Do you offer home tutoring?

Yes. Home tutoring is our default delivery model for children with SEN, SEMH needs or school avoidance. Sessions take place in the family home at a consistent time each week.

Are home tutors DBS checked?

Yes. All Thrive tutors are DBS checked via uCheck and right-to-work verified before any home placement begins. We also follow a clear safeguarding policy for all home visits.

Parent Question

Do we tutor in the home?

Yes. Home tutoring is our default delivery model for most of our work with children with SEN, SEMH needs and school avoidance.

Make an Enquiry More Parent Questions

Yes. Home tutoring is the primary delivery model for the vast majority of Thrive's work. For children with SEN, SEMH needs, school avoidance or significant anxiety, the home is not just a convenient venue — it is often the only environment where effective learning can happen.

Why we tutor in the home

Most of the young people we work with find external environments difficult. School is often the source of anxiety, sensory overwhelm or social stress. Community settings can be unpredictable. The family home, by contrast, is known, controllable and safe.

Learning that takes place in a safe environment is retained more effectively and accessed more reliably. A child who is regulated — calm, in a known space, with a trusted adult — can engage with learning in a way that is simply not available to them in most other settings. This is not just about comfort: it is about how the nervous system works.

What home tutoring looks like in practice

Sessions take place in the family home, typically at the kitchen or dining table, or in a space the young person finds comfortable. The tutor arrives at a consistent time each week and works with the same young person throughout the placement. Early sessions focus on building the relationship before introducing structured academic work.

Parents and carers are welcome to be present, particularly at the start of a placement. Over time, as the young person builds confidence with the tutor, sessions often become more independent. Progress reports are shared regularly so families know what is being covered and how the young person is developing.

Who benefits most from home tutoring

Home tutoring is particularly effective for:

Children who are school-avoidant or who find external settings overwhelming
Young people with SEMH needs, anxiety, or a trauma background
Children with autism or sensory processing differences who do not tolerate unpredictable environments
Young people who are out of school entirely — post-exclusion, EOTAS, or awaiting a placement
Children with EHCPs whose provision specifies home-based or community-based delivery

Coverage and availability

We provide home tutoring across England, with particular strength in Kent, the South East, London and surrounding areas. We match each young person to a local tutor wherever possible, prioritising continuity and reduced travel time over subject specialism for most SEMH placements.

Where face-to-face home tutoring is not available in a particular location, or where a family prefers it, we also offer fully remote online sessions delivered to the same standard as our in-person work.

Safeguarding and home visits

All Thrive tutors are DBS checked via uCheck and right-to-work verified before any placement begins. We follow a clear safeguarding policy for home visits, which is shared with families at the start of each placement. Tutors never visit a home without prior confirmation from the family, and all placements include a named safeguarding lead within Thrive who is contactable by families at any time.

Getting started

If you would like to enquire about home tutoring for a child, the first step is an initial conversation. We will talk through your child's needs, current situation and what you are hoping tutoring will achieve, and match you with a tutor whose experience fits the profile.

More about school refusal

Should I force my child back to school? +

Generally no — at least not without first understanding why they cannot attend. Forced attendance for sustained EBSA presentations often makes things worse, not better. The right response is to investigate what is driving the avoidance and to address that, while keeping the child engaged with learning in a setting they can tolerate.

Is school refusal the same as EBSA? +

EBSA — Emotionally Based School Avoidance — is the current preferred term among Educational Psychologists and SEN professionals. It describes the same phenomenon as school refusal but reframes it as an emotional response rather than a behaviour. The reframing matters because it shapes the response: investigation rather than consequence.

Will tutoring reintegrate my child into school? +

Sometimes. For some young people, the relational and academic rebuilding that happens in tutoring is enough to enable a return to school, often phased and with the right support in place. For others, reintegration is not the right outcome — they need specialist provision, EOTAS, or a different setting entirely. We do not promise reintegration; we promise honest assessment and the right work for each child.

Can my child still get GCSEs if they're not in school? +

Yes. Children educated outside school can still sit GCSEs — including through external exam centres, alternative provision, or as private candidates. Many of our young people sit and pass GCSEs while not in school. The route depends on the child's circumstances and the local authority's commissioning approach.

How do schools and local authorities view school refusal? +

Variably. Some schools and LAs are well-versed in EBSA and respond constructively from the outset. Others still treat it as a behaviour or attendance issue and apply pressure or fines. If you are encountering the second response, you have options — requesting an EHCP needs assessment, escalating to senior SEN officers, or engaging legal advocacy through organisations like IPSEA or SOS!SEN.

Keep reading

You might also find these useful

Worried about your child not getting into school?

Get in touch and we'll talk through your situation and whether specialist support might help.

Make an Enquiry

Back to all Parent Questions