Source · Select Committees · Education Committee
Recommendation 41
41
Deferred
Paragraph: 148
Pupils outside mainstream education lack CEIAG access due to delayed register.
Recommendation
There is a clear need for support enabling pupils outside mainstream education to access careers advice and guidance. The rising number of pupils being educated at home risks more and more young people being locked out of access to CEIAG provision, and the much-awaited register of pupils not in school is still lacking, with no clear timeframe for this to be delivered.
Government Response Summary
The government agrees on the need for statutory registers for children not in school but defers their introduction to the next suitable legislative opportunity. In the interim, it highlights existing support via Careers Hubs, online modules, and the National Careers Service, alongside new data collection and planned guidance review.
Paragraph Reference:
148
Government Response
Deferred
HM Government
Deferred
The Department agrees with the Committee for the need for statutory local authority registers for children not in school. We remain committed to introducing these registers for children not in school, as well as a duty for local authorities to provide support to home-educating families. The registers will help local authorities undertake their existing duties to ensure all children receive a suitable education and are safe, regardless of where they are educated. We will take forward these measures at the next suitable legislative opportunity, when parliamentary time allows. In the meantime, we continue to work with local authorities to improve their non-statutory registers, and to support them to ensure all children are receiving a suitable education. Some Careers Hubs are active in this area and supporting local authorities help meet the needs of home educated children. Furthermore, young people outside of mainstream education can access online careers learning modules that offer self-directed learning and high-quality signposting to pathway information. In addition, young people aged 13+ can access one to one careers guidance via the National Careers Service telephone service. To assist our understanding of these cohorts of children, from October 2022 the Department began collecting termly data on children missing education (CME) and elective home education (EHE) from local authorities on a voluntary basis. The CME and EHE data from autumn 2022 and spring 2023 was published on 18 May 2023. The Department will also review and consult on our elective home education guidance for local authorities and parents later this year. To support swifter identification and greater support of CME, the Department has run a call for evidence on children missing education. This closed on 20 July and is currently being analysed and will be published in due course.