Another Way to Learn

The School I Wish I’d Found Sooner: A Conversation with the Founder of UK Virtual School

When we first stepped into home education, I didn’t have a plan.

I had panic, a laptop, and Google.

Like so many parents who suddenly find themselves outside the school system, I wasn’t searching for an alternative. I was searching for a solution. Something — anything — that would help me make sense of what on earth we were supposed to do next.

That’s how I stumbled across UK Virtual School.

Not through a recommendation.
Not through a glossy advert.
Just through a search on a train to London that read something like:

“home education but still want structure but not school but still GCSEs – help.”

And there they were. I found their Podcast. It hooked me immediately, I listened to quite a few on my train journey that day. (and I will list some favourites at the bottom of this blog)

Recently, I had the chance to sit down (virtually, from a very sunny Morocco on Syd’s side) with Syd — the founder of UK Virtual School — to ask the questions I wish I could have asked 18 months ago when Evie was in Year 9 and we were suddenly, unexpectedly, home educating.

What I didn’t expect was to hear a story that felt so familiar.

“I didn’t actually want to start a virtual school”

Syd laughed when I asked her why she started UKVS.

“I didn’t want to do it,” she said.

Which, oddly, is exactly the kind of answer that makes you trust someone.

UKVS wasn’t born from a business plan. It grew from lived experience.

Her younger siblings were home educated after school failed them. Within a year of being home educated, they were reading huge books and thriving.

That experience shaped everything.

Years later, Syd was running hands-on science workshops for both school and home educated children. Then COVID hit. Schools went online… badly. Parents were expected to teach worksheets at home. No live lessons. No engagement. No real teaching.

Parents started messaging Syd:

“Can you do something online? Proper teaching?”

Syd decided to prove a point to the primary school she was a governor at — who insisted live online lessons “wouldn’t work”.

So she ran a three-week trial for 15 families.

One hundred applied.

The feedback?

“Oh my god, you’re actually teaching them.”

And UK Virtual School was born.

Not as a vision.
Not as a business.
But as a quiet rebellion against how low the bar had become.

Who UKVS is really for (and it’s not who you think)

I asked Syd what kind of families reach out to them.

Her answer fell into four very clear groups — and if you’re reading this, you might see yourself in one of them.

1. The children the system didn’t fit

SEN needs not met. Anxiety. Trauma. Bullying. Parents feeling unheard, sometimes even gaslit by schools. Children who slowly shrink in a classroom that isn’t built for them.

These are not children who can’t learn.

They’re children who can’t learn there.

2. Families who realised time together matters more

Post-COVID, there’s been a huge rise in families travelling, moving abroad, or simply redesigning their lives so work fits around family instead of the other way round.

Education becomes something that supports life — not dominates it.

3. Children with big talents or passions

BMX racers. Tennis players. Musicians. Actors. Young entrepreneurs running businesses from their bedrooms.

Children who need flexibility because their real learning is happening in the world as well.

4. Families who simply don’t agree with the system

No drama. No trauma. Just a quiet feeling that the traditional model isn’t preparing children for the future — and wanting something more tailored.

The bit that stopped me in my tracks

One part of our conversation has stayed with me.

Syd spoke about how some children — particularly Black boys — are too often labelled as “problem children” by adults in schools. How quickly a child can begin to live up to the expectations placed on them.

She reflected that many families arrive at UKVS not because something is wrong with their child, but because their previous environment wasn’t the right fit. With the right support, respect, and expectations, children often thrive in ways that surprise everyone — including themselves.

And that’s when something clicked for me.

The work I’m starting to explore with a paediatrician — looking at children’s health holistically — suddenly made even more sense.

We keep trying to fix children with therapy, medication, and referrals… when sometimes what’s making them unwell is the environment they spend 8 hours a day in.

What surprised me most

Two things.

1. A quarter of UKVS students leave every year

Not because they’re unhappy.

Because they’re ready to go back to school or college.

UKVS often acts as a bridge — rebuilding confidence, rebuilding the love of learning, until a child feels able to step back into a traditional setting if they want to.

That’s not something you hear often in alternative education.

2. The primary years work brilliantly

I had always wondered how younger children cope online.

Apparently? Better than you’d think.

They’re engaged. Excited. Keen to talk. Happy to share. Parents feel involved. And the children still love learning.

The trickiest age? Year 7–9. Old enough to want independence, not quite old enough to organise it.

Sound familiar?

UKVS also have a Learning Hub that doesn’t feel like a classroom

Syd showed me photos of their physical hub.

There’s a science lab. An art area. A garden. A reading corner. A little stage. Sofas. Cushions.

Parents walk in and say, “It feels like home.”

Which matters deeply when children have trauma associated with classrooms.

They’re now working towards becoming an exam centre, and exploring funding opportunities to support SEN children locally.

Slowly, quietly, building something different.

The uncomfortable barrier: money

The biggest thing stopping families choosing this path?

Finances.

Because when school doesn’t work for your child, you’re still expected to privately fund an alternative.

And that’s where this conversation has opened something bigger for me.

Why isn’t there funding for this?

Why isn’t this seen as preventative healthcare, not just education?

How much money could be saved in therapy, CAMHS referrals, specialist schools, one-to-one support — if children were simply in environments where they could thrive?

It’s a question I’m now very interested in exploring further.

What this really is

UK Virtual School isn’t trying to replace traditional school.
It offers an alternative for families who want something different, for as long as it works for them.

And perhaps most importantly — it was created by someone who understands the home-education community from the inside, not someone trying to digitise a traditional system.

That difference is reflected in the culture, the relationships, and the way students are treated as individuals.

If you’re where I was 18 months ago…

Overwhelmed. Unsure. Googling frantically.

I wish I had found this sooner.

If you want to hear real families talk about their experiences, UKVS has a brilliant podcast library. A few worth starting with:

  • A girl with ADHD who found structure through UKVS
  • A boy working at Year 3 level at 13 who found confidence and belonging
  • A twin who rediscovered her love of learning through art
  • Families travelling the world while still accessing education
  • Parents who felt school had completely failed their child

I’ll link to these below.

Because sometimes, hearing someone else’s story is the thing that helps you realise you’re not alone — and that there really is another way to learn.

Laura

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