Source · Select Committees · Education Committee
Recommendation 2
2
The next iteration of the Government’s guidance for local authorities and parents must set out...
Conclusion
The next iteration of the Government’s guidance for local authorities and parents must set out a clearer vision for a ‘suitable’ education - including the levels of numeracy and literacy which it would usually expect students to have achieved before they move on to later education, training or employment. This vision should take into account the different paths that children with SEND might take. (Paragraph 20) What do we know about children who are home-educated?
Government Response
Acknowledged
HM Government
Acknowledged
6. Relevant case law1 and the ECHR2 gives broad discretion on the state in how the fundamental right to an effective education is implemented. For instance, a local authority may specify requirements as to effectiveness in such matters as literacy and numeracy when deciding whether education is suitable. Therefore, local authorities already possess the ability to specify levels of literacy and numeracy on a case-by-case basis. 7. Paragraph 9.4 of the Department’s Elective Home Education guidance for local authorities already details eight components (including the point made above in paragraph 6) that local authorities should consider when determining whether a child is receiving a suitable education. This includes: enabling the child to participate fully in life in the UK; education not conflicting with Fundamental British Values; and isolation from a child’s peers indicating possible unsuitability, to name but a few. 8. The Department remains of the view that a centralised definition of ‘suitable’ education would not be in the interests of home educating children, families or local authorities. Each individual assessment of whether education being provided is deemed ‘suitable’ must rest on a balance of relevant factors depending on the circumstances of each child. However, this may be an area the Department considers further when it next reviews its 2019 EHE guidance for local authorities and parents, which may need to take account of the outcome of the impending judicial review between Portsmouth City Council and an EHE parent.