Parents are not required to test home educated students, and many don’t feel the need to. The main reason for testing at school is to identify which areas the student has achieved at or needs to work on, and a parent is intuitively familiar with their own child’s achievements. However, there are other reasons some parents may want to test:
- Because it is part of their academic programme
- Because their student loves a challenge
- To put their mind at ease or to reassure anxious relatives of where their student’s level of achievement is in relation to national averages
- To give their child experience in being tested
For parents who want to use testing there are many options, from purchased assessments through to exams administered by a trained teacher. Assessment is also often part of any online learning tool that you might choose to subscribe to. It would be best to ask other home educators for ideas as there are many assessment tools available and the one you use will depend on what you want to achieve as well as the age/level of your child.