NO uniform, no exams, no formal lessons - that's education for the increasing numbers of children who are home schooled in Dorset.

Nearly 400 children across Dorset are now being educated at home and the number is increasing.

Vicki Skinner, 32, decided to take both her sons out of school three years ago and has never regretted the decision.

Since then she has taught both Theo, 14, and Levi, 10, at home herself.

She said: "There really are no downsides. It has been 100 per cent good for us. If I had know how successful it was going to be I would not have sent them to school."

She said that Levi was unable to cope with Pokesdown Primary School he was not able to learn and his difficulties at school were making him ill.

Theo was bullied verbally and physically at St Peter's Comprehensive School and Vicki felt the school did not do enough about it.

Single mum Vicki from Boscombe said she did a year of research before deciding to educate the boys at home.

She said: "Levi has had to do a lot of catching up. School just squished him. When he left aged seven he could not read but now he is reading fluently. He also plays the cornet and the violin."

She thinks that most children would benefit from home schooling.

Theo said: "Being home educated was a bit like learning to stand. It took a while to get the hang of it. My self esteem was really low when I left school. But I started martial arts and that gave me a lot of confidence."

Vicki is the local spokesman for Education Otherwise, a national charity which supports home educators.

She said: "I have had phone calls from two parents in Bournemouth recently who have just decided to take their children out of school."

She also meets with other families who home educate on Mondays in a group called Home Educators of East Dorset.

The boys go to Scouts and do other activities, which allow them to socialise with other children.

Vicki said one of the key benefits of home education is the flexibility.

She said: "We try to follow the children's interests. Theo is very interested in reading so he is at the library most days. He is also very interested in science and is the youngest member of the Bournemouth Natural Science Society.

"If they want to learn about something I don't know about, we use the internet."

Every day the boys do a few pages from either an English or maths textbook.

She said: "If you buy a pre-packaged curriculum it can cost hundreds of pounds. I am on benefits but I manage to educate the boys without spending very much money."

Vicki has not decided if they are going to take formal exams yet.

She said: "At the moment it does not seem like a good idea for us."

Theo does want to go to college and has ambitions to be either a rock guitarist or a palaeontologist.

Head of inclusion and achievement at Bournemouth Borough Council Di Mitchell warned parents that home education is no easy under taking.

She said: "Parents and carers should not under estimate the commitment of undertaking home schooling for their children. It is a decision that needs careful consideration and the schooling is regularly reviewed by external agencies so that children and young people make the right level of progress."

Despite this the numbers of home educated pupils continue to grow.

In 2006/7 117 secondary school pupils and 96 primary school children from Dorset's education authority were taught at home which is 0.39 per cent of the school population. Three years earlier 136 pupils, 0.27 per cent of the school population, were homes schooled.

In Poole 41 pupils are being educated at home, 14 of primary school age and 27 of secondary age. This is about 0.26 per cent of the school population.

Exact figures were unavailable for the previous two years but a spokesman said it was between 35 and 40 pupils being home educated.

In Bournemouth a higher percentage of pupils are home schooled, last year this was 0.63 per cent of the total school population, 124 students, 68 secondary and 56 primary.

This was an increase on the 102 students that were home schooled in the borough in 2006.

Nationally an estimated 50,000 children are educated at home.