United Kingdom Student Stories

Homeschooling with autism and OCD

Sixteen-year-old Lily turned to homeschooling after struggling with her autism and severe OCD in mainstream school.

Diver – Olivia Reeve

Elite diver Olivia Reeve homeschooled with Wolsey Hall while she combined her training and competing with her IGCSE studies. After many years of competing at a high level in diving, in 2015 Olivia was diagnosed with chronic fatigue syndrome and had to stop competing in her sport. She battled back from illness and returned to diving in 2018. Since then she has regained all of her previously held titles, been placed 4th in the East Region and has competed in the finals of several diving events. During this time Olivia was also studying for her IGCSEs and appreciated the flexibility and tailored approach of homeschooling.

Swimmer – Aimee Monks

Fourteen-yearold swimmer Aimee Monks discovered her love for her sport at five years old. She started competing at seven and her training and competition commitments have steadily increased. Homeschooling has proven the perfect fit for obtaining a good education around her busy schedule. Aimee has achieved much already, winning 192 medals and trophies to date.

Homeschooling equestrian athlete

Fourteen-year-old Martha is a homeschooling equestrian athlete who started homeschooling in 2018 to enable her to juggle her equestrian training, competing and studying.

Adult learning student

Our adult learning student Ben Dean is a testament to the power of determination and hard work. After leaving school with no qualifications and working for 15 years as a welder, he earned a degree from the Open University. Ben then completed our IGCSE English and Maths courses, hoping to improve his employability and proficiency in these skills.

Badminton player – Ethan Rose

England Junior International Badminton Player Ethan Rose has found the flexibility of studying with Wolsey Hall works perfectly with his intensive training. Ethan is the first Men’s English Singles Player to be ranked in the Top 8 in the World on the U19 BWF World Junior Rankings since ranking records began at the beginning of 2012.

Gymnast – Amelie Morgan

Gymnast Amelie Morgan studied for her IGCSE with Wolsey Hall Oxford as a homeschooling gymnast. Since then we have been watching her career and were delighted to see her impressive performance in the 2021 European Gymnast Championships where she achieved a bronze medal in uneven bars with a very inspiring routine. Amelie and her GB Gymnastics team also acheived an impressive bronze medal at the 2021 Tokyo Olympics.

Gifted child

Eddie (age 14 from the UK) is a gifted child and track cyclist with huge potential. He started his education in traditional school and left in his last year of Primary Level after researching the benefits of homeschooling. “I got very bored in that final year as we went over previous work every day, I was really ready to learn new things and I started to research home education.”

School anxiety – Charlie’s story

Relentless testing and exams, online bullying through social media, peer pressure – it’s no wonder our children are feeling increased levels of anxiety. For some children this pressure is too much and can result in them feeling extremely anxious about going to school. Becoming withdrawn and tearful, refusing to participate in activities they’d previously enjoyed, distancing from friends, feeling physically ill. The effects of school anxiety are extensive and impact on the whole family. For many children with extreme anxiety, homeschooling can provide an alternative method of learning away from the challenges they face in mainstream schooling.

Tarun has been doing Year 7 and 8 English, Maths and Science with Wolsey Hall. He is enjoying his courses and loves the flexibility the whole homeschooling program brings. He is able to plan his learning at his own pace, and plan his day well to accommodate his other interests of playing the Violin and Piano, reading and playing games. The online material in terms of textbooks, videos, the course plan and support from his tutors is helping him get past his studies with ease. During the peak Covid times when amazon deliveries were stopped the online virtual library of Wolsey was a boon to him as he loves to read.
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Deepali Patel, Secondary Parent

India

I must say enrolling Nicole at Wolsey Hall has been one of the best decisions we ever made. At school, Nicole's progress remained extremely limited due to lack of support with her learning difficulties. Since being at Wolsey, Nicole's English has come on leaps and bounds, from her spelling, to grammar, to organisation and formats of essays. The amount of time and support Nicole's tutors, Pat and Michelle have invested in Nicole has been fantastic. Nicole's academic knowledge and confidence has soared since being at Wolsey and I am extremely grateful to you all. (Nicole has segmatic pragmatic disorder high functioning autism, as well as suspected dyslexia).
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Michelle Rudge – IGCSE Parent

UK

I have just finished consulting with Michelle about Truman and his studies. She is really an amazing asset to your organization, her ability to understand children really blew me away. She has recommended several methods for us to ensure that Truman enjoys and succeeds in his education through Wolsey Hall. We’re really excited to get started.

Rebecca Atkins – Homeschooling Three Children

Italy