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

W. Va. Code § 18-8-1 lists the exemptions from the compulsory attendance requirement in § 18-8-1a: subsection (c) covers home instruction in two forms, subsection (m) covers Hope Scholarship recipients, and subsection (n) covers learning pods and microschools, which the statute says are not the same as homeschooling. W. Va. Code § 18-8-12 lets the administrator of a home school secondary program issue a diploma.

W. Va. Code § 18-8-1(c), (m), (n); W. Va. Code § 18-8-12

The law as of September 29, 2026.

West Virginia at a glance

As of September 29, 2026

Notice to the state: Depends on the option
Under § 18-8-1(c)(2) the parent presents a notice of intent when home instruction begins, with the name, address and age of each compulsory-age child and assurance of instruction in reading, language, mathematics, science and social studies and of annual assessment; if the child is enrolled in public school the notice is due on or before the day home instruction begins, and the Department of Education describes it as a one-time notice. The instructor notifies the superintendent when home instruction ends and, after moving, notifies the previous county and files a new notice in the new county. Under § 18-8-1(c)(1) the family instead requests county board approval.W. Va. Code § 18-8-1(c)(1), (c)(2)(A); WVDE, Homeschool State Code
Records the law asks for: Depends on the option
Under § 18-8-1(c)(2) the parent must keep copies of each student's academic assessment for three years and must submit the assessment results for grades 3, 5, 8 and 11, as applicable, to the county superintendent by June 30 of the year the assessment was given; the instructor also submits evidence of the required qualification. Under § 18-8-1(c)(1) the instructor furnishes attendance, instruction and progress information when the county superintendent requests it.W. Va. Code § 18-8-1(c)(1), (c)(2)(B), (D), (E)
Testing or evaluation: Depends on the option
Under § 18-8-1(c)(2) the child must be assessed every year by a nationally normed standardized achievement test in reading, language, mathematics, science and social studies (acceptable progress is a mean within or above the fourth stanine, or improvement on the prior year), the state testing program at a public school, a certified teacher's review of a portfolio with a written narrative, or an alternative assessment agreed with the superintendent. If progress is not acceptable the instructor must start a remedial program, and after a second consecutive year must submit additional evidence that appropriate instruction is being provided. Subsection (c)(1) names no specific test, and Hope Scholarship students follow § 18-31-8(a)(4).W. Va. Code § 18-8-1(c)(2)(C), (D); W. Va. Code § 18-31-8(a)(4)
Graduation requirements: None set by the state
West Virginia sets no graduation, course or credit requirements for home instruction. The notice-of-intent option requires assurance of instruction in reading, language, mathematics, science and social studies.W. Va. Code § 18-8-1(c)(2)(A)
Diploma: Issued by: parent (the person who administers the home school program)
A person who administers a secondary program at a home school (or a microschool, learning pod or Hope Scholarship individualized instructional program) that meets chapter 18's requirements may issue a diploma or other appropriate credential to a student who completes it. The diploma is legally sufficient to show the person has a high school diploma or its equivalent, and no state agency or West Virginia institution of higher learning may reject or treat the person differently solely because of its source, although a college may still give placement tests after full admission.W. Va. Code § 18-8-12
Compulsory school ages: 6 to 17: attendance begins with the school year in which the child reaches the sixth birthday before July 1 (or on enrolling in a full-time publicly funded kindergarten program) and continues to the 17th birthday, or for as long as the student stays enrolled after that.W. Va. Code § 18-8-1a(a)

The legal options for homeschooling in West Virginia

Home instruction by notice of intentA parent presents a notice of intent to the county superintendent or county board, the instructor shows a high school diploma or equivalent or a qualifying postsecondary degree or certificate, and the child is assessed annually; the county superintendent may seek a circuit court order denying home instruction only after a showing of probable cause, and the order requires clear and convincing evidence of educational neglect or other compelling reasons. Basis: statuteW. Va. Code § 18-8-1(c)(2)
Home instruction approved by the county boardInstruction in the home or another place approved by the county board, for a time equal to the public school instructional term, by a person the county superintendent and county board judge qualified to teach the subjects required in public elementary schools; a denial must be justified in writing, and the instructor furnishes attendance, instruction and progress information when the superintendent requests it. Basis: statuteW. Va. Code § 18-8-1(c)(1)
Hope Scholarship individualized instructional programA Hope Scholarship recipient who gives the county superintendent notice of intent to participate is exempt from compulsory attendance; a student in an individualized instructional program at home is governed by the Hope Scholarship Act rather than the home instruction exemption and must meet that Act's annual testing or certified-teacher review requirement. Basis: statuteW. Va. Code § 18-8-1(m); W. Va. Code § 18-31-2(8); W. Va. Code § 18-31-8(a)(4)

What West Virginia law means for your transcript

If the student enters a West Virginia public school, the school must accept the homeschool transcript or other credential as the record of prior performance for placement and credit assignment and records the class, grade and source on its own transcript (W. Va. Code § 18-8-1a(e), as amended in 2026).
PROMISE Scholarship applicants from home school submit a Grade Verification Form and a transcript, and the Department of Education lists core course minimums that include 4 English, 4 mathematics, 4 social science and 3 lab-based science credits; confirm the full current list with the Higher Education Policy Commission.
The law requires the parent to keep each annual assessment for three years (§ 18-8-1(c)(2)(D)); keeping them longer alongside the transcript is practice, not law.
No West Virginia law defines a homeschool credit; the 120-hour Carnegie unit is a common convention, not a requirement.

College admission and state aid for West Virginia homeschoolers

W. Va. Code § 18-8-12 bars state agencies and West Virginia institutions of higher learning from treating a person differently solely because the diploma came from a home school. The PROMISE Scholarship accepts applications within two years of completing a secondary education program in a home school; the Department of Education says home-schooled applicants must meet the core and overall GPA and core course requirements and submit a Grade Verification Form, a transcript, and documentation of home-schooled status from the county school board office.W. Va. Code § 18-8-12; W. Va. Code § 18C-7-6(c)(1)(A); WVDE, Homeschool State Code (Promise Scholarship Homeschool Requirements)

Recent changes to West Virginia homeschool law

W. Va. Code § 18-8-1a(e), as amended by SB 625 (2023, effective June 9, 2023, concerning microschool programs) and HB 5089 (2026, effective June 9, 2026), requires a public school to accept a transcript or other credential from a homeschool program (among others) as the record of a student's previous academic performance for placement and credit assignment; HB 5089 added public charter schools, requires the public school to record the class, grade and source on its transcript, and requires an annual report to LOCEA on students who re-enroll. HB 4945 (2024, effective June 7, 2024) extended the § 18-8-12 diploma authority to microschools, learning pods and Hope Scholarship individualized instructional programs. The State Treasurer announced that from the 2026-2027 school year all K-12 children, including traditional homeschool students, may apply for the Hope Scholarship; a Hope student in an individualized instructional program follows the Hope Scholarship Act instead of the home instruction exemption. Bills that would have changed the § 18-8-1 home instruction rules, including HB 3408 (2023), HB 5180 (2024), HB 2777 (2025), SB 972 (2026) and HB 5669 (2026), were not enacted and are not law; the legislature's code site lists SB 268 (2022) as the most recent signed bill amending § 18-8-1.

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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:

Whether 'homeschool program' was already listed in § 18-8-1a(e) before SB 625 (2023) was not confirmed; SB 625's title refers to microschool programs.
The failure of SB 972 and HB 5669 (2026) is reported by HSLDA (session ended March 14, 2026); the legislature's bill status pages show SB 972's last action in the Senate on March 2, 2026 and HB 5669 on second reading in the House on March 5, 2026.
Hope Scholarship universal eligibility for 2026-2027 is from the State Treasurer's March 3, 2026 press release; § 18-31-2(5) makes it depend on a July 1, 2024 participation-rate test, and that calculation was not reviewed.
The WVDE page's PROMISE core course list was only partly read.
No enacted 2023 amendment to § 18-8-1(c) was found; the only 2023 bill the code site lists for § 18-8-1 is HB 3408 (a Hope Scholarship clean-up bill), whose last action was referral to Senate Finance on March 2, 2023. The 2023 enacted change found was SB 625, which amended § 18-8-1a(e), not § 18-8-1.

Sources

General information about West 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].