Parents with home-educated children will be required to register the children with their local authority under government proposals to prevent young people from disappearing under the radar.
There is an estimated 60,000 children who are thought to be home-schooled in the UK. This rises every year by around a quarter. The register will enable authorities to see where children are if they are not in school and intervene more effectively. The proposals are intended to address concerns about soaring numbers of children who are out of school.
The Department of Education (DfE) is hoping to counteract some of their concerns by promising home-educating parents support including teaching resources or help their local authority to pay for exam costs.
Home educator Edward Hardy said: “The register will not protect children from parents who are intent on harming their children. Instead, it will amount to a further step down the path of unwarranted intrusion into family life by the state,”
Under the proposals it will be parents’ responsibility to register their child if they are not being taught in a state-funded or registered school.
The government said the register is not intended to crack down on home educators but to protect vulnerable children who may be hidden from the authorities and in illegal schools where they could become under dangerous influences.
Currently, if a local authority has concerns about a child that is not receiving a suitable education they can use school attendance orders to compel parents to send their child to a registered school – this can lead to a prosecution if a family fails to comply.
The education secretary, Damian Hinds, said: As a government, we have a duty to protect our young people and do our utmost to make sure they are prepared for life in modern Britain.
“That’s why this register of children not in school is so important – not to crack down on those dedicated parents doing an admirable job of educating their children in their own homes, but to prevent vulnerable young people from vanishing under the radar.”
Local Government Association welcomed the register but said the government needs to go further and give local authorities the powers and funding to enter homes or other premises to check on child schooling.
Head of Ofsted and chief inspector of schools in England, Amanda Spielman, said: “Ofsted has long had concerns about the increasing numbers of school-age children not attending a registered school, many of whom may not be receiving a high-quality education or being kept safe.
“We are especially concerned about children ‘off-rolled’ from schools, and those in illegal schools. The new register will make it easier to detect and tackle these serious problems.”
The children’s commissioner for England, Anne Longfield, said: “It is vitally important that we know that all children are safe and that they are receiving the education they deserve to help them to succeed in life. The introduction of a register for children not in school is very welcome and something I been calling for. I am pleased these proposals also include support for families.”
