A Parent’s Guide to Alternative Pathways

Summary

Featuring a Q&A with Jo Symes, Founder of Progressive Education.

Some families reach a stage where the school day dominates everything: energy, mood, home life, even weekends. You start noticing how much recovery your child needs after a single day in the classroom, or how often they’re running on empty before the week has even begun.

The usual advice like “give it time”, “they’ll settle”, “it’s just a phase” stops matching what you’re seeing at home. The school day feels harder to recover from, and you start wondering whether the environment itself is part of the problem.

That moment is a signal. It’s usually the beginning of a search: What else is out there? What would actually work for my child?

Alternative pathways have become more popular because more parents are asking those questions openly. It offers routes that feel calmer, more flexible, more humane, and far better aligned with the needs of children who don’t thrive in a conventional setting.

Before we move into Jo’s Q&A, here’s a brief look at the landscape she works within and what alternative pathways there are.

What Alternatives Are There to Mainstream School?

There are many alternatives which give children a safer, calmer, more responsive environment than a standard school day, many have been around for as long as the modern school system itself.

We asked Jo what this can look like in practice:

“There are many inspiring alternatives to conventional schooling, and new models continue to emerge. Some options to consider include: 

Flexischooling: 

Flexischooling describes an arrangement between the parent/carer and a school, whereby children are registered at the school in the usual way but only attend for part of the week. It is a perfectly legal option but it is at the discretion of the head teacher to approve it. 

Home Education: 

Elective Home Education (EHE) is the term used when a child is not registered on a school roll. Either they were never registered in the first place and never went to school, or they have been deregistered by the parent/carer. The responsibility for the education resides with the parent/carer. 

There is no legal requirement to follow any curriculum or timetable, or to keep up with the age-related expectations of school. You can choose an educational approach that best meets the needs of your child. Often families use their community as their classroom and join all sorts of clubs and classes, combined with excursions. 

EOTAS:

‘Education Otherwise Than at School’ (EOTAS) is where a child or young person is educated outside of a traditional school setting. Unlike EHE, the education is arranged and paid for by the local authority. EOTAS provision can include things like specialist tutors, therapeutic support, “Alternative Provision” settings, online learning, mentoring and community projects. 

Progressive Schools and Learning Communities: 

Progressive learning environments place an emphasis on mental health and wellbeing, children’s rights, social justice and real-world life skills – alongside the academics. 

What this can look like on the ground is a move away from a top-down, authoritarian teaching style, with the all-knowing teacher at the front of the class, towards environments which foster a culture of mutual respect, where: 

– Young people have a voice and choice regarding what and how they learn; 

– Differences are celebrated and young people can learn at their own pace; 

– Learning is relevant to the individual, the wider community and real life; 

– Instead of separate subject silos, there can be opportunities to learn through projects; 

– Young people have access to nature and the world outside of a classroom; 

– There is more room for play, inquiry and the discovery of interests, passions and strengths; 

– Decisions can be made collaboratively and there is time for healthy conflict resolution; 

There are a number of different approaches ranging from Montessori, Reggio Emilia, Forest School, Waldorf Steiner, to Democratic, Self-Directed and Consent-Based Education. Some of these provisions are full-time registered schools. Others are part-time learning communities for home educated young people. Unfortunately, because these settings receive no government funding, most do have to charge fees. However often there will be a sliding scale of fees based on household income and some offer bursary places. 

Online/Hybrid Schooling: 

While most progressive schools and learning communities are in-person, these approaches are more accessible than ever thanks to the explosion of online schools which have sprung up since COVID. These innovative schools tend to favour project-based learning and will find creative ways for the young people to learn through experiences and global collaboration. They will often have their own unique interdisciplinary curriculum and assess learning through projects instead of exams.

More traditional online schools replicate the mainstream school model. They follow set curricula such as GCSEs, IGCSEs, A Levels, IB, CBSE, or the US curriculum, and they’ll often have rigid timetable. 

You can choose between ‘synchronous online schools’, whereby teachers deliver live online timetabled lessons in real-time, and ‘asynchronous online schools’, which are completely self-paced. Asynchronous schools offer pre-recorded sessions for learners to watch in their own time, as there’s no live element. 

We’re also starting to see more hybrid learning opportunities popping up now which combine online learning with an in-person community.”

For many families, discovering these options brings a sense of relief. It widens the map. It shows that “school” doesn’t have to mean one building, one timetable, one way of learning.”

Who Is Progressive Education?

Progressive Education is a social enterprise created by Jo Symes to help families understand what learning can look like outside a traditional school model. It began as a fast‑growing Facebook community and has since become a hub for parents, educators and young people who are exploring different approaches to education.

The organisation raises awareness of alternatives to mainstream schooling and shares practical information about how education can be reimagined. On the website, families can learn why some children struggle in conventional settings, what alternative approaches exist, and how these models work day‑to‑day. There’s also an online course introducing ten different ways to approach education in the 21st century, along with a global directory where parents can search for progressive schools, learning communities and specialist settings.

Progressive Education uses the word “progressive” in its simplest sense: moving towards change. It focuses on approaches that prioritise agency, autonomy, student voice, mental health and the life skills children genuinely need, things like creativity, collaboration and critical thinking. Jo draws inspiration from models both inside and outside the mainstream, showing that innovation isn’t limited to one type of setting.

The project continues to grow, offering support for parents whose children are struggling, resources for people setting up their own learning communities, and campaigns aimed at improving the wider education system. At its heart, Progressive Education exists to give families clarity, confidence and choice, and to help them find environments where children can thrive.

Progressive Education isn’t about promoting a single “right” way to learn. It’s about widening the map so families can see the choices available, and supporting them to find the approach that fits their child’s needs, personality and circumstances.

With that in mind, this is the perfect moment to move into Jo’s Q&A. Her answers offer a clear, honest picture of what alternative pathways can look like for real families, and what signs to pay attention to when you’re wondering whether mainstream is still the right fit.

A Closer Look: Jo Symes on Alternative Pathways

How can parents recognise when a child’s wellbeing is being impacted by their current school environment, and when a child might thrive better outside a traditional school setting? 

“There’s no single sign that tells a parent or carer that a child “should” leave mainstream school. Many children go through temporary challenges, and many also thrive once the right support is put in place. But for some children, the school environment itself can become a sustained source of distress, dysregulation and disconnection, and evidence suggests that some children will forever struggle to cope with the full-time school environment. 

Just as different plants need different conditions to thrive, children and young people will flourish in different environments too. Some signs to look out for include: 

· Anxiety around school. This can often escalate on Sunday evenings, at the end of the holidays, mornings before school, straight after pick-up or bedtime. My son used to say, “I don’t want to close my eyes, because when I wake up, it’s school”. 

· Unhappiness or anxiety around school attendance can manifest itself as irritability, tearfulness, anger and rage. 

· Frequent physical symptoms with no clear medical cause, such as headaches, stomach aches, exhaustion, nausea, loss of appetite or trouble sleeping. 

· A change in personality, energy or self-esteem. Some people describe it as their child’s ‘lights going out’, or ‘losing their spark’. 

· Sometimes young people can ‘mask’, appearing “fine” at school but falling apart at home. This actually sparked the launch of a Facebook Group back in 2017 called ‘Not Fine in School’, which now has over 80,000 members. 

Sadly, these symptoms are on the increase, and referrals to Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS) have risen by 50%. 21% of all school age children are persistently absent. 

It is therefore no surprise that 19 million families nationwide want alternatives to traditional schooling. Although this statistic was noted in a survey commissioned by Mosaic in the US, the problem is global. More and more people are seeking alternatives to our one-size-fits-all school system.”

What are some common misconceptions about alternative education that you’d like to challenge?

“Myth 1: Home educated children miss out on socialising. 

The term ‘home education’ is perhaps misleading as it implies that children are learning at home in isolation. This is a misconception as most children are involved with a huge array of activities outside of the home. They are also mixing with people of all ages which is better preparation for adulthood and the world of work. 

Myth 2: You have to be rich to home educate. 

You can spend as little or as much as you like facilitating home education. Some groups can be costly, but there are also plenty of low cost and free resources and community meet-ups, both in-person and online. 

Myth 3: Progressive Schools are like Lord of the Flies. It’s chaos where children just do what they want. 

“The values of progressive environments are rooted in mutual respect and authentic community, where everyone is valued, and based on my experience, I feel this is a huge misconception. Giving young people more voice and choice doesn’t mean a lack of rules or structure. In democratic schools for example, there are many rules and bureaucratic processes. The difference is that that the young people are involved in creating them. 

The Lord of the Flies argument is an interesting one, as in reality, when a group of schoolboys were marooned on an island in real life, it turned out very differently from William Golding’s bestselling novel. 

In his book, Humankind (2020), Rutger Bregman describes how six teenage boys from a boarding school in Tonga stole a boat in 1965, got caught in a storm, and drifted for eight days without food or water. They washed up on ‘Ata, a remote, uninhabited island in the Pacific. They stayed there for 15 months, and what happened on that island was the exact opposite of William Golding’s novel! You can read about it here.  

Bregman says that these boys set up a small commune. They built a food garden, stored rainwater in hollowed-out tree trunks, created a gym with improvised weights, and built a badminton court. One of them managed to start a fire using two sticks and they kept it burning the entire time. Although they inevitably had fights and argued, they made a rule to go to opposite ends of the island to cool down before coming back to apologize. 

They were finally discovered and rescued by a passing boat and remained friends for the rest of their lives. Bregman is keen to share this story and posted on social media when the BBC released a new TV adaptation in February 2026, saying: 

“William Golding (the author of Lord of the Flies) was a troubled man… I think he was projecting his own darkness onto children. And we turned it into a lesson about human nature that we teach to millions of kids around the world. 

I think the real lesson is the opposite. When real children found themselves alone on a real island, they didn’t descend into savagery. They cooperated. They took care of each other. They survived. 

I’m not saying that the Tongan castaways were representative of all kids everywhere. But I am saying that every kid who has to read or watch the fictional Lord of the Flies also deserves to know what actually happened when it played out in real life.” 

So maybe we need to trust kids and give them more respect, agency and autonomy in education than they are currently afforded in mainstream schooling. 

However, as with any educational model, including mainstream schooling, the quality of implementation varies considerably. Simply describing a school as ‘democratic’, ‘Montessori’ or ‘Reggio Emilia’, for example, does not guarantee that its educational philosophy is translated into everyday practice. It is therefore important that families considering any educational approach look beyond the label and carefully consider each setting’s values, policies and culture.”

Myth 4: If I take an alternative path, my child won’t progress academically or get a good job. 

“Many believe that, in terms of success in education, we value what we can measure, instead of finding ways to measure what we truly value. Education thought leaders outside of mainstream schooling believe that real-world skills for adulthood and the workplace are better acquired in more personalised and autonomous environments. 

For example, in his book, Self-Managed Learning and the New Educational Paradigm (2021), the author, Dr Ian Cunningham, recalls a conversation with a CEO of a major company. They were discussing what the educational world needs to provide for his ‘leading edge’ business. After discussion, the CEO emailed Dr Cunningham the following list: 

“Building the right mindsets, critical reasoning, understanding of biases, creative thinking and problem solving, fluid and flexible thinking, love of learning, design thinking, communication and influence, impact and changing the world around us, community, interpersonal dynamics and relationships, wellness and mental health; spiritual path; self-esteem, resilience, grittiness etc. Meta cognition. Ethics, personal accountability and integrity. Teamwork. Emotional intelligence. Pattern matching and recognition. Self-knowledge and understanding of own patterns. Curiosity, cultural awareness.” 

Cunningham says: 

“In a way there is nothing remarkable about the list; every survey of employers in the UK in the last 20 years has come up with major criticisms of the educational system with demands for better teamwork, better creativity, more self managing capability and so on. Also, our research (along with that of all academics who have also made studies of leaders) shows that school, college, university and training courses contribute at most 10 to 20% of what makes senior leaders effective. In other words, the billions of pounds and dollars that are spent every year globally are largely wasted. 

If we are going to respond to the CEO’s list of requirements, we need a process that encourages those qualities. It’s not about having content. We know that AI can deal more effectively with the content side of running a business. What AI can’t do – and will not be able to do – is to deal with those qualities the CEO suggested and what my colleague Rose Luckin (2018) has identified as including a social intelligence; the ability to engage with others and to think creatively. When we look at the requirements for business leaders, we can see what is needed – and the accumulation of irrelevant facts from school or university will not help. 

I’m making the case that we need a New Educational Paradigm (Cunningham, 2020). It’s no use trying to tidy up school, classrooms, the curriculum, and so on. They are all major distortions that get in the way of effective learning and they all have to go.” 

Luckin, R. (2018) Machine Learning and Human Intelligence. London: Institute of Education Press 

In response to this mis-match between what employers have been calling for, and what mainstream schooling offers, in 2001 Dr Cunningham set up his own alternative, the Self Managed Learning College (SMLC) in Sussex, England. It ran for 24 years for young people aged 11 to 16 and there were no classrooms, no teachers, no imposed curriculum and no imposed timetable. Rather than focusing on ‘getting a good job’, Cunningham’s vision for his graduates was much broader, as he was considering their whole life. He said: 

“Our aim is simple – to help learners to lead a good life. However, to make this happen we have to give them the chance to take charge of their own learning within a caring and supportive community. 

If we need the qualities that my CEO client has argued for, we have to have a process which matches that, and one not based around making young people regurgitate facts in order to pass tests/exams.” 

To take a few examples from the CEO’s list, at SMLC: 

· They learnt to be creative and to solve problems by doing it. For example, they had to plan their own personalised curriculum which also required the development of self knowledge; 

· They had to learn to get on with others as part of a self managing community that came up with its own rules, thereby assisting members not just to develop independence but also inter-dependence. They supported each other’s learning; 

· They developed a love of learning by being given the chance to learn anything they like in any way that worked for them; 

· They directly addressed issues of wellness and mental health by focusing on each other’s needs and by being hugely tolerant of differences.”

How can parents begin exploring these pathways if they’re unsure where to start?

“I recently created an online course which introduces ten alternatives to conventional schooling, and from that I’ve made a little film. It’s just nine minutes long and features some of the options available.“

“Even if people don’t need the full course, I’m hoping that this video alone could be pretty powerful for changing minds or at least planting some seeds for change! Readers can also explore the resources and directory at ProgressiveEducation.org” 

Are there any success stories or examples that illustrate the impact of choosing an alternative route?

“The philosophy behind some of the progressive approaches to education may sound wonderful in theory, but parents can feel nervous doing something unconventional when it comes to something as important as their children’s education. This is exactly how Dr Peter Gray felt when his 10-year-old started at the US self-directed, democratic, Sudbury Valley School (SVS). Founded in 1968, this school has no formal timetable and no curriculum (unless requested by the students). Gray could see straight away how the school made his son happy, but he had some concerns and questions: 

· Might he be narrowing his son’s future options? 

· Would he be able to go to college? 

· Might certain career paths be cut off? 

Despite the reassurances from staff members and parents of former students, as a scientist and conscientious parent he was not fully satisfied. To address his concerns, he conducted a systematic study of the schools’ graduates, with fellow researcher, David Chanoff. The results which were published in the American Journal of Education in 1986 found that: 

· 75% of graduates went on to higher education. 

· Those who pursued higher education reported no difficulty getting into colleges of their choice. 

· Graduates were remarkably successful in finding employment that personally interested them. 

· They had gone on to a wide range of careers that are valued by society. 

Since Gray and Chanoff’s research, SVS has conducted further studies of its graduates and documented their follow-up with alumni in the books, ‘Legacy of Trust: Life After the Sudbury Valley School Experience’ and ‘The Pursuit of Happiness – The Lives of Sudbury Valley Alumni’, both by Daniel Greenberg, co-founder of SVS. 

All of the studies have shown that the school works very well as an educational institution. Dr Peter Gray reports that graduates can be found working as entrepreneurs, artists, musicians,

scientists, social workers, skilled craftsmen, nurses, doctors, and so on. And importantly, former students report that they are happy with their lives. He says: “The graduates have continued to do well in higher education and in their careers, and the great majority of them attribute much of their success to the skills, attitudes, and values they acquired during their years at the school.

I highly recommend Dr Peter Gray’s book, ‘Free to Learn: Why Unleashing the Instinct to Play Will Make Our Children Happier, More Self-Reliant and Better Students for Life’. 

You can also watch an incredibly inspiring webinar with a panel of young people who have been educated outside of the mainstream on the Progressive Education YouTube channel. This panel discussion took place at the recent EDUCATION: Past> Present> Future event and involved four self-directed learners aged from five to fifteen discussing the future of education“

What advice would you give to parents who feel overwhelmed by the transition out of mainstream school? 

“I would say that community and connection is key. Questioning the mainstream can feel isolating and it’s often difficult to know where to begin to search for answers. Readers are very welcome to join the Progressive Education Group on Facebook. I set this up in 2019 to connect with like-minded folk on the same journey exploring the world of alternatives. We are now a thriving supportive community of over 11,500 parents/carers, educators, academics, researchers, psychologists, education innovators and changemakers. 

If you feel you need more support, I also offer one to one mentoring to help you explore what might work best for your family, view more information on our website or you can contact me at hello@ProgressiveEducation.org”

Supporting Your Child’s Next Steps

If mainstream schooling has stopped feeling workable, it’s completely valid to look at other routes. Children evolve, and their learning needs evolve too, and the environment around them has to adapt with them. When it doesn’t, families are left trying to hold everything together without the right support.

At SEND Tutoring, that adaptability sits at the heart of what we do. Every learner we work with is met as an individual, not a set of targets, not a timetable to squeeze into. Our tutors adjust their approach to match each child’s pace, interests, regulation needs and preferred way of engaging. That’s why we’re trusted to support EOTAS packages, work within alternative provision, and help families during transitions out of or alongside mainstream settings.

We hope this guide, and Jo’s insights, has helped families understand the range of pathways available out there. The good news is that children today have more choice than ever. Approaches that used to feel rare or hard to access are becoming increasingly established options for many families. As more routes become recognised and accessible, our hope is that every family feels empowered to choose the path that lets their child feel seen, supported and able to thrive in their own way.

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Discover how SEND Tutoring supports students with a wide range of needs, including autism, ADHD, dyslexia, PDA, SEMH, epilepsy, and more. 

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Ella Jones

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