West Virginia asks for a few specific things. West Virginia 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

Option 1 (county board approval, 18-8-1(b)) is rarely used. Option 2 (18-8-1(c), the standard route): file a written Notice of Intent with the county superintendent listing the name, address, and age of each child of compulsory school age, plus evidence the instructor has at least a high school diploma or equivalent (or a post-secondary degree), and an assurance that instruction will cover the required subjects. The notice is filed before beginning home instruction (commonly at least two weeks prior) and again when moving to a new county; it is generally a one-time filing per county rather than annual - confirm your county's practice.

Days or hours

None. West Virginia sets no minimum days or hours for home instruction.

Subjects you must cover

Reading, language, mathematics, science, and social studies. Instruction must be in these subjects 'appropriate to the age and grade level' of the child.

Records you keep

Maintain academic assessment results and a portfolio of the child's work. Assessment results must be retained by the parent and produced on request; if a child's composite falls below the 50th percentile for two consecutive years, remediation/possible loss of the exemption applies.

Testing or evaluation

Annual academic assessment required, but results are submitted to the county superintendent only at the end of grades 3, 5, 8, and 11, by June 30. Four options: (1) nationally normed standardized achievement test administered by a qualified person - acceptable progress is a composite in the fourth stanine or above; (2) the state testing program used by the county public schools; (3) a written narrative from a WV-certified teacher, mutually agreed to by the parent, evaluating a portfolio of the child's work; (4) an alternative academic assessment mutually agreed upon by parent and county superintendent.

Diplomas and transcripts

The state issues no diploma or credits; parents issue the diploma and prepare the transcript. The grade-11 assessment submission is the last mandated reporting point. Note the Hope Scholarship ESA (W. Va. Code 18-31-1 et seq., fully universal as of the 2026-27 school year) - Hope Scholarship students file a separate Hope enrollment rather than (or in addition to) the standard NOI and are subject to Hope's own assessment/reporting rules, which differ from 18-8-1(c). West Virginia also enacted microschool/learning-pod provisions (W. Va. Code 18-8-1(d)-(e), from 2023 HB 3271) exempting microschools and learning pods from most school regulation.

Where this comes from

Statute: W. Va. Code 18-8-1(b)-(c) (home instruction exemptions); W. Va. Code 18-8-1(d)-(e) (microschools and learning pods); W. Va. Code 18-31-1 et seq. (Hope Scholarship)

Source: https://code.wvlegislature.gov/18-8-1/

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

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.