Government Figures Reveal an Increase in the Number of Children Being Home Educated

The Government have recently released figures concerning the number of children who are now electively home educated as of the autumn term 2024/2025. Local authorities report that 111,700 children are in elective home education. This is an increase from an estimated 92,000 in the previous autumn term (2023/2024). Whilst it is acknowledged that this is the first time that this much data has been provided by local authorities, this is still a significant increase in the number of children who are now registered as electively home educated. 

Whilst many parents choose to electively home educate their children due to philosophical, religious or social reasons, the data reveals that a significant increase in the number of the children that are being home educated are due to dissatisfaction with schooling. Many of these children who are home educated as a result of school dissatisfaction, are children with special educational needs or mental health difficulties whose parents feel that their schools are unable to meet their needs. These families are therefore, forced into electively home educating their children where they might otherwise not choose to do so. One of the reasons for this may be the lack of special school places available to children with special educational needs. 

Elective home education is different than education otherwise than in school (EOTIS). Where a child/ young person with special education needs has an Education Health and Care Plan (EHCP), a local authority in England may arrange for any special educational provision that it has decided is necessary for a child/ young person for whom it is responsible to be made otherwise than in a school or post-16 institution. A local authority may only do so if it is satisfied that it would be inappropriate for the provision to be made in a school or post-16 institution or other such place. Therefore, if parents consider that their child who has special educational needs, and an EHCP, is unable to access their special educational provision in a school because of their special educational needs, a local authority can make that provision outside of a school. EOTIS package support for children/ young people can include a number of different provisions such as home tutoring, online learning, forest schooling, or anything else that is specifically required for that particular child/ young person because of their SEN. 

Many of the parents who are electively home educating their children, are likely to be forced to do so as a result of their local authority refusing to provide EOTIS where they have an EHCP. In such situations, parents may wish to consider bringing an appeal to the Special Educational Needs and Disability Tribunal who can order that an EHCP includes EOTIS. The number of appeals we see being brought to secure EOTIS has steadily increased over recent years, and significantly since the ending of the Covid lockdowns. 

The legal and factual arguments that would need to be advanced in order to secure an EOTIS package of support for a child/ young person with special educational needs can be complex and require specific evidence in order to secure. Therefore if you are considering whether your child requires education otherwise than in school, and you want support with securing this either at an annual review, at the draft EHCP stage, or via an appeal to the SEND Tribunal, please do not hesitate to contact our specialist education lawyers who would be happy to talk through your options and potentially assist you. You can contact the HCB Widdows Mason Education Department on 0333 202 7175 or email education@hcbgroup.com, for a free initial consultation regarding your concerns.