CYP Now - Councils report rise in number of home-educated children with complex needs

Increasing numbers of young people with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) or those known to children’s services are not attending mainstream school and being educated at home, a report has found.

Around 78,800 children and young people were home educated at some point during the 2018/19 academic year. Image: Adobe Stock

Figures released by the Association of Directors of Children’s Services (ADCS) shows a “significant shift” in the home education community.

They indicate a “surge” of new referrals combined with “an increase in cases with social care, SEND and multi-agency involvement”.

The findings were drawn from the ADCS’s elective home education (EHE) survey sent out to all 152 councils in England.

The survey also revealed year-on-year increases in the number of all children being electively home educated.

Responses were received from 132 councils, the highest response the survey has attracted in four years, showing an estimated 78,800 children and young people were home educated at some point during the 2018/19 academic year.

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