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Press release: More information and understanding about home education needed

Local authorities need more information and understanding about home education to provide effective support for children educated at home, a report published by Ofsted today reveals.

For the report Local authorities and home education, inspectors visited 15 local authorities across England and held discussions with home-educated children, their parents, local authority staff and headteachers.

The children and young people inspectors met were enthusiastic about their learning and keen to explain what they had gained by being educated at home. Inspectors also found that the parents who received monitoring and guidance from local authorities were generally positive about the advice and encouragement and would welcome more support.

However, local authorities do not have a complete picture of how all the children in their local area are educated. Schools alert local authorities of children whose parents decide to educate them from home but there is no reliable way to establish how many children never entered the school system. This means local authorities are not always able to offer support or make sure that children in their area are receiving a suitable education and have their welfare protected. To enable them to do this, the report recommends that parents are required to register their intention to educate their children at home.

Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector, Christine Gilbert, said:

'The report tells us that parents educating their children at home welcome effective guidance and advice from local authorities who understand the challenges they face. Local authorities could learn from the good practice it highlights so they are in a better position to support parents and children.

'The report also found that current legislation around elective home education means it is extremely challenging for local authorities to meet their statutory duty to ensure children have a suitable education.'

The report found that the key to the relationship between local authority and parents was the quality of the initial contact. Where it was positive and supportive, and the local authority understood the concerns of parents who were educating their children at home, mutual respect and a greater degree of cooperation developed.

In one case, the positive relationships meant that home educators convinced other home-educating families who had not registered to do so. Inspectors found that some local authorities provided additional support, such as advising parents how they could get in touch with home education groups, suggesting how their children could take examinations, recommending places of interest to which parents might take their children and even organising conferences for families. But in other cases, local authorities provided guidance which was either not easy to understand or was negative in tone.

Discussions with parents showed there were a number of reasons parents chose to educate at home. For a small group, it had always been their intention to educate at home for philosophical or religious reasons. However, for many parents educating at home resulted from concerns about their children’s education and well-being, such as dissatisfaction with their child’s progress or concerns about bullying.

The report recommends that when a parent says they want to remove their child from school to educate them at home, schools should ensure they understand a parent’s reasons. In addition they should make every effort to resolve any concerns, particularly around bullying and special educational needs, so that the child can remain in school if that is the parent’s preference.

Notes For Editors

1. The report Local authorities and home education can be found on the Ofsted website at www.ofsted.co.uk/publications/090267.

2. The Office for Standards in Education, Children's Services and Skills (Ofsted) regulates and inspects to achieve excellence in the care of children and young people, and in education and skills for learners of all ages. It regulates and inspects childcare and children's social care, and inspects the Children and Family Court Advisory Support Service (Cafcass), schools, colleges, initial teacher training, work-based learning and skills training, adult and community learning, and education and training in prisons and other secure establishments. It assesses council children’s services, and inspects services for looked after children, safeguarding and child protection.

3. Media can contact the Ofsted Press Office through 020 7421 6574 or via Ofsted's enquiry line 0300 1231231 between 8.30am - 6.30pm Monday - Friday. Out of these hours, during evenings and weekends, the duty press officer can be reached on 07919 057359.

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