried to make mainstream education work, and it couldn’t provide a supportive and healthy environment.

Bullying & Emotional Safety (15%)

Bullying is named as the second-most popular reason for home education, with 15% of parents discussing similar circumstances.

This reason is also often tied to neurodivergence and children being branded as “weird” or “problematic”. Those students who stand out or cannot fit into a regular classroom often face harassment that schools fail to resolve.

In the conversations, parents describe their kids who were dreading each new day, social exclusion, and bullying by classmates. For such families, homeschooling is a way to create a safe and emotionally stable environment, which schools couldn’t create.

Academic Mismatch (15%)

Academic mismatch is mentioned as often as bullying among parents and was cited in about 15% of conversations.

Both bright children and struggling students can be missed by the regular education system, according to the parents. Those kids who learn fast can become bored in classrooms, which can lead to discipline problems, while others fall behind without support in larger classrooms. In these cases, parents talked about hands-on learning experiences and one-on-one attention that rigid curricula don’t provide.

Mental Health Protection (10%)

Mental health was quoted in around 10% of parents’ opinions, highlighting that education systems are often not prepared for students with health struggles.

School triggers panic attacks, depression, and anxiety. This turns daily school attendance into battles for children and their parents, but in many cases, problems were resolved once students were switched to home education. During the COVID lockdowns, several parents also realised that their ADHD children functioned better by structuring their own days.

Family Flexibility (8%)

Traditional education is very rigid in its structure, and its inability to support different life structures was cited by 8% of parents.

Military families are just one example, but it’s one of the most popular. Military personnel, digital nomads, and other families who travel often rarely find schools helpful. Children don’t have time to integrate, and switching between schools and social groups causes distress. This reason was also mentioned by rural families who live far from suitable schools, as well as by parents with health needs requiring adaptable schedules.

Values & Worldview (7%)

Only 7% of parents name values and worldview differences as a key reason for homeschooling.

In these cases, parents quoted religious reasons, objections to certain curriculum content, and a desire to shape moral frameworks at home. Often, parents don’t trust larger social circles and prefer to guide their children more than their peer culture does.

Other Key Reasons: Safety, Covid, and Child-Led Learning

Safety was mentioned in 5% of conversations. This topic is particularly important for the US context and American parents: many families name fear of school shootings and drug dangers as key reasons for a safe education environment at home.

A similar number of parents mentioned that COVID-19 affected how they viewed education. During lockdowns, home-based education worked better for some families than they expected, and it became a key reason not to return children to school. In these cases, parents described fewer meltdowns and better overall focus.

Finally, 4% of parents cited a child-led learning structure as their preference in education. These families prefer the self-directed, real-world learning that, in their opinion, works better than conventional schooling. Following the children’s interests and day structure inspired kids to be more active and more interested in education.

The "Last Resort" vs "Active Choice" Split

An important divide appears in parent discussions:

Active choice families talk about educational philosophy, lifestyle, and values. This is homeschooling by conviction.

Last resort families (particularly common in UK threads) describe system failure: unmet special educational needs, safeguarding worries, EHCP placement battles, school refusal, where remaining in traditional education became unsustainable.

Many UK parents say they never planned to home educate but felt forced to because staying in school was no longer safe for their child.

What the UK Numbers Actually Mean

The UK’s 111.7K homeschooled children come from autumn 2024 data tracking children known to local authorities. The real figure is likely higher since registration isn’t required in England, Wales, Scotland, or Northern Ireland.

It’s important to distinguish between:

Elective home education: families choosing to educate at home themselves (the 111,700 figure)

Alternative provision: local authorities arranging education for children who can’t attend mainstream school due to exclusion or health needs (about 40,900 students in 2022/23)

These are separate categories. Elective home education is a legal right for parents. Alternative provision is arranged intervention when the typical school setup isn’t working.

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