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Home education in Queensland: what the annual report involves
What Queensland's Act and Department say about the home education annual report: when it is due, its three parts and work samples.
Read the guideKey points
• In Queensland, a yearly written report on a child's educational progress is a standard condition of home education registration [1] [2].
• The Department lists three parts: the reporting form, a report on educational progress, and an updated program summary for the next year [1].
• The Act requires the report at least 2 months, but not more than 3 months, before each anniversary of registration [2]. The Department says the date cannot be extended [1].
• The Department's reporting templates are optional [1]. Its Set 1 guidance lists five qualities for work samples [3].
Who can register for home education
Home education registrations in Queensland are managed by Queensland Home Education (QHE), part of the Department of Education [4]. A child cannot be enrolled at a school and registered for home education at the same time [5]. The Department checks the child's age and Queensland residency, and that the applicant is "a parent, carer or guardian" with parental responsibility [5].
Under the Education (General Provisions) Act 2006, a child is eligible if they will be at least 5 years and 6 months old on 31 December in the year of application. They stay eligible until 31 December in the year they turn 18 [2]. Compulsory school age, the Department's FAQ says, starts at 6 years and 6 months [4]. QHE's data page reports 11,800 active registrations at the 2025 census, up from 5,008 in 2021 [6].
How registration works
Provisional registration. This needs a written application with the child's details and evidence of eligibility and parenthood [2]. It ends 60 days after the Department gives notice of it [2]. The Department says this temporary registration does not require an educational program or annual report [5].
Registration. This application is made on the approved form, with "a summary of the educational program to be used for the home education" [2]. The child is provisionally registered while the application is decided [2]. The Department says: "By law, QHE has 90 days to decide home education registration applications" [5]. If it asks for more details, the 90-day period starts again once they are provided [5].
The Department describes the program summary as "an outline of your plan for your child's learning and development in the coming year" [5]. It says it could cover the child's learning needs, goals, planned activities and topics, the learning environment, and how progress will be tracked [5]. It says the plan "doesn't need to include everything" planned for the year [5].
The "high-quality education" condition
The Act lists three standard conditions of registration. The child's parents must ensure the child receives a high-quality education. A parent must give a written report on the child's educational progress. A parent must give notice of a change of address within 28 days [2].
The Act does not define "high-quality education" for home education [2]. Its objects refer to a high-quality education that will "help maximise his or her educational potential" [2]. The Department's procedure says an education program "should show evidence of a high-quality education" that [7]:
• responds to the child's changing needs, shown by short- and long-term goals
• has regard to the child's age, ability, aptitude and development
• is conducted in an environment conducive to learning
• responds to the child's need for social development
• uses suitable and relevant teaching strategies
• offers rich and varied learning experiences
• is supported by sufficient and appropriate resources
• uses strategies for monitoring educational progress.
The Department's FAQ says an officer reviews each annual report "to determine whether your child has engaged in a high-quality education and made sufficient educational progress" [4]. Under the Act, not being reasonably satisfied about a child's educational progress is a ground for cancelling registration [2].
When the report is due
The Act requires the report to be given "at least 2 months, but not more than 3 months, before each anniversary of the registration", in the approved form [2]. The Department says the reporting period opens in the ninth month of registration, when parents receive an email with a unique link to the online form. The report is due in the tenth month [1]. In the Department's example, a child registered in January would get the link in September and report in October [1].
The due date is in the registration letter [1]. The Department says "the date cannot be extended" because "This is a provision in the legislation" [1]. The online form "does not work on mobile phones", and the report can also be sent by email or post [1]. A third party can help prepare the report, but the Department says "they cannot submit the report" [1]. If no report arrives by the due date, the procedure says a show cause notice is issued [7].
The three parts of the report
The Department lists three parts [1]:
1. The reporting form. The approved form, completed online through the unique link, or sent by email or post.
2. A written report on the child's educational progress. The Department says this must show the child "has received a high-quality education" and give information about progress during the reporting period.
3. An updated educational program summary for the following year, if the child will stay registered. The Department says it should be "updated to be suitable for the age, ability and aptitude" of the child.
What the Department's templates describe
The Department publishes three optional reporting template sets: Set 1 (reporting information and work samples), Set 2 (year in review and work sample annotations) and Set 3 (summary of the educational program) [8]. It says a report can be submitted "in another format of your choosing" [1].
Work samples (Set 1). Set 1 lists five guidelines for choosing work samples [3]:
• Comparative: the samples "should focus on the same learning concept".
• Comprehensive: "sufficient work to demonstrate educational progress".
• Dated: the samples include the date they were completed.
• Annotated: notes explain the teaching and learning process.
• Reviewed: "evidence of parent/teacher instructions, support and feedback".
Set 1 suggests two dated, comparative and reviewed samples each for English (the child's own composition), mathematics (the development of one concept) and one other learning area [3]. It says the best evidence of progress "is usually provided by the samples of your child's work and annotations explicitly in relation to those samples" [3].
Annotations (Sets 1 and 2). Set 1 says "Annotations provide an opportunity to highlight the high-quality education your child is receiving" [3]. It says they can also identify the progress made between samples [3]. For each learning area, Set 2 asks: "What approaches did you use to support your child in completing these samples?" and "What progress did you observe between the samples?" [9]. It also asks at what level the samples are targeted: "above, at or below age equivalence" [9]. Its year-in-review questions ask about goals, changes, highlights or lowlights, and the area of most success [9].
Next year's program (Set 3). Set 3 covers goals, the child as a learner, the home learning environment, social opportunities, and a program overview by learning area and study block [10]. Its curriculum section refers to "Prep (Foundation) – Year 10" [10]. The Queensland Government notes that the Foundation year of the Australian Curriculum "is called Prep" in Queensland [11].
An illustrative example for a primary-aged child
The outline below is an illustrative example only, not a Department template or a required format. It shows how the parts above could fit together for a child finishing Year 3. Its topics come from the Year 3 example block in Set 3 [10], and its headings follow the Set 2 questions [9].
1. Reporting form, completed online through the emailed link [1].
2. Year in review: goals and whether they were met, changes made, highlights or lowlights, and the area of most success [9].
3. English: two dated narratives in the child's own words, from early and late in the year, with notes on approaches and progress [3] [9].
4. Mathematics: two dated pieces on multiplication facts for 2, 3 and 5, with notes [3] [10].
5. Science: two dated records on heat, with notes [10].
6. Level of the samples: above, at or below age equivalence [9].
7. Updated educational program summary for Year 4 [1] [10].
Where Noooli fits
Noooli publishes free term planners (/planners) with one maths, English or science topic a week for Kindergarten to Year 6, following the Australian Curriculum. It also publishes free printable worksheets (/worksheets), with answers and a parent tip for every question. A dated, completed sheet is one form of work sample, for maths, English and science only. Noooli is not a registered provider and is not connected with the Department. Its Queensland page is at /homeschool/qld.
References
1. Queensland Department of Education, "Reporting requirements" (home education), last updated 12 March 2026, accessed 7 October 2026, https://education.qld.gov.au/schools-educators/other-education/home-education/reports
2. Queensland Government, Education (General Provisions) Act 2006, sections 5, 205 to 217 and 221, current version accessed 7 October 2026, https://www.legislation.qld.gov.au/view/whole/html/inforce/current/act-2006-039
3. Queensland Department of Education, "Report pack, Set 1: Reporting information and work samples" (PDF), accessed 7 October 2026, https://education.qld.gov.au/schools-and-educators/other-education/Documents/reporting-information-and-samples-set1.pdf
4. Queensland Department of Education, "Frequently asked questions" (home education), last updated 17 March 2026, accessed 7 October 2026, https://education.qld.gov.au/schools-educators/other-education/home-education/frequently-asked-questions
5. Queensland Department of Education, "Registering for home education", last updated 28 September 2026, accessed 7 October 2026, https://education.qld.gov.au/schools-educators/other-education/home-education/registration
6. Queensland Department of Education, "Queensland Home Education data", last updated 12 March 2026, accessed 7 October 2026, https://education.qld.gov.au/schools-educators/other-education/home-education/qhe-data
7. Queensland Department of Education, "Home education in Queensland procedure", version 5.3, effective 2 December 2025, accessed 7 October 2026, https://ppr.qed.qld.gov.au/pp/home-education-in-queensland-procedure
8. Queensland Department of Education, "Forms and resources" (home education), last updated 12 March 2026, accessed 7 October 2026, https://education.qld.gov.au/schools-educators/other-education/home-education/forms-and-resources
9. Queensland Department of Education, "Set 2: Year in review and work sample annotations" (DOCX), accessed 7 October 2026, https://education.qld.gov.au/schools-and-educators/other-education/Documents/year-in-review-work-samples-annotations-set2.docx
10. Queensland Department of Education, "Set 3: Summary of the educational program (template and example)" (DOCX), accessed 7 October 2026, https://education.qld.gov.au/schools-and-educators/other-education/Documents/educational-program-template-and-examples-set3.docx
11. Queensland Government, "Learning in Prep", accessed 7 October 2026, https://www.qld.gov.au/education/earlychildhood/prep/pages/learning
Common questions
When is the Queensland home education report due?
The Education (General Provisions) Act 2006 requires the report at least 2 months, but not more than 3 months, before each anniversary of registration. The Department says the reporting period opens in the ninth month and the report is due in the tenth. It says the due date is in the registration letter and cannot be extended.
Are the Department's reporting templates compulsory?
No. The Department describes its reporting templates as optional and says a report can be submitted in another format. The Act does require the report to be in the approved form, which can be completed online or sent by email or post.
What does the Department say makes a suitable work sample?
Set 1 lists five guidelines: comparative, comprehensive, dated, annotated and reviewed. For English, mathematics and one other learning area, it suggests two dated, comparative and reviewed samples. Comparative samples focus on the same learning concept, and reviewed samples show parent or teacher instructions, support and feedback.
