Home education

Home education means your child learns at home, following an approved curriculum, instead of attending school.

This means you are responsible for planning, delivering, assessing and keeping evidence of your child’s education.

If you choose to home educate, you must apply for approval from the Northern Territory (NT) Department of Education and Training.

Until the home education curriculum is approved, your child must remain enrolled in a school and continue to attend.

Who can teach

For your child's home education, you can:

• plan and deliver the home education curriculum without formal teacher training or teaching experience, or
• employ a teacher to develop and deliver it, who:
  • is registered with the Teacher Registration Board of the NT
  • has a working with children clearance (Ochre Card).

What you can teach

You can develop your child's home education curriculum program or purchase from a commercial provider.

All home education curriculum programs must meet the Australian Curriculum Assessment and Reporting Authority (ACARA) requirements. To find out more, go to the Australian Curriculum website.

Your child can complete a Vocational Education and Training (VET) course through a registered training organisation.

Compulsory subjects for each year level can be found below.

compulsory   not compulsory optional

^{* (1 or more subjects)}

When to apply

Home education approval is valid for one school year. You must reapply each year.

Families new to home education can apply at any time during the year.

To continue home education in 2026, families must reapply by Friday 28 November 2025 for applications to be assessed before school starts on 29 January 2026.

Before you apply

Before you apply, you must have the following documentation ready:

• birth certificate for all applications
• 2-3 photos showing the dedicated workspace/s where the student will be home educating - desk, computer and other resources
• medical documents, if applicable
• court documentation, if applicable
• student visa, if applicable
• passport style photo, if ID card required
• curriculum program, which can be one of the following:
  • a commercial provider program that aligns with the Australian Curriculum and includes content description codes, or
  • a self-developed curriculum program, if using this option, you must complete the relevant plan:
  • Transition to Year 10 - self-developed curriculum plan DOCX (79.0 KB)
  • Senior secondary - self-developed curriculum plan DOCX (77.5 KB)
  • Exemplar - self-developed home education curriculum PDF (882.6 KB).

How to apply

Apply online via Territory Services.

You must attach all supporting documentation.

Go to Territory Services

After you apply

After you submit your application, you will:

• receive a notification confirming its receipt and a reference number
• be able to print a summary of your application
• be notified in writing via email of the outcome.

If approved

You can unenroll your child from school and begin their home education curriculum.

Once you begin, you must maintain evidence of your child's learning in each of the learning areas.

Evidence must be consistent with the topics and assessment tasks set out in the curriculum plan. It may include:

• written documents
• completed worksheets
• video clips
• audio files
• photographs
• artwork.

You child is entitled to the:

• Back to School Payment Scheme in Term 1
• Sport Voucher Scheme in Semester 1 and 2.

Educating your child while travelling

If you travel with your child for a short period, contact the home education team to discuss the curriculum.

If you're travelling for an extended period, you can apply to enrol your child in a distance education school.

Discontinue or change home education

If you discontinue or change your child's home education, you must notify the home education team in writing within 14 days.

If not approved

You must ensure your child is enrolled and attending a school. You may reapply at any time.

Contact

Contact home education by calling 08 8901 4902 or emailing homeeducation.doe@education.nt.gov.au.