As reported by BBC News , record numbers of UK families are opting for home education, with mental health cited as the leading cause for the rise
Councils received almost 50,000 notifications in the last academic year from families wanting to take their children out of school. This does not include children already being home educated.
The latest government figures suggest mental health is the biggest reason for the rise.
The Department for Education in England said it supports families choosing to home educate and most do an excellent job, but it was important that it did not risk children falling off the radar, poor education or children’s wellbeing.
How has home education changed in your area?
The number of pupils moving to home education has risen by 22% in the past year.
Freedom of Information requests showed UK councils received at least 49,819 notifications in 2022-23 from families wanting to home educate a child.
This is the highest level since 2020-2021, when there were at least 49,851 new notifications.
In the last four years, home education notifications have more than doubled in the North East, North West, West Midlands, Scotland and Wales.
Why is home education rising again?
According to government census data, external, there were an estimated 92,000 children in home education in England on census day (Autumn 2023). This was the total number of children being home educated on that day, not just those new to it.
This figure was based on around 95% of English local authorities, and has been adjusted for non-response. It is up by around 11,100 on Autumn 2022.
The census suggested that while the biggest known reason for moving to home education was still philosophical beliefs, mental health was the biggest factor in the recent rise.
The number of families choosing home education because of mental health rose by 64%, from around 7,281 in 2022, to 11,960 in 2023.
Home education in England makes up the bulk of the figures, with at least 46,711 new council notifications in 2022-2023, up from at least 47,008 in 2020-2021.
The biggest rise in new home education notifications in the devolved nations was in Wales. It saw a 17% rise between the pandemic and the last academic year.
A Welsh Government spokesperson said it recognises the right of parents to home educate, but in most cases school is the best place for them. They added that currently, around 1% of children in Wales are home educated.
In Scotland, there was a 3% rise, although the figures for new notifications were the lowest of all the UK nations.
A spokesperson from the Scottish Government said recognising the impact of the pandemic, it is progressing measures to support pupils in schools.
Northern Ireland saw a 13% drop in new home education notifications.
A spokesperson from its Education Authority said during the pandemic, there was a notable rise in the number of children being electively home educated – but it does not hold information on decisions parents made about this.
Wendy Charles-Warner, who chairs the home education charity Education Otherwise, said the UK’s children were going through a “mental health crisis”.
She said many parents felt their children’s schools could not meet their needs and they home educated as a last resort.
“They are left with no choice, and every parent should have a genuine choice to choose the best education for their child, whatever that education might be,” she said.
Grainne Hallahan, from the education insights app Teacher Tapp, told the BBC: “Previously there was this given, that children came to school and were educated. That was entirely broken during lockdown, and what we’re trying to do now is fix it.”
Mrs Hallahan said increasing misbehaviour in classrooms could be impacting the recent rise in home education.
She also pointed to higher levels of disadvantage in the north of England, where GCSE results were generally lower, external, and there was a higher percentage of children on Free School Meals, external compared to the South
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