Select committee: Education Committee
Recommendation 31
Third Report - Strengthening Home Education
Published 26 Jul 2021
Paragraph 122
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 Government needs to act on the longstanding issue of inequitable access to exams for those children receiving EHE. The cancellation of exams in 2020 has had a massive impact on all students, but a particularly acute impact on those receiving EHE. With a register in place, it may well have been easier to identify those children who would have been affected. If better relationships between home educators and local authorities are to be developed, it makes sense to provide ‘carrots’ as well as ‘sticks’. Removing barriers of cost and distance to exam entry for EHE children would put them on a level playing field with their schooled peers and improve our knowledge about their educational outcomes.
From: Education Committee, Third Report - Strengthening Home Education (HC 84), paragraph 122, 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.