When contact is restricted or completely stopped, a parent can still obtain information from their child’s school.  This applies to all biological parents, not just those who have parental rights and responsibilities. If you haven’t been in contact with that school, start by sending a letter to the head teacher to introduce yourself and show that you are entitled to receive the information.  See our guide for further information and letter templates.

Home education is allowed in Scotland as an alternative to attending a school.  The local authority has a responsibility to ensure that this education meets certain standards, and the parent of every child of school age has the duty to provide efficient education for him suitable to his age, ability and aptitude either by causing him to attend a public school regularly or by other means.  In this connection, parents are the biological parents, not just those with parental responsibilities and rights.

We have recently launched the Shared Parenting Scotland website and are continuing to develop the content, please bear with us whilst this happens. In the meantime, if you have specific questions, please contact us

Choosing which school to attend may involve factors other that the relative quality of different schools.  Sometimes the dispute relates to the distance from each parent’s home, or to the type of school (local authority, private, religious or with other special features).  These dispute occasionally end up in court either as requests for specific issue orders or as part of a wider residence dispute.  The decision should always be made on what is in the best interests of the child, but determining best interests can be tricky.  In one case the sheriff actually visited both schools in order to determine which was most suitable.  A recent case concerned the choice between a local authority school near to one parent’s house and a Gaelic medium school which would have required a longer journey to school but which would maintain the language of the other parent.  In that case it was decided that the nearby school would be best for the child.  Such cases are costly and only settle the immediate question – avoid them if at all possible.