Children may be ‘lost outside system’ as homeschooling soars

As reported by The Independent, union leaders say children could ‘become lost outside the system’ without official homeschooling register

Children could be left without welfare checks due to homeschooling, the government has been warned, as new figures show a surge in the numbers being educated at home.

England’s children’s commissioner and education unions have raised concerns over the safeguarding of home-educated pupils and warned some could drop off the radar of authorities without increased protections.

There is currently no official register that tracks exactly how many pupils are being educated outside of school and it is not compulsory for parents to inform local authorities. The government scrapped plans for a formal register when the Schools Bill was abandoned earlier this month.

Parents are not obliged to tell local authorities or schools that they are homeschooling their children, but it is recommended. If schools know a child has been taken out for homeschooling, they are obliged to tell the local council.

Figures published by former children’s commissioner Anne Longfield in 2019 showed there were 60,000 children learning at home in 2018, a 27% increase on 2017, with 20% rises in each of the previous five years.

Separate research suggests homeschooling continued to rise since then. An annual survey of English councils by the Association of Directors of Childrens Service estimated 81,000 children were being home-educated in October last year – up by seven per cent from 75,600 in 2020.

But now pandemic restrictions are over the government is facing calls for greater oversight of homeschooled pupils as more make the switch permanently, to make sure children don’t suffer as a result.

Dame Rachel de Souza, the children’s commissioner, said it was an “absolute priority” to get children back into school.

“I truly believe that school is the best place for children, not just in educational terms, but in terms of wellbeing and safeguarding too.”