Anne Longfield wants the estimated 60,000 home-schooled children in England to be registered with local authorities as well as stronger measures to stop schools illegally pushing pupils off their books, often by persuading parents to home-school them. But the precise figure is unknown because parents do not have to register home-educated children, meaning up to 80,000 children may have been home schooled. Longfield’s figures are similar to the estimate of 52,000 home-schooled children in 2017-18, in the annual report of the Office of the Schools Adjudicator. In some areas, the number was much higher: Northamptonshire reported a 350% increase in children and young people registered as home-schooled in the last five years. “Placing a legal duty on parents to register home-schooled children with their local authority would also help councils to monitor how children are being educated and prevent them from disappearing from the oversight of services designed to keep them safe,” said Anntoinette Bramble, the chair of the LGA’s children and young people board.

Source: The Guardian February 03, 2019 11:58 UTC