Home schooling rise leads to calls for registrations
THE number of children being homeschooled has doubled in six years, as competition for secondary school places increases, new figures show.
Nearly 30,000 children were educated at home in the 2016-17 academic year, raising fears among MPS and school leaders that some may be receiving a substandard education.
It represents a 97 per cent increase since 2011, when just 15,135 pupils were classified as home-taught.
The figures are based on data provided by 86 local education authorities across England, with council leaders pointing to a lack of “good school” places, bullying and the popularity of the home school movement as reasons for the trend.
The surge coincides with schools becoming increasingly oversubscribed across the country, with the number of children receiving their first place secondary school offer declining steadily from 84.6 per cent to 84.1 per cent during the same period.
According to the data, the number of children pulled from year six – when parents discover if they have got into their first choice schools – has risen by 141 per cent. Some parents are also believed to have taken children out of school to avoid repeat fines from local authorities for unauthorised absences.
Speaking to The Daily Telegraph, Neil Carmichael, the former chairman of the Commons education select committee, said he was “deeply concerned” by the news and called on the Government to consider compulsory registration for all home-educated children.
“I think the home school movement has accelerated, but it’s difficult to determine what’s driving it,” he said. “We don’t know exactly how many are being home educated. The variance is in the region of 50,000.
“My concern with home education is that it’s fraught with difficulty.
“The problem is that it’s such an uncalibrated and unregulated area. The lack of regulation is one of my main concerns.
“How can it be that parents are taken to court for unauthorised holidays, but at the same time they’re allowing parents to do anything they want if they decide to home educate.
“That’s why I believe that every home educator should be registered. There’s currently no requirement for compulsory registration. It’s a huge loophole that needs to be tightened.”