Virginia homeschool law for high school: graduation, diploma and records

Va. Code § 22.1-254(A) requires a child of compulsory age to attend a public school or a private, denominational or parochial school, be taught by an approved tutor or teacher, or receive home instruction under § 22.1-254.1, and § 22.1-254(B)(1) requires a school board to excuse a pupil with a bona fide religious objection to school attendance. Section 22.1-254.1 declares home instruction an acceptable alternative form of education when its requirements are met.

Va. Code § 22.1-254(A), (B)(1); Va. Code § 22.1-254.1(A)

The law as of September 29, 2026.

Virginia at a glance

As of September 29, 2026

Notice to the state: Depends on the option
Home instruction: the parent must notify the division superintendent every year, no later than August 15, of the intent to provide home instruction, with a description of the curriculum limited to a list of subjects for the coming year and evidence of meeting one of the four qualification criteria; a parent who moves into the division or starts after the school year begins notifies as soon as practicable and complies within 30 days. Religious exemption: the family asks the school board to excuse the child, and the statute sets no form or deadline. Tutor option: the tutor must be approved by the division superintendent.Va. Code § 22.1-254.1(B); Va. Code § 22.1-254(A), (B)(1)
Records the law asks for: Depends on the option
Home instruction: the law requires the annual notice, the list of subjects, evidence of the parent's qualification, and evidence of progress filed with the division superintendent by August 1 after each school year; no statute requires the parent to keep attendance or other records. The statute sets no filing requirement for a family excused under the religious exemption beyond the school board's decision. A division superintendent or school board may not disclose information a parent provides under § 22.1-254.1 or the religious exemption outside the school division without the parent's written consent.Va. Code § 22.1-254.1(B), (C), (G)
Testing or evaluation: Depends on the option
Home instruction: by August 1 after each school year the parent must file either a composite score in or above the fourth stanine on a nationally normed standardized achievement test (or an equivalent ACT, SAT or PSAT score) or an evaluation or assessment the superintendent determines shows adequate educational growth and progress, including a letter from a person licensed to teach in any state or holding a master's degree or higher in an academic discipline who knows the child's progress, or a report card or transcript from a college, college distance learning program or home-education correspondence school. This does not apply to children under six as of September 30; if evidence is not provided the program may be placed on probation for one year, the parent files a remediation plan, and home instruction must cease if the plan is not accepted or evidence of progress is not provided by August 1 after the probationary year. The statute sets no assessment for the religious exemption.Va. Code § 22.1-254.1(C)
Graduation requirements: None set by the state
Virginia sets no graduation, course or credit requirements for home-instructed students or students excused under the religious exemption. For home instruction the parent chooses the subjects listed in the annual notice.Va. Code § 22.1-254.1(B)
Diploma: Issued by: parent
No Virginia statute provides for a state or school division diploma for home-instructed students; in practice the parent issues one. A person 16 or older who has completed home instruction under § 22.1-254.1, or who was excused under § 22.1-254(B), may take the Board-approved high school equivalency examination.Va. Code § 22.1-254.2(A)(2), (3)
Compulsory school ages: 5 to 18: a child who will have reached the fifth birthday on or before September 30 of the school year and has not passed the eighteenth birthday; a parent may delay attendance one year for a child who will not be six by September 30 by notifying the school board that the child is not ready.Va. Code § 22.1-254(A), (I)

The legal options for homeschooling in Virginia

Home instruction under Va. Code § 22.1-254.1A parent may provide home instruction if the parent (i) holds a high school diploma, (ii) is a teacher of qualifications prescribed by the Board of Education, (iii) provides the child with a program of study or curriculum, which may be delivered by correspondence, distance learning or any other manner, or (iv) provides evidence of being able to provide an adequate education; the parent gives annual notice by August 15 and files evidence of progress by August 1 after each year. Basis: statuteVa. Code § 22.1-254.1(A), (B), (C)
Religious exemptionA school board shall excuse from attendance a pupil who, together with his or her parents, by reason of bona fide religious training or belief is conscientiously opposed to attendance at school; essentially political, sociological or philosophical views or a merely personal moral code do not qualify. Basis: statuteVa. Code § 22.1-254(B)(1); Va. Code § 22.1-254.1(D)
Tutor or teacher approved by the division superintendentA child may be taught by a tutor or teacher of qualifications prescribed by the Board of Education and approved by the division superintendent; HSLDA states this means a person holding a current Virginia teaching license, who may then tutor any children, including his or her own. Basis: statuteVa. Code § 22.1-254(A); HSLDA, How to Comply with Virginia's Homeschool Law (Option 3)
Private, denominational or parochial school, including remote attendanceA child may attend a private, denominational or parochial school, and 'attend' includes taking part in the school's courses at a site remote from the school with the school's permission; instruction in the home by the parent is not itself classified as a private, denominational or parochial school. Basis: statuteVa. Code § 22.1-254(A)

What Virginia law means for your transcript

A report card or transcript from a college, college distance learning program or home-education correspondence school is one accepted form of evidence of progress under § 22.1-254.1(C), so outside course records can serve both the August 1 filing and the high school transcript.
State-supported aid programs treat completed home instruction as meeting high school graduation requirements, and where a program uses GPA or class rank the State Council of Higher Education may require alternative equivalent measures (§ 23.1-600(B)), which may mean supplying evidence other than a transcript GPA.
School boards must make AP, PSAT/NMSQT and PreACT exams available to home-instructed students and set a registration deadline (§ 22.1-254.1(F)); listing these scores with the transcript is practice.
No Virginia law defines a high school credit for home instruction; the 120-hour Carnegie unit is a common convention, not a requirement.

College admission and state aid for Virginia homeschoolers

Individuals who completed home instruction under § 22.1-254.1, and individuals excused under § 22.1-254(B), are deemed to have met high school graduation requirements for eligibility for any state-supported financial aid or other higher education programs. Where a program uses high school GPA, class rank or other academic criteria, the State Council of Higher Education develops alternative equivalent measures that may be required.Va. Code § 23.1-600(B)

Recent changes to Virginia homeschool law

No amendment to § 22.1-254.1 since 2022 (2022 Acts ch. 355). Section 22.1-254 was amended by 2026 Acts ch. 193; the home instruction, tutor, private school and religious exemption wording in subsections A and B(1) is as summarized here, but which provision ch. 193 changed was not confirmed. SB 1031 (2025), which as introduced would have repealed the religious exemption, was passed by indefinitely in committee and is not law (per HSLDA). HB 534 (2026), which would have allowed evaluation letters from a person with a bachelor's degree, did not advance and is not law (per the Home Educators Association of Virginia).

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What we could not confirm

These points could not be checked against the statute or regulation text, so treat them with care:

Could not open the Virginia Department of Education home instruction page (HTTP 403 to automated requests and browser access not permitted), so no agency statements on diplomas or transcripts are included.
The teaching-license requirement for the tutor option comes from HSLDA; the Board of Education regulation prescribing tutor qualifications was not located (the former home instruction regulations in 8VAC20-60 are repealed).
The private school option with instruction at home is described from the 'attend' definition in § 22.1-254(A) and HSLDA's summary; HSLDA's detailed memo (May 6, 2025) is members-only and was not read.
Whether a religious exemption must be renewed is not addressed in the statute; HSLDA says it depends on the wording of the school board's letter.
The status of SB 1031 (2025) is from HSLDA and of HB 534 (2026) from HEAV; the Virginia LIS bill pages were not checked.
The content of 2026 Acts ch. 193, which amended § 22.1-254, was not confirmed.

Sources

General information about Virginia law as of September 29, 2026, not legal advice. Laws change, so check the statute before you rely on it. Found an error? Email [email protected].