North Carolina asks for a few specific things. North Carolina sets out a handful of real requirements. None of them are difficult, but the deadlines are genuine and worth putting in a calendar. Here is the whole list.

What you file, and by when

File a Notice of Intent to Operate a Home School with the NC Division of Non-Public Education (DNPE, in the Dept. of Administration), online, before instruction begins - DNPE asks for at least 5 days' lead time and will not accept NOIs during May and June. The NOI names the school (30-character limit; cannot use 'charter,' 'college,' 'public,' 'seminary,' etc.), its address, and the chief administrator. One-time filing, not annual; do not withdraw a child from public school until DNPE sends written acknowledgment. Elect to operate as a private church school (Part 1) or a qualified nonpublic school (Part 2).

Days or hours

Operate on a regular schedule for at least nine calendar months of the year, excluding reasonable holidays and vacations. No daily hour count.

Subjects you must cover

No mandated curriculum or subject list; the only implicit subject requirement is the tested areas (English grammar, reading, spelling, mathematics).

Records you keep

Maintain annually (i) attendance records and (ii) disease immunization records for each student; retain standardized test results for at least one year. All must be available for DNPE inspection at the home school on request (DNPE may conduct announced compliance reviews).

Testing or evaluation

A nationally standardized achievement test (or equivalent) must be administered annually to every enrolled student of compulsory attendance age, covering at minimum English grammar, reading, spelling, and mathematics. No minimum score, no state submission, no required timing within the year, and no qualification requirements for the administrator (public-school EOG tests do not satisfy it). Records kept one year and shown to DNPE on request.

Diplomas and transcripts

North Carolina issues no diploma or credits to homeschoolers; the parent-issued diploma and transcript are the credential and are broadly recognized (UNC-system admission, state employment, driver's license/DMV certificates handled through DNPE forms). There is no state graduation credit requirement. The annual standardized test requirement continues through high school for students of compulsory attendance age (16). Recent changes: the Opportunity Scholarship was extended to home school students - $3,000 per home school student effective July 1, 2025, rising to 45% of the average state per-pupil allocation effective July 1, 2026 - and 2025 legislation requires local boards to allow homeschooled students to try out for interscholastic sports at their base school. Reports that the statutory definition of 'home school' in 115C-563(a) was amended to broaden use of tutors and group instruction circulate widely; verify the current text on the NCGA site before relying on it.

Where this comes from

Statute: N.C. Gen. Stat. 115C-563 through 115C-567 (Article 39, Part 3); testing/records incorporated from N.C. Gen. Stat. 115C-548, -549, -556, -557

Source: https://www.doa.nc.gov/divisions/non-public-education/home-schools/requirements-recommendations

Last reviewed: July 2026 · our confidence in this entry: high

Homeschool law changes, and a page like this goes stale without announcing it. Check the statute above against your own reading before a filing deadline. If we are out of date, we would rather hear it from you than have you find out at the district office.

Keeping the records is the other half of this. Our Records System has the editable transcript with the GPA already wired, 131 course descriptions, and this same statute-cited summary for all fifty states and DC. Thirty-nine dollars, one household, however many children you have.