Homeschooling in Estonia:

Homeschooling in Estonia is growing

Across Europe, more and more families are choosing to educate their children from home — for the flexibility, for travel, for wellbeing, or simply because it fits their child better than a traditional classroom.

In Estonia, educating your child from home — known locally as Koduõpe (vanema soovil) — comes with its own rules, which we walk through below. Increasingly, families meet them by enrolling in an accredited online school, so their child still gets live teaching, structure, and real friendships.

If you’re exploring your options, here’s what you need to know — and how bina can help if you’d rather not figure it all out on your own.

Is schooling from home legal in Estonia?

Yes. Estonia recognises home study (koduõpe) within its compulsory-education framework. There are two routes: home study on health grounds, which the school organises and finances, and home study at the parent's wish (vanema soovil), which the parent organises and pays for. In both cases the child stays enrolled at a school, the school provides learning materials free of charge, and the school remains responsible for checking that the child reaches the national learning outcomes.

For the parent's-wish route, you apply in writing to the school director by 20 August (to start at the beginning of the school year) or 20 December (to start in the second half), stating your reasons and who will teach the child. The director decides whether home study serves the child's best interests, an individual curriculum is agreed, and the school reviews progress at least once each semester. If significant gaps appear, the school can end the arrangement and the child returns to class. The parent's-wish route is generally used for younger basic-school pupils — commonly described as up to around age 12 — so confirm the current conditions for your child's age with your school.

Compulsory education in Estonia runs from age 7 (children turning 7 by 1 October). A 2024 reform replaces the duty to attend school with a broader 'obligation to learn' that extends to age 18 — or until a young person completes upper-secondary or vocational education — phasing in from those who entered grade 9 in autumn 2025.

What are the steps to school from home in Estonia?

1. Confirm the route and your child's age — Decide whether you are using home study on health grounds (school-arranged) or at the parent's wish (parent-arranged). The parent's-wish route is mainly for younger basic-school pupils, so check current age conditions with your school.
2. Keep your child enrolled at a school — Home study in Estonia runs through a registered school where the child stays on the roll. If you are starting fresh, register at a state or private school willing to support koduõpe.
3. Apply in writing to the school director — Submit a reasoned application by 20 August to begin at the start of the year, or by 20 December for the second half. State your reasons and who will teach the child; the director decides.
4. Agree an individual curriculum and use an online school for delivery — The school and parent agree an individual curriculum aligned to national outcomes. Many families cover the actual teaching with an accredited online school such as bina, with live lessons and a full curriculum for ages 4–15.
5. Meet the school's twice-yearly progress reviews — The school checks learning outcomes at least once per semester. Keep your child's work, reports, and assessments organised so these reviews go smoothly and the arrangement continues.

An accredited online school like bina makes much of this simpler: we provide the curriculum, the live teaching, and the progress records your authority may ask to see — so you can focus on being the parent.