How to Prepare for a Tusla Home Education Assessment in One Week

You have a week. That is enough. Here is exactly what to do, in what order, to walk into your Tusla assessment with everything you need.

Day 1–2: Gather what you already have

The first thing most parents do wrong is start from scratch. You haven't been doing nothing — you've been home educating. The evidence already exists; it just needs finding.

Go through your phone. Look for photos of things your child made, books they read, places you visited, projects they worked on, screens they were absorbed by. Don't curate yet — just pull everything into one folder.

One photo with two sentences of context (what happened, what your child noticed) counts as a record. A hundred of these across a year is more useful at a Tusla review than a single worksheet portfolio.

Check your messages, your notes app, your calendar. Any class, visit, club, or appointment your child attended. Conversations you remember. Written notes, however scrappy. Pull it all together first and ask questions later.

Day 3: Write your one-page education plan

The assessor will ask how you approach your child's education. You need a written answer — one page, plain language, nothing formal required.

Cover four things: who your child is (age, interests, how they learn best), what you're doing (the rough shape of a week), how you're addressing the breadth of their development (intellectual, physical, social, personal — more on this in Day 4), and what your plan is for the coming year. That's it. It doesn't need to read like a curriculum document. It needs to show that you've thought about it.

Write honestly. If your child is PDA-profile and a low-demand approach is why you left school, say that. Assessors in Ireland have become steadily more familiar with neurodivergent home education. A confident, honest explanation serves you better than a document that tries to look like school.

Day 4: Organise your evidence by focus area

Tusla uses broad categories to frame "a certain minimum education": intellectual development, physical development, social development, personal and moral development, spiritual and cultural development. You don't need to hit every one exhaustively — you need to show awareness of each.

Take the evidence you gathered on Day 1–2 and sort it loosely into these areas. A library trip covers intellectual and social. A swimming lesson or a long walk covers physical. A visit to a relative covers social and personal.

Interest-led learning counts heavily here — and this is where it pays to show what your child is actually into.

The approach that helped most at one of my assessments wasn't a maths workbook. I brought a copy of Law for Beginners — aimed at 10–13 year olds — because my daughter had become fascinated with how courts work. The assessor spent ten minutes talking with her about it. One real interest, properly resourced, communicates more than a folder of worksheets ever could.

If there's a focus area where you genuinely have little evidence, don't manufacture it. Note it honestly in your plan and say what you're doing about it. Gaps with awareness are fine. Gaps you're pretending don't exist are what concern an assessor.

Day 5: Prepare your child gently

Whether the assessor meets your child depends on your child — and on the assessor. Some families choose not to have their child present; others find the child's engagement is one of the strongest things in the room.

If your child is likely to be present, give them some basic information: someone is coming to talk about what we've been doing, they might ask you some questions, you don't have to answer anything you don't want to. For PDA or demand-avoidant children, avoid framing it as a test or a performance — it isn't one.

Don't rehearse answers with them. The assessor wants to see your child as they naturally are. If they want to show something they're working on or talk about something they're interested in, let them. That kind of natural engagement lands well.

Day 6: Practise answering common questions

The conversation usually covers the same ground: how do you approach the day, what does learning look like in your house, how are you covering the main areas of development, what is your child doing right now, what are your plans for the next year.

Say your answers out loud. Not because you need a script — you don't — but because hearing yourself say things clarifies what you actually think. If an answer sounds vague to you, it will sound vague to the assessor.

One useful question to practise: "What does your child do during a typical week?" A confident, specific answer to this one carries more weight than anything else in the conversation. Ground it in what actually happens, not an idealised version.

If you haven't already read what home education assessors actually want in an Irish home education assessment, this is the time to do it. It explains the framework they're assessing against.

Day 7: What to put on the table on the day itself

Have a small pile of physical items ready — not a box, not a filing cabinet, not a trolley of plastic wallets. A pile.

Suggested contents: your one-page education plan, a handful of photos printed or on a tablet, two or three things your child made or produced recently, any books they've been reading or using, and anything that shows a specific interest in depth. Bring the Law for Beginners equivalent. Bring whatever tells the real story of what you've been doing.

Keep it manageable. The assessor has limited time, and a shorter, richer presentation is better than a long, thin one. If you're using an app or notebook to log learning, bring a printout or screenshot of a few recent entries — it shows ongoing reflection, which is exactly what they're looking for.

The goal on the day isn't to impress. It's to have a clear, honest conversation about your child's learning. Everything else follows from that.

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Frequently asked questions

What should I have ready before the assessor arrives?

Your one-page education plan, some recent photos or examples of your child's work, a few books or resources they've been using, and something that shows a specific current interest in depth. You don't need a formal portfolio. A small, clear selection of real material is better than a large, organised archive of thin evidence.

What should I NOT bring to a Tusla assessment?

Don't bring worksheets or workbooks produced specifically for the assessment — assessors can tell, and it works against you. Avoid anything that makes it look like you're performing school at home, unless that genuinely reflects how you work. Bring only what reflects real activity.

What should I wear to a Tusla assessment?

Whatever you'd wear to a calm, professional conversation. You don't need to dress up. The assessor is not there to evaluate how you present yourself. Dress in a way that lets you feel settled.

Should I prepare my child for what the assessor will ask?

Brief them on what to expect — someone is coming to find out about what you've been learning — but don't rehearse answers. For neurodivergent children, particularly those with PDA or demand avoidance, avoid framing it as a test. The assessor wants to see your child as they naturally are. Coached answers are immediately visible and don't help.

What if I can't find evidence for a particular subject?

Note it in your education plan and say what you're doing about it. An honest acknowledgement of a gap — with a plan to address it — is far better than a vague claim of coverage you can't back up. Assessors are looking for a parent who is aware and engaged. A gap with awareness passes. A gap you're hoping nobody notices doesn't.