Sharp Rise in Home Education Sparks Concerns Over SEND Provision in England

The number of children in England leaving school for home education has more than doubled in five years, with children’s commissioner Dame Rachel de Souza expressing deep concern over what she describes as “forced home education.”

Data gathered through freedom of information (FOI) requests reveals that UK councils received over 66,000 notifications of children being withdrawn from school for home education in 2023-2024, a stark rise from 28,000 in 2019-2020.

Dame Rachel, appointed to protect and promote children’s rights, attributes much of this increase to the failures of the current school system to meet children’s needs, especially those with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND).

She noted that many families, particularly those with children facing educational or behavioral challenges, feel they have no choice but to educate their children at home.

“I think it’s shocking to see how many children have been home educated because I know so many of them are not doing it because they want to,” she said. “I’m deeply, deeply concerned. I think this is forced home education.”

Regions such as the North and Midlands saw some of the most significant rises, with home education numbers more than tripling in the North East.

The Department for Education (DfE) recently began collecting data on home education and has introduced mandates for local authorities to report these figures.

The latest available data estimates that 92,000 children were being home-educated in autumn 2023, up by about 11,000 from 2022.

The data highlights an increase in families citing concerns about their children’s mental health and dissatisfaction with SEND provisions as reasons for opting out of mainstream schooling. The number of families attributing their decision to inadequate SEND support rose by 71% from 2022 to 2023.

One mother, Sarah, shared her story of withdrawing her seven-year-old daughter, Daisy, from her local school in Somerset. Daisy, who has significant visual challenges, struggled to keep up and often refused to go to school.

“She was unhappy, withdrawn, and wasn’t succeeding,” Sarah said. She decided to educate Daisy at home, where the child now receives one-on-one support but misses her friends and hopes to return to school one day.

In response to the situation, the government plans to reform the SEND system and introduce registers for children not attending school to ensure they receive adequate support. A spokesperson for the DfE emphasized the need for all children to have equal access to a suitable education, whether in school or at home.

“Our mission is to break down the barriers to opportunity, so every pupil has the best life chances,” they said, pledging reforms to help children thrive in education.

Meanwhile, officials in Wales, Scotland, and Northern Ireland have acknowledged the challenges some families face in school settings, with the Welsh government stressing that home education should be a positive choice, not a necessity.

As authorities examine the surge in home education, the debate continues over how best to ensure children receive the education and support they need.