Homeschooling High School in Tennessee

Required hours

720 hrs/year

School days

180 days/year

Required subjects

Your choice

Notice

Required

Testing / evaluation

Standardized testing

Recordkeeping

Recommended

Jump to the full Tennessee requirements for plain-English detail on each of these.

Graduation requirements in Tennessee

Tennessee does not issue homeschool diplomas, so as the parent-administrator you set the graduation requirements and award the diploma yourself. A common college-prep plan covers 4 years of English, 3–4 of math, 3 of science, 3 of social studies, 2 of a foreign language, plus electives, which lands around 24 credits total. Check any Tennessee-specific expectations for your situation, and align with the admissions requirements of the colleges your student is targeting.

Credits and GPA

A standard high-school credit (a Carnegie unit) represents roughly 120–180 hours of instruction in a subject over the year, or about a full-year course. Half-credit courses are common for semester-long electives. Track grades per course and compute a weighted or unweighted GPA on a 4.0 scale. Our free GPA calculator can do the math, and Homeschool Fox tracks credits and grades for you as you log coursework.

Testing and assessment

Under Tennessee's independent home-school option, students are tested at the end of grades 5, 7, and 9. Since Public Chapter 912 (2026) the parent chooses between a self-selected nationally normed test covering English language arts and math — proctored by someone not related to the student, scored by the test's publisher, at the family's expense — and the state board-approved test public school students sit that year, which at grade 9 may not be an end-of-course exam. Results go to the parent-teacher, the director of schools, and the state board under § 49-6-3050(b)(5); families registered through a church-related school follow that school's assessment policy instead.

Building a college-ready transcript

Selective colleges expect a clean, professional transcript listing courses, credits, grades, and GPA, often alongside a school profile and course descriptions. You can build one in Tennessee yourself. A standard transcript is included with Homeschool Fox, and the $29 official transcript add-on generates AI-drafted course descriptions and a school profile that admissions readers expect.

Keeping records through high school

Keep coursework, reading lists, grades, and work samples organized from 9th grade on. Reconstructing four years at application time is painful. Tennessee also has assessment or portfolio expectations to plan around, so consistent records do double duty for both college applications and state compliance.

What Homeschool Fox tracks for Tennessee

Everything Tennessee expects you to keep, in one place — no spreadsheets, no lost notebooks.

• Hours toward your 720-hour goal
• Required subjects & core hours
• Daily activity logs
• Attendance records
• Notes & portfolio records
• Printable PDF reports
• High school transcripts
• State-specific progress tracking

More Tennessee guides

• Tennessee Homeschool Requirements Hours, notice, assessment, and subjects at a glance.
• How to Start Homeschooling in Tennessee A step-by-step guide from withdrawal to your first logged day.
• Record Keeping in Tennessee What to document, how to organize it, and staying compliant.
• How to Withdraw From School in Tennessee The steps, the letter, and timing to avoid truancy issues.
• Moving to Tennessee What to file when you arrive and whether your records transfer.
• Homeschool Hours Required in Tennessee The number, what counts toward it, and the pace to hit it.
• Tennessee Letter of Intent Who to file with, when it's due, and a free generator.
• Tennessee Year End Report What goes in it, when it's due, and who reviews it.
• Homeschool Testing in Tennessee What the state asks for, when, and low-score rules.
• ESA & School Choice in Tennessee Funding amounts, who qualifies, and the trade-offs.