Closure fears lead to rise in demand for homeschooling

HOMESCHOOLING GCSE courses are running out of places amid fears among parents that children will miss out on a full education if schools are closed, Sunday Telegraph can reveal.

Online colleges have reported a huge surge in interest with one leading provider reporting that demand for their online courses has almost tripled for the next academic year.

It comes as Wolsey Hall Oxford – a leading homeschool provider – today revealed it has been forced to suspend all GCSE applications due to the “overwhelming” demand.

Research by the Children’s Commissioner showed in 2018 there were nearly 60,000 students being taught at home in England. Homeschooling colleges predict that figure is set to soar, saying that parents fear the risk of contamination in schools and are not financially stable enough now to fork out for private school fees. Wolsey

Hall, which has 3,000 students worldwide, has had applications from 3,000 students in the past three months alone. Oxford Home Schooling reported a 64 per cent rise in enrolments for 11- to 14-year-olds and a 23 per cent increase in 14- to 16-year-olds. London

‘We had staff levels to cope with our normal level of business but now the demand is overwhelming’

based Minerva Tutors said inquiries in the last two months had rocketed 50 per cent.

Lee Wilcock, principal of Wolsey Hall, said: “We had staff levels to cope with our normal level of business but suddenly everything changed and now the demand is overwhelming.”

Greg Smith, head of operations at Oxford Home Schooling, said: “We have never had this many calls.”