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⚖️ Kentucky Homeschool Laws & Requirements

What Kentucky law asks of homeschool families — notice or registration, school days and subjects, testing, records and diplomas — summarized from our Kentucky guide with links to the official sources.

Homeschooling in Kentucky: the basics

Legal route: Section 5 of the Kentucky Constitution lets parents choose the method of formal education for their child, and a homeschool is a private school under KRS 159.030 (KDE packet, May 2026). Citing the Kentucky Supreme Court's 1979 Rudasill decision, KDE says it may not prescribe curriculum, teacher certification or accreditation standards for homeschools, and it does not accredit them.
Step 1, name your school: KDE says to establish a bona fide school by giving your homeschool a name; many families use their last name. You do not register the name as you would a business.
Step 2, send the notice: write to the superintendent of the local board of education where you live within the first two weeks of the school year, or within two weeks of withdrawing your child from public school. The letter must include the names, ages and home address of each child (KRS 159.030, 159.160; KDE). Send it again each school year. KDE says the district can't reject it. KDE's packet includes a sample letter that also lists the school's name, the parents/teachers and the school's address.
Records: keep an attendance register and scholarship reports "in the same manner" required of public schools (KRS 159.040). KDE does not enforce a paper register and lets homeschools keep attendance any way they choose. Scholarship reports should document the courses completed and the grade awarded. Records must be open to inspection by the district's Director of Pupil Personnel and KDE officials.
School term and subjects: KRS 158.080 requires English-language instruction in the branches of study taught in public schools and a school calendar meeting KRS 158.070 (at least 1,062 hours of instruction on at least 170 student attendance days). As the statute now reads, those rules apply to private schools certified under KRS 156.160. KDE says a certified homeschool must meet the 1,062-hour, 170-day term, that there is no minimum term for a non-certified homeschool, and that it recommends all homeschools meet it. Certification of nonpublic schools runs through the Kentucky Non-Public School Commission (701 KAR 3:315, per KDE).
Curriculum: you choose and supply it. KDE suggests local homeschool co-ops and national homeschool groups for support, and the Kentucky Academic Standards as a reference.
Testing: KDE's homeschool packet lists no testing requirement, and we found no statute requiring state tests or reporting scores for a homeschool.
Compulsory age: KRS 159.010 sets ages 6 to 16 and lets each district raise the age to 18; when 55% of districts adopted that policy, all districts were required to. KDE's enrollment page says all children must attend school between 6 and 18. A 16- or 17-year-old leaving school early must have a conference with the principal and a counseling session (KRS 159.010(2)).
Home-based schools that teach children from several families in the instructor's home are different: KDE says they must also meet Department for Public Health, Cabinet for Health and Family Services, zoning and fire marshal rules.

Read the full section in our Kentucky guide

Records, diplomas and going back to public school

Records worth keeping: the law requires attendance and scholarship reports. KDE recommends detailed scholarship records, such as yearly portfolios of work samples, independent assessment results and reports from online learning platforms. These are not required, but they help if your child moves to another private school, a public school, or college.

Diplomas: Kentucky has no statewide diploma; each school, including a homeschool, issues its own. KDE says it can't verify homeschool diplomas for colleges or employers, so it suggests students consider the GED or an equivalent exam. Check each college's homeschool admission rules early.

Going back to public school: each district sets its own enrollment process. Under 704 KAR 3:307, as KDE quotes it, the district places a student coming from a nonaccredited secondary school in the class or grade best suited to the student. Credit earned in the homeschool is awarded in one of two ways: passing an exam like the one other students take for that course, or earning at least a C by the 12th week in the next course of a sequence such as English, math, history or science.

College aid applications: homeschool graduates can file the FAFSA; KDE points families to the federal Federal Student Aid website for federal aid rules.

Read the full section in our Kentucky guide

Official sources

Summarized from our Kentucky guide (as of October 2026) and articles. Rules change — confirm on the official pages before you act.

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