Select committee: Education Committee
Recommendation 25
Third Report - Strengthening Home Education
Published 26 Jul 2021
Paragraph 91
Addressed to Department for Education
Education Committee Home Education All items in this report Report on parliament.uk ↗ Inquiry on parliament.uk ↗
Recommendation (the committee's words)
The Department must clarify and strengthen the expectation in its 2019 guidance that local authorities make contact with parents on at least an annual basis, so that local authorities have the ability to see a child in person (at a venue of the family’s choosing) in situations where this is necessary to establish the suitability of the education they are receiving. The Department must make any necessary statutory changes to enable this, and make clear that: • annual contact with an EHE family is a minimum expectation; • local authorities should be asking to see examples of children’s work and parents should not reasonably refuse this; • local authorities should be assessing children’s progress from one year to the next, especially in areas such as literacy and numeracy which are essential to access future educational opportunities and employment. By the time children are at the age when they would leave compulsory schooling, they should be able to demonstrate the same baseline numeracy and literacy skills that we expect from their schooled peers. While children with SEND may follow different paths, it is vital that they too have the right support provided so that they can flourish.
From: Education Committee, Third Report - Strengthening Home Education (HC 84), paragraph 91, 26 July 2021
Government response
The government responded to the whole report on 26 October 2021 (deadline 26 September 2021).
Summary written by Accountability Index from the government's response. It is not the government's own words.The Government supports parents' right to home educate and "remains committed" to a form of registration for children not in school, but declines or only considers further several of the Committee's other recommendations.
- On registration, the Government "remains committed to a form of local authority administered statutory registration"; further details will be in its response to the Children Not In School consultation, "published in the coming months".
- On a centralised definition of 'suitable' education, the Department "remains of the view" that this would not be in the interests of home educating children, families or local authorities, though it "may be an area the Department considers further" at its next guidance review.
- On an independent SEND coordinating role, the Government states: "We therefore do not consider it necessary to create an additional role in this area."
- On longitudinal research into EHE outcomes, the Department "can see the value" but notes challenges, and "will review potential approaches again" after the consultation response is published.