Pennsylvania is paperwork-heavy but predictable: two filings a year, a portfolio you build as you go, and one evaluator who reviews it. The upside is real, though: a Pennsylvania home education diploma is recognized by the state.
Verified against primary sources August 2026. Laws change; sources are linked at the bottom of this page.
What Pennsylvania requires, in short
File an affidavit or unsworn declaration with your superintendent by August 1, including your objectives, immunization evidence, and health services evidence. Build a portfolio during the year with a log naming reading materials by title plus work samples. Test only in grades 3, 5, and 8. Have a qualified evaluator review it and file their certification by June 30.
Annual filingsTwo: affidavit by Aug 1, evaluator certification by Jun 30
Records you must keepContemporaneous log with reading titles, work samples, test results
Portfolio goes toYour evaluator only. The district no longer reviews it.
TestingGrades 3, 5, 8 only (reading/LA and math)
Instruction180 days or 900 hours (elementary) / 990 (secondary)
DiplomaParent-issued, state-recognized
Your legal options in Pennsylvania
Home education program (the standard route)
You supervise your own children's education under the home education law. This is what the rest of this page describes.
Annual affidavit by August 1 with attachments
Portfolio built contemporaneously
Annual evaluation by a qualified evaluator, certified to the district by June 30
Standardized testing in grades 3, 5, and 8
Private tutor
A Pennsylvania-certified teacher, paid, teaching the children of a single family and providing the majority of instruction.
The tutor files certification and criminal history with the district
No affidavit, no portfolio, no evaluator, no grade 3/5/8 testing
Same 180-day and subject requirements
Church or accredited day school
Enrollment in a day school operated by a bona fide church or an accredited school satisfies compulsory attendance a different way.
The school's rules govern
Note that the state education department's position is that umbrella-school enrollment does not exempt you from the home education law, and such programs do not produce a state-recognized diploma
What the law actually requires
File an affidavit or unsworn declaration by August 1
Every year, before the program begins and by August 1 thereafter, file with your district superintendent either a notarized affidavit or an unsworn declaration signed under penalty of perjury (the state provides templates for both, so notarization is optional). It names the supervisor, each child and age, the program's address, states that required subjects will be taught in English, and includes an outline of proposed educational objectives by subject.
24 P.S. 13-1327.1(b)
Attach immunization and health evidence each year
The affidavit includes evidence of immunization and of the health and medical services required by state school health law. That means medical exams at original entry, grade 6, and grade 11, and dental exams at entry, grade 3, and grade 7. Religious or moral exemptions and medical exemptions both exist. After the first review, a short physician or exemption letter each year is generally sufficient.
24 P.S. 13-1327.1(b); Article XIV school health services
Teach the required subjects for 180 days or the hour equivalent
Provide 180 days of instruction, or 900 hours at the elementary level or 990 hours at the secondary level. Either days or hours satisfies it, not both. The subject lists are enumerated by law and differ between elementary and secondary, and include Pennsylvania history and fire safety instruction. Instruction need not follow the public school calendar or hours.
24 P.S. 13-1327.1(c)
Build a portfolio as you go
The portfolio contains a log made contemporaneously with the instruction that designates by title the reading materials used, plus samples of writings, worksheets, workbooks, or creative materials the student used or developed, plus grade 3, 5, and 8 test results. Contemporaneously is the legal word that matters: it is meant to be built during the year, not assembled in June.
24 P.S. 13-1327.1(e)(1)
Test in grades 3, 5, and 8 only
Students take a standardized test in reading/language arts and mathematics in grades 3, 5, and 8. You may use the state assessment through your district at no cost, or one of the approved nationally normed alternatives at your expense. The test may not be administered by the child's parent or guardian. Results go into the portfolio; they are never filed with the district and carry no score threshold.
24 P.S. 13-1327.1(e)(1)
Get an annual evaluation and file the certification by June 30
Each year a qualified evaluator interviews your child, reviews the portfolio, and writes a certification that an appropriate education is occurring. You file that certification with the superintendent by June 30. Qualified means a licensed psychologist, a Pennsylvania-certified teacher with two years of experience, or a nonpublic school teacher or administrator with two years of recent Pennsylvania experience. It cannot be you or your spouse.
24 P.S. 13-1327.1(e)(2), (f), (h.1)
Your compliance calendar
By August 1
File the affidavit or unsworn declaration with your superintendent, including objectives, immunization evidence, and health services evidence.
All year
Keep the contemporaneous log (reading materials by title) and collect work samples across every subject taught.
Grades 3, 5, 8
Arrange the standardized test with someone other than yourself administering it; file results in the portfolio.
Spring
Schedule your evaluator early. Good evaluators book up, and many now accept digital portfolios.
By June 30
File the evaluator's written certification with the superintendent. Missing it triggers a certified letter and a ten-day window to fix it.
Senior year
Your twelfth-grade evaluator signs the state diploma form. No one else may sign it, so keep that relationship intact through graduation.
Records to keep
Contemporaneous log. Dated entries naming reading materials by title, and enough detail to show 180 days or the hour totals. This is the backbone of the portfolio.
Work samples. Writings, worksheets, workbooks, and creative materials from every subject taught. Evaluators conventionally look for a few dated samples per subject across the year.
Test results for grades 3, 5, 8. Filed in the portfolio, shown to the evaluator, never sent to the district.
Each year's evaluation and affidavit copies. No retention period is set by law, but keep everything through graduation: the twelfth-grade evaluator and any credit disputes depend on it.
Course lists for grades 9 through 12. Not statutory, but the state recommends having each year's evaluator sign off on a detailed course list, which makes the senior-year diploma process straightforward.
Transcript (high school). Not required by the state, but recommended by it and required by colleges. Build it alongside the yearly course lists.
The portfolio is not filed with the district. Since 2014 only your evaluator reviews it.
No notarization if you use the unsworn declaration template.
No standardized testing in any grade except 3, 5, and 8.
No teaching credential or degree beyond a high school diploma for the supervisor.
No curriculum approval: the objectives outline you attach cannot be used to judge whether an appropriate education occurred.
No district home visits, and no mid-year reporting unless a superintendent documents a specific reasonable belief of noncompliance.
Questions Pennsylvania families ask
Does my portfolio go to the school district in Pennsylvania?
No, not since 2014. The district receives only the evaluator certification. The portfolio itself goes to your evaluator and stays with you.
Do I have to get the Pennsylvania affidavit notarized?
No. You may file an unsworn declaration signed under penalty of perjury instead, and the state publishes templates for both.
What grades require testing in Pennsylvania?
Grades 3, 5, and 8 only, in reading and language arts and mathematics. The parent or guardian may not administer the test, and results go into the portfolio rather than to the district.
Is a Pennsylvania homeschool diploma state-recognized?
Yes. A home education diploma issued on the state form and signed by the student twelfth-grade evaluator carries the rights and privileges the Commonwealth affords a diploma. Approved diploma organizations offer an equivalent route.
Common myths about Pennsylvania homeschool law, corrected
You have to submit your portfolio to the school district every year.
Not since 2014. The district receives the evaluator's certification; the portfolio itself goes only to the evaluator and stays with you.
The affidavit has to be notarized.
You may file an unsworn declaration signed under penalty of perjury instead. The state publishes templates for both.
Pennsylvania requires standardized testing every year.
Only grades 3, 5, and 8, in reading/language arts and math. And the parent may not administer the test.
Homeschool diplomas in Pennsylvania are not real diplomas.
A home education diploma issued on the state's form and signed by the student's twelfth-grade evaluator carries all the rights and privileges the state affords a diploma. Several approved diploma organizations offer an equivalent route.
Enrolling in an umbrella school gets you out of the home education law.
The state education department's published position is the opposite: umbrella programs are not registered with the state, do not produce a state-recognized diploma, and families using them must still comply with the home education law.
Recent and pending changes
A 2022 law expanded access to school district programs: home education students may enroll in academic courses up to at least 25 percent of the school day, plus career and technical programs and cocurricular activities, and dual enrollment credits count toward home education graduation requirements.
State assessments are now taken online by home education students.
Several 2026 bills touching scholarships and military families were moving but none changed the core record duties.
Free tools for Pennsylvania families
Transcript builder: Pennsylvania recognizes a parent-issued home education diploma on the state form when your twelfth-grade evaluator signs it, so keep your yearly course lists evaluator-signed.
GPA calculator: weighted and unweighted, computed the way colleges do it.
Reference information reviewed August 2026 against primary sources (statutes, NCAA and Common App published requirements). This is general information, not legal advice; requirements change, so verify anything load-bearing for your family against your state's current law.