Responding to the rise in home education

During lockdown, parents across the UK suddenly had to familiarise themselves with the complexities of English grammar as home learning became the norm. For many, sending their children back to school could not happen soon enough. Others, however, saw their children thrive outside the confines of the school environment.

Research from the University of Sussex found children with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) benefited from the removal of stressful aspects of schooling such as large classes, noise and bullies. Half of parents surveyed said their children with SEND experienced less anxiety and stress in lockdown education conditions while one in five said their child was learning more at home than they had at school.

There has been concern among some families about whether it is safe for children – especially those with more complex needs – to return to school, says Alison Willett, education director at charity Nasen, which supports professionals working with children and young people with SEND. “For some children and young people, existing anxiety about being in school has been exacerbated by an extended period away, making that transition back harder,” she adds.

According to the Association of Directors of Children’s Services (ADCS), the number of children and young people electively home educated in England increased by 34 per cent between 2019/20 and 2020/21, from 86,335 to 115,542. Home education charity Education Otherwise believes this figure is too high as it is based on partial data and does not take into account the way home education numbers fluctuate throughout the year. Its own figures, from Freedom of Information data provided by all 152 local authorities, show an increase from 61,534 children in July 2020 to 83,974 in April 2021, followed by a decrease of 7.4 per cent to 78,184 in October 2021.

While still high, numbers are going down following the pandemic, says Gail Tolley, chair of the ADCS educational achievement policy committee. “Some parents who were home educating during the pandemic due to health fears now feel more confident about letting their children go back,” she says. “Some parents also decided to home educate because they had a positive experience during the pandemic but have realised schools will not continue to provide lessons online, so decided children should go back on school rolls.”

Parents choose to home educate for various reasons including a dissatisfaction with mainstream teaching or the school system, religious or cultural beliefs, bullying, a child’s special needs and as a stop gap while waiting for a school place. The ADCS found around one in five – 19 per cent – of parents who home educated in 2021 said their decision was driven by Covid-related concerns, suggesting numbers may drop as the pandemic wanes. However, a similar proportion said their decision was related to philosophical or lifestyle choices, or health reasons, which could suggest a more permanent increase.

HOME EDUCATION IN NUMBERS

• 78,184 number of home-educated children known to local authorities in England as of October 2021

   

• 19% of parents who chose to home educate their children in 2021 said it was a philosophical or lifestyle choice, 19% cited Covid concerns, 18% emotional or health reasons and 14% dissatisfaction with their child’s school

   

• 1,400 the number of school attendance orders issued in the 2018-19 academic year by 61 local authorities who took part in a 2019 survey. About half the authorities surveyed did not issue any orders that year

   

• 96% of local authorities that took part in a government consultation were in favour of a register for home education

   

• 82% of parents and young people were against the idea

Source: Education Otherwise; ADCS; Department for Education

While recognising most parents and carers provide a good home education, children’s services are concerned that by not being in school, a child will have access to fewer trained professionals who can spot safeguarding warning signs. The Local Government Association (LGA) believes children with additional vulnerabilities, such as social, behavioural, medical or mental health needs, are most at risk of falling through the net, putting them at risk of slower progress in learning, poorer job prospects, poorer mental health and emotional wellbeing, restricted social and emotional development and increased vulnerability to safeguarding issues.

“Of course, many home-educated children go on to thrive and progress to careers,” says Tolley. “However, it is important to ensure the motivation for home educating is educational and not an avoidance of scrutiny by officialdom.”

Local authorities have a statutory responsibility to ensure children are safe and receiving a suitable education and should intervene when that is not the case. “On average each local authority has 2.2 full-time members of staff dedicated to home education, but this does vary wildly because there are no requirements around how we assess the suitability of education,” says Tolley.

The Department for Education recommends authorities contact home educating families at least once a year. If there are concerns about the child’s progress or safety councils should ask for more detailed information and possibly meet with the child. If they are still not satisfied, the authority can issue a school attendance order, which requires parents to register the child with a specific school.

The Schools Bill, currently progressing through parliament, introduces a legal requirement for local authorities in England to maintain a list of children not registered at school alongside the power to fine parents who do not comply. Parents must supply the child’s name, date of birth, address and the name and address of each parent within 15 days, plus details about how a child is being educated and “any other information the local authority considers appropriate”. Some local authorities already run voluntary registration schemes, but there is currently no legal obligation for a parent to inform a local authority their child is being home educated.

Local authorities may share information from the register with other agencies to promote or safeguard the education, safety or welfare of any child. They are required to pass information on if a child moves to another local authority area.

The bill also places a duty on local authorities to provide support to home educating families, which may include advice about the education of the child and resources including financial assistance.

A government consultation found 96 per cent of local authorities backed a national register, but only 18 per cent of parents and young people were in favour. “Even if a parent has notified a local authority a child is being home educated, if that family moves elsewhere there is currently no obligation to inform the new local authority,” says Tolley. “If circumstances change and the child becomes a safeguarding risk no one knows about that child. A register and fully resourced requirement for local authorities to do annual checks will result in children being better safeguarded.”

The LGA and Ofsted also support the introduction of a register, as does school leaders’ union NAHT and children’s commissioner for England Rachel de Souza, whose recent research revealed just eight per cent of local authorities could provide estimates of the number of home-educated children not already known to them.

However, many home educating families feel local authorities do not understand alternative approaches to education and are only interested in getting children back to school. “Many home educators who have allowed the local authority into their homes have later had that ‘inspection’ used against them,” says one parent who home educated for many years.

Home educators who contributed to this article asked to remain anonymous or did not want to be named in full because they were keen to stay off the radar.

“Parents feel beleaguered by repeated demands for close monitoring of their home education provision,” says Education Otherwise co-chair Wendy Charles-Warner. “We must build a mutually trusting and respectful future for all home educating families. Support is key; parents want to provide a suitable education for their children and education staff can, and want to, support those parents to do so.”

Some local authorities provide financial or other support to home educating families or run support groups or forums. Around three-quarters of families surveyed by Education Otherwise said they would welcome support with funding exams and two thirds said they would like access to college courses and examination venues. Others said they would attend events such as special interest classes at libraries and forest school sessions for home-educated children.

Education Otherwise’s Kit award scheme recognises excellent service from local authority education staff to home educating families and was developed as part of efforts to increase trust and engagement. Ed Magee, development co-ordinator at Camden’s Pupil Attendance Service, received a gold Kit award last year, which he says reflects the work of his whole team.

Camden runs a voluntary registration scheme and aims to meet new home educating parents within four to six weeks of registration. The council provides access to a GCSE exam centre for those who wish to take exams and offers targeted advice to parents at key points and support pupils reaching school leaving age to access further education, employment, and training. “Not every parent wants much contact with the local authority and that is fine, as long as there are no major safeguarding risks,” says Magee. “Ninety-nine per cent of our families do home education well.” Camden issued one school attendance order last year, which was later withdrawn as the family was able to satisfy the council they were providing a suitable education.

In some cases families feel forced into home education because the school is not meeting their child’s needs. In others schools have been accused of “off-rolling” pupils with special educational needs, challenging behaviour or low attainment, by pressuring a parent to remove their child. “Some parents are encouraged by the school to educate their children at home to avoid permanent exclusion,” says Tolley.

In a bid to prevent off-rolling, Telford and Wrekin Council works with school leaders to ensure any pupil returning from being electively home educated goes back to their old mainstream school, if parents agree. Meanwhile, Warwickshire County Council has implemented a two-week “cooling-off period” for every new request for elective home education, during which they will work with the school and family to explore the issues and try to find a resolution.

There are steps to help ensure the needs of children with SEND are met in mainstream schools, says Nasen’s Willett. She says inclusive leadership, with school leaders making sure every decision considers the needs of children with SEND, is vital. Teacher training – both initial training and continuous professional development – is important but funding has been an issue. “Funding professional development for teachers is a long-term investment, but schools in England haven’t consistently been able to commit to what’s really required,” she says. Communicating and partnering with parents is also key.

The government recognises there is work to be done to ensure the needs of children with SEND are met in mainstream schools. The SEND green paper – launched in March this year – includes a commitment to invest in research on SEND classroom-based practice, training for teachers in using assistive technology, guidance on the effective deployment of teaching assistants to support children and young people with SEND, and a new special educational needs co-ordinator (Senco) leadership qualification. Whether this will be enough to allow families who have lost faith in mainstream education to send their children back to school, is yet to be seen.

WE MUST DO MORE TO CLEAR THE FOG SURROUNDING HOME EDUCATION

By Robert Halfon MP, chair, commons education committee

In February, the Department for Education announced its long-awaited proposals to introduce a compulsory register of children not in school. It was high time. The commons education committee called for such a register in July 2021 in our report Strengthening Home Education.

A register of children outside of school is absolutely necessary. The issue of “ghost children” – those severely absent from school during the pandemic – has been much reported but those figures do not capture the whole picture. Currently, we do not have the numbers for children being home educated and therefore how many are receiving a “suitable” education.

A register would not remove freedom for those providing an effective – and in many cases, excellent – education. Instead, it would allow local authorities to better target support and resources.

It is essential the department collects the data in a standardised format. This would not risk children’s safety because the data should be anonymised. The point of having this information is to enable policymakers to collate, analyse and publish annual statistics on the number of children out of school. Local authorities and the DfE will then be better able to understand trends and create effective policy in response. By the same logic, the department must also act with haste to gather data on how the life chances and social outcomes of home-educated children compare with those in formal education settings.

While I am encouraged by the government’s decision to get the ball rolling with the register, the education committee would like it to go further. Home-educated pupils must be assessed annually for numeracy and literacy and have free access to accredited public exams. Every pupil is formally tested and home-educated children should be no different. It will help create an equitable benchmark to measure progress and create more open access to employment.

For too long a fog has shrouded home education. It is not good enough that no concrete data is held about the number of children being educated at home, especially when the DfE itself acknowledges there is “considerable evidence” many children may not be receiving a suitable education. The schools minister promised new proposals would be brought forward in legislation and following the publication of the schools white paper and Queen’s Speech, these are now included in the new Schools Bill. I and the committee will scrutinise the bill closely to ensure the measures can lift the fog shrouding home education and enable every child to benefit from the same standards of education.

‘I HAVE NO REGRETS ABOUT HOME EDUCATING’

The author wishes to remain anonymous

I chose to home educate as neither of my children were happy at school. My son was seven and my daughter was five when I de-registered them.

My son has autism but the school did not provide any extra support. They did question my choice to home educate, thinking it would be a disaster and within three months I’d be begging for them to return. Twelve years later and I have no regrets about my choice.

My eldest is very bright with an almost photographic memory. My daughter has dyslexia. Home educating meant I could tailor their education to suit their needs.

At 13 my son started working towards IGCSEs and GCSEs, taking several each year until he achieved nine. As home educators we must fund everything ourselves including paying exam centre fees often up to £180 or more per subject.

My son went on to do A-levels at a local sixth form college and is now in his second year studying economics at university. My daughter is at the local college studying art and design and plans to do an art degree.

We had days that were a struggle and endless amounts of patience and perseverance were required but overall it was a fabulous experience that has given us many happy memories and a closeness we still appreciate today.

‘WE VALUE THE FREEDOM TO LEARN AT OUR CHILD’S PACE’

By Zoey – surname withheld

We decided to home educate our youngest child Eve when we didn’t get a place at any of the schools we chose. I had always wanted to home educate but my husband had reservations as it goes against what we are told is right for our children. He agreed we could trial it for a year to see how things went and here we are four years later.

I love the freedom to learn at Eve’s pace and follow her interests. The biggest challenge has been not to do too much. There are so many groups, online resources and classes that it can be overwhelming. We have a good balance now and I’m able to work two days a week.

We have never been visited by our local authority but feel we really don’t need any support – we get lots from the home ed community and Eve is thriving. She has great friends and we regularly meet others for groups and activities. She has had so many amazing experiences she would not have had if she was in school.

The government’s idea of a register seems pointless. Vulnerable children should be known to professionals via health visitors and doctors. Families that want to hide their children for the wrong reasons will continue to do so.

If professionals really understood what home education means they would be more supportive of home educating families. The idea home education should look like school, that children don’t socialise and need to reach targets and pass exams to succeed is just wrong. Home education lets children be educated as individuals and must be seen as a valid option for all.

‘WE FEAR NEW HOME EDUCATION REGISTER WILL BE INTRUSIVE’

The author wishes to remain anonymous

We discovered home education two and a half years ago. Our eldest child Ruby* attended nursery two days a week aged three to four. She told us consistently she did not like it, that it was “too noisy” with “too many people”. We felt conflicted but increased her hours in line with advice about school preparation and Ruby became unhappier.

I visited a primary school, learning Ruby would sit SATs aged four. Meanwhile, nursery provided literacy homework. The trajectory did not fit Ruby or our beliefs. A friend suggested home education. The more we researched, the more it resonated with our outlook on how children learn and thrive. Ruby was overjoyed and felt heard at last.

We have never enrolled our two children – now aged six and four. We are aware of our local elective home education team but have no need to contact them. We are confident about our role and responsibilities. Home education is right for us.

No one has checked up on us. Most parents make good-enough decisions for their children, including when it comes to education provision. Check-ups would be unnecessarily intrusive. We are registered with a GP and dentist, the library, local nature reserve and so on. We are a “visible” part of our local community.

Our family and friends are supportive. Initially some misunderstood home education, believing we needed to replicate school. Some expressed concern about social skills, friendships and a loss of opportunities.

Connecting to more home-educating families over the last year has exceeded expectations. It is a very strong, supportive community and we enjoy a sense of belonging and freedom. Our children are thriving and enjoy an active social life with people of all ages. They have well-established friendship groups with children who attend school and those who are home educated.

Our children have a strong sense of who they are and what they wish to do. They are curious, confident, observant, connected, and learn in their own ways through play. We are flexible and learner led.

Our beliefs about education are rooted in evidence, experience, observation, and intuition. We feel a register of home-educated children fails to serve any positive purpose and issues of home education and safeguarding have been conflated. Effectively ignoring the views of home educating families demonstrates prejudice and fosters mistrust, providing a poor basis for effective communication and relationships.

We expect intrusion, unsolicited advice, assessment, and judgment to follow registration, all of which obstruct the benefits of home education. All children should have equal opportunities to sit exams, which is achievable without a register.