How to Homeschool in Virginia: A Step-by-Step Guide

Homeschooling in Virginia under the home instruction statute follows a clear yearly rhythm: tell your school division you intend to homeschool, teach through the year, and then show evidence that your child made progress. Two dates anchor the whole process — August 15 for your Notice of Intent, and August 1 for your end-of-year evidence of progress.

This guide walks through each step in plain English so you can start home instruction in Virginia with confidence and stay compliant year to year.

Who Qualifies to Homeschool in Virginia?

To provide home instruction, the parent must meet one of four criteria in the statute. You only need one:

• Hold a high school diploma or higher (the most common option), or
• Be a teacher licensed to teach in any state, or
• Provide the child a program of study or curriculum delivered through a correspondence or distance-learning program, or
• Provide evidence that you are able to give the child an adequate education.

For most families, the high school diploma option is the simplest, and you confirm it right on the Notice of Intent.

Step 1: File Your Notice of Intent by August 15

Each year you must notify your division superintendent that you intend to provide home instruction. The Notice of Intent includes a description of your curriculum — which is simply a list of the subjects you’ll study that year — and evidence that you meet one of the criteria above.

The deadline is August 15. If you move into a division or begin home instruction after the school year has started, notify the superintendent as soon as practicable and comply within 30 days. Virginia provides a sample Notice of Intent form, and it’s wise to send your notice by certified mail with return receipt so you have a dated record.

Step 2: Teaching Through the Year

Virginia gives families a lot of freedom in how they teach. There is no required day count or hour count the way some states impose, and the law does not dictate a specific curriculum — you list your subjects on the NOI and teach them. Keeping samples of your child’s work and a record of progress through the year makes the final step much easier, especially if you choose the evaluation-letter route.

Step 3: Evidence of Progress by August 1

This is the requirement that surprises new Virginia families. By August 1 following the school year, you must submit evidence that your child achieved an adequate level of educational growth and progress. This applies to each child who was age six or older as of September 30 of that school year.

You have two main ways to satisfy it:

• A standardized test — a composite score at or above the fourth stanine (the 23rd percentile) on any nationally normed achievement test, or an equivalent ACT, SAT, or PSAT score.
• An evaluation or assessment the superintendent accepts — most commonly 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, stating the child is achieving an adequate level of growth and progress. A transcript or report card from a college or correspondence program also qualifies.

If you don’t submit evidence of progress, your home instruction program can be placed on probation for a year, so this step matters. For help deciding between the two routes, see our guide to Virginia’s test-score vs. evaluation-letter options.

Why Many Families Choose the Evaluation Letter

The test route hinges on a single composite score clearing a cutoff. The evaluation-letter route looks at the whole picture of your child’s year, which is often a better fit for families whose children test unevenly, experience test anxiety, or have uneven strengths across subjects. Because Virginia accepts a letter from a teacher licensed in any state, you’re not limited to evaluators inside Virginia.

The Homeschool Evaluator prepares your Virginia evaluation letter entirely online: you share your child’s progress and a few work samples, and you receive a completed letter, signed by a licensed teacher, ready to submit to your division by August 1. See our What You Will Need page to prepare.

Homeschooling in Virginia: FAQ