Should we be concerned about the rise in home schooling?

Parents educate their children at home for a variety of reasons but some young people may be at risk of harm, the education minister has said

Most children educated at home are there because their parents believe it offers a better learning environment (PA)

Concerns about young people falling “off the grid” have been growing in the education sector, and now, to allay fears, the government will make families who home school register their child with the council.

The proposal for a mandatory register to ensure authorities can supervise young people out of school comes after the number of children being home schooled doubled in the space of four years.

Education secretary Damian Hinds has warned that some children are being taught in illegal schools, where they are vulnerable to “dangerous influences”, under the banner of “home education”.

But the number of home educated children who have suffered from abuse or radicalisation is unknown – despite concern from Ofsted that pupils may be at risk in unregistered settings.

Of course, increased statutory monitoring can help to reduce safeguarding concerns about pupils who are not in school. However, it is important not to tarnish all home educators with the same brush.

It is widely believed that the majority of the 60,000 children who are permanently out of school are not in any danger. Indeed, many families are seeking to home educate because of mental health issues or bullying. These parents argue that their children feel less safe in mainstream education.

Still, local authorities in England have been repeatedly calling for more powers to ensure that the rising number of children taught at home receive a good quality of education away from school.

The latest call comes amid reports that some parents are being pressured by schools to home educate just before their children’s GCSE exams, leaving families without education provision during a vital period.

In cases like this, the argument for more regulation is strong since it should ensure that pupils who are “off-rolled” – the process of moving pupils off a school register informally – do not miss out on education altogether.

However, there is plainly a difference between parents who feel pressure to home educate in these circumstances, and families who have voluntarily opted out of the mainstream system with a plan in place.

Many home educators argue that there is simply not enough quality provision in place for children with special educational needs at a time when schools and local authorities have faced cuts.

The large rise in home schooling is a concern – but not because thousands of children are at risk or radicalisation or other dangers. The growth in home education is a worry because it reflects a significant dissatisfaction with the state school system.

A register is a sticking plaster to a much bigger problem. Greater funding and reduced pressure over exam results is needed to stem the flow of children out of state school education.