Romeschool

Pennsylvania homeschool requirements

Pennsylvania is one of the most demanding states: an affidavit filed before the program begins and then by August 1 every year after, a portfolio with an annual evaluator review, 180 days or 900–990 hours, and a standardized test in grades 3, 5 and 8.

Last reviewed June 5, 2026 · corrected September 23, 2026 · Sources below

High regulation Notice required Instruction time set Testing or evaluation
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Pennsylvania homeschool requirements at a glance

Notice
RequiredWhere it goes: Superintendent of the resident school district. When: Before the program begins the first year — the first affidavit may be filed at any point in the school year, but the program does not legally exist until it is on file. Then by August 1 every year after.
Required subjects
English/Language Arts, Mathematics, Science, Geography, World History (secondary), History (PA & U.S.), Civics, Health, Physical Education, Art, Music, Safety Education
Instruction time
180 days or 900–990 hours by grade180 days or 900 hours a year at the elementary level (grades K–6), or 180 days or 990 hours a year at the secondary level (grades 7–12). Days or hours — meeting either one satisfies the requirement, and both are not required, per 24 P.S. § 13-1327.1(c). The day option counts 180 days no matter how many hours you school in a day, and the hour option counts hours no matter how many days. The statute does not itself say which figure the portfolio log must record; it is the Department of Education's guide, revised May 2026, that tells families the log must demonstrate the option they chose, and that a family documenting days need not write down the hours in each day.
Testing or evaluation
Yes — annual + grades 3, 5, 8Two separate requirements that stack. (1) Every year, at every grade, a qualified evaluator reviews the portfolio, interviews the child and certifies whether an appropriate education is occurring; the supervisor sends that certification — not the portfolio — to the superintendent by June 30. (2) In grades 3, 5 and 8 the child also takes a standardized achievement test in reading/language arts and mathematics: the statewide PSSA, or one of the 11 nationally normed tests the Department of Education has approved. The child's parent or guardian may not administer it, and the family pays for an alternative test and its administration. A qualified evaluator is a licensed clinical or school psychologist; a Pennsylvania-certified teacher with at least two years of experience grading at the level being evaluated (K–6 or 7–12); or a nonpublic school teacher or administrator with at least two years of Pennsylvania teaching experience within the last ten years at that level. Someone with other qualifications may evaluate only with the prior consent of the superintendent of the district of residence. The evaluator may never be the supervisor or the supervisor's spouse.
Records
Yes — portfolio, assessment results, evaluations
Parent qualifications
Required
Compulsory attendance ages
6–18
Ways to homeschool
Two pathways
Law
24 P.S. § 13-1327.1
Official source
pa.gov ↗

Do I have to notify anyone to homeschool in Pennsylvania?

Yes. Pennsylvania requires homeschooling families to file a notice. Where it goes: Superintendent of the resident school district. How: Notarized affidavit (or unsworn declaration) filed annually. When: Before the program begins the first year — the first affidavit may be filed at any point in the school year, but the program does not legally exist until it is on file. Then by August 1 every year after. The affidavit names the supervisor, each child and the child's age, and the address and telephone number of the home education program site. It carries an outline of proposed education objectives by subject area, a statement that the required subjects are taught in English, evidence that the child has been immunized under 24 P.S. § 13-1303(a), evidence that the child has received the Article XIV school health services for their age or grade level — the vision, hearing, height and weight, tuberculosis and scoliosis screenings, the comprehensive physicals and the dental examinations — an assurance that the program will meet the section's requirements, and a certification that the supervisor, every adult living in the home and anyone having legal custody has not been convicted of the offenses listed in 24 P.S. § 1-111(e) in the five years before the affidavit. An unsworn declaration carries the same items and is signed under penalty of perjury instead of being notarized.

What subjects does Pennsylvania require homeschoolers to teach?

Pennsylvania requires instruction in English/Language Arts; Mathematics; Science; Geography; World History (secondary); History (PA & U.S.); Civics; Health; Physical Education; Art; Music; and Safety Education. The elementary and secondary lists differ (24 P.S. § 13-1327.1(c)): arithmetic and health and physiology at the elementary level; at the secondary level, social studies to include civics, world history and the history of the United States and Pennsylvania, plus mathematics to include algebra and geometry. Economics, biology, chemistry, foreign languages and trigonometry are optional, at the supervisor's discretion. The four semesters of United States and Pennsylvania history and government sometimes quoted as a constitutions requirement come from 24 P.S. § 16-1605, which binds public, private and parochial schools — not a home education program. For a home education diploma, 24 P.S. § 13-1327.1(d) sets the minimum courses in grades 9–12: four years of English, three of mathematics, three of science, three of social studies and two of arts and humanities. The Department of Education's May 2026 guide adds, from the State Board's Chapter 4 academic standards, one health course, two physical education courses and six electives. The supervisor awards the diploma on the Department's standardized form once the courses are complete, and the twelfth-grade evaluator signs it.

How many days or hours of instruction does Pennsylvania require?

Pennsylvania's rule: 180 days or 900 hours a year at the elementary level (grades K–6), or 180 days or 990 hours a year at the secondary level (grades 7–12). Days or hours — meeting either one satisfies the requirement, and both are not required, per 24 P.S. § 13-1327.1(c). The day option counts 180 days no matter how many hours you school in a day, and the hour option counts hours no matter how many days. The statute does not itself say which figure the portfolio log must record; it is the Department of Education's guide, revised May 2026, that tells families the log must demonstrate the option they chose, and that a family documenting days need not write down the hours in each day.

Is standardized testing required to homeschool in Pennsylvania?

Yes. Pennsylvania requires a test or another accepted form of evaluation. How often: Portfolio evaluation annually; standardized test in grades 3, 5, 8. Accepted options: annual portfolio evaluation by a qualified evaluator (every year, all grades) and standardized achievement test in grades 3, 5 and 8 in reading/language arts and mathematics — the statewide PSSA, or one of the 11 nationally normed tests on the Department of Education's approved list; the child's parent or guardian may not administer it. Two separate requirements that stack. (1) Every year, at every grade, a qualified evaluator reviews the portfolio, interviews the child and certifies whether an appropriate education is occurring; the supervisor sends that certification — not the portfolio — to the superintendent by June 30. (2) In grades 3, 5 and 8 the child also takes a standardized achievement test in reading/language arts and mathematics: the statewide PSSA, or one of the 11 nationally normed tests the Department of Education has approved. The child's parent or guardian may not administer it, and the family pays for an alternative test and its administration. A qualified evaluator is a licensed clinical or school psychologist; a Pennsylvania-certified teacher with at least two years of experience grading at the level being evaluated (K–6 or 7–12); or a nonpublic school teacher or administrator with at least two years of Pennsylvania teaching experience within the last ten years at that level. Someone with other qualifications may evaluate only with the prior consent of the superintendent of the district of residence. The evaluator may never be the supervisor or the supervisor's spouse.

What records do I need to keep to homeschool in Pennsylvania?

Pennsylvania requires these records: portfolio — a log made at the time of instruction, naming by title the reading materials used, plus samples of the student's writing, worksheets, workbooks and creative work; standardized test results (grades 3, 5, 8); and annual written evaluation by a qualified evaluator. The portfolio is evaluated annually; the evaluator's certification (not the portfolio) is submitted to the superintendent by June 30. The log is made as the instruction happens and designates the reading materials by title (24 P.S. § 13-1327.1(e)(1)). The statute does not say the log must record days or hours; the Department of Education's guide, revised May 2026, says it must demonstrate the 180 days or the hours the family chose.

Do parents need a teaching certificate or other qualification to homeschool in Pennsylvania?

Yes. Pennsylvania sets a qualification for the parent who teaches. The supervisor must hold a high-school diploma or GED (no teaching certificate required for standard home education under § 1327.1).

What ages does Pennsylvania's compulsory attendance law cover?

Pennsylvania's compulsory attendance law covers children from age 6 to age 18.

What are the ways to homeschool in Pennsylvania?

In Pennsylvania, families homeschool under one of two pathways: home education program under 24 P.S. § 13-1327.1 — the annual affidavit or unsworn declaration, a portfolio, and the evaluator's certification to the superintendent by June 30 and private tutoring under 24 P.S. § 13-1327(a) — a Pennsylvania-certified tutor, who may be the child's own parent, files the certification and the criminal-history clearances with the superintendent and reports the students tutored. There is no affidavit, no standardized test and no annual evaluation, but the parent gives the superintendent written assurance that the instructional requirements were met, and records of the work and of the days or hours are kept in case of a complaint (22 Pa. Code § 11.31).

Yes. Homeschooling is legal in Pennsylvania, as it is in all 50 states and Washington, D.C. Pennsylvania is one of the most demanding states: an affidavit filed before the program begins and then by August 1 every year after, a portfolio with an annual evaluator review, 180 days or 900–990 hours, and a standardized test in grades 3, 5 and 8.

How to get started in Pennsylvania

1
File an affidavit with your district superintendent
The first one is filed before your program begins — it may go in at any point in the school year, but the program does not legally exist until it is on file — and after that it is due by August 1 each year. It goes to the superintendent of your resident school district, notarized or signed as an unsworn declaration under penalty of perjury. It names you as the supervisor, each child and the child's age, and the address and telephone number of the program site, and it carries an outline of your education objectives by subject area, a statement that the required subjects are taught in English, evidence that your child has been immunized, separate evidence that your child has had the Article XIV school health services for their age or grade level (the vision, hearing, height and weight, tuberculosis and scoliosis screenings, the comprehensive physicals and the dental examinations), an assurance that the program will meet the law's requirements, and a certification that you, every adult living in your home and anyone having legal custody has not been convicted of the offenses listed in 24 P.S. § 1-111(e) in the five years before the affidavit.
Official resource (pa.gov) →
2
Check the supervising parent's qualification
The parent who runs the program (the law calls this person the supervisor) needs a high school diploma or GED. No teaching certificate is required.
3
Teach the required subjects
English/language arts, math, science, geography, U.S. and Pennsylvania history, civics, health, physical education, art, music, and safety education. The elementary and secondary lists differ: the elementary list names arithmetic and health and physiology, while at the secondary level social studies takes in civics, world history and the history of the United States and Pennsylvania, and math takes in algebra and geometry. Economics, biology, chemistry, foreign languages and trigonometry are the supervisor's option, not requirements. There is no separate U.S. and Pennsylvania constitutions requirement for a home education program, despite what is sometimes said: the four semesters of U.S. and Pennsylvania history and government behind that claim come from a section of the school code that binds public, private and parochial schools.
4
Provide 180 days or 900–990 hours
Choose one: 180 days of instruction, no matter how many hours are in a day; or 900 hours a year at the elementary level (grades K–6); or 990 hours a year at the secondary level (grades 7–12). Meeting either one satisfies the requirement — both are not required, and the hour option counts hours no matter how many days you school. Your portfolio log has to show the one you chose — the Department of Education's guide says so; the statute does not.
5
Keep a portfolio
A log made as the instruction happens, not written up afterwards, naming by title the reading materials you used — plus samples of your child's writing, worksheets, workbooks and creative work, and the standardized test results from grades 3, 5 and 8. That same log is your evidence of the days or the hours you chose, which the Department of Education's guide asks for rather than the statute. The portfolio is reviewed by your evaluator; it is not sent to the district.
6
Standardized test in grades 3, 5 and 8
In those three grades your child takes a standardized achievement test in reading/language arts and mathematics — the statewide PSSA, or one of the nationally normed tests on the Department of Education's approved list. A parent or guardian may not administer it, and if you use a test other than the PSSA you pay for it and for its administration. The results go in the portfolio.
7
Annual evaluation by a qualified evaluator
Every year, at every grade, a qualified evaluator reviews the portfolio, interviews your child and certifies whether an appropriate education is occurring. That certification — not the portfolio — goes to your superintendent by June 30, and you keep the written evaluation with your records. A qualified evaluator is a licensed clinical or school psychologist; a Pennsylvania-certified teacher with at least two years of experience grading at the level being evaluated (K–6 or 7–12); or a nonpublic school teacher or administrator with at least two years of Pennsylvania teaching experience within the last ten years at that level. Anyone else may evaluate only with the prior consent of your district's superintendent. The evaluator may never be the supervisor or the supervisor's spouse.
8
Graduating: the grades 9–12 course minimums
For a home education diploma the law sets minimum courses in grades 9–12: four years of English, three of mathematics, three of science, three of social studies, and two of arts and humanities. The Department of Education's May 2026 guide adds one health course, two physical education courses and six electives, drawn from the State Board's academic standards — that part is the Department's guidance, not the statute. The supervisor awards the diploma on the Department's standardized form once the courses are complete, and the twelfth-grade evaluator signs it.
9
The other pathway: private tutoring
Instead of a home education program, a child may be taught by a Pennsylvania-certified tutor — who may be the child's own parent. The tutor files the certification and the criminal-history clearances with the superintendent and reports the students tutored. There is no affidavit, no standardized test and no annual evaluation on this route, but you give the superintendent written assurance that the instructional requirements were met, and you keep records of the work done and of the days or hours in case of a complaint.
What Romeschool tracks for you: Day and hour tracking, portfolio documentation, evaluator review reminders.

Sources for Pennsylvania

Official source (pa.gov) ↗HSLDA's Pennsylvania summary ↗
Statute: 24 P.S. § 13-1327.1
Last reviewed: June 5, 2026
Corrected: September 23, 2026, after re-reading the official source for what changed

Every requirement above comes from our review of Pennsylvania’s rules, checked against these sources on June 5, 2026 and corrected on September 23, 2026 after re-reading the official source for what changed. Homeschool law changes, and a state can amend its rules between our reviews — read the official source before you file anything or rely on a date here. How we review state requirements.

Nearby states

States that share a border with Pennsylvania:

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