Home education in the United Kingdom is often termed "elective home education" ("EHE") to signify the independent nature of practice from state provisions such as education for children with ill-health provided by the local authority in the family home. EHE is a collective term used in the UK to describe education provided other than through the schooling system.Educating your child at home Directgov Parents have a duty to ensure their children are educated but the education legislation in England and Wales does not differentiate between school attendance or education otherwise than at school.Education Act (1996): Section 7 (covering England and Wales. Similar wording is included in legislation for Northern Ireland) Scots education legislation on the other hand differentiates between public (state) school provision and education "by other means", which includes both private schooling and home education.Education (Scotland) Act (1980): Section 30 The numbers of families retaining direct responsibility for the education of their children has steadily increased since the late 1970s. This increase has coincided with the formation of support groups such as Education Otherwise.Opting out The Guardian, 27 August 2002 Home education may involve an informal style of education described as unschooling, informal learning, natural or autonomous learning.Educating your child at home, Alan Thomas, Harriet Pattison, Continuum, Others prefer to retain a structured school at home approach sometimes referred to as homeschooling (a term more popular in the US) although the terms are often interchanged.Government moves to tighten regulation of home education The Guardian Thursday 11 June 2009
In 2016/17, 48,000 children were being homeschooled in the United Kingdom, up from 34,000 in 2014/15. This number rose to 57,132 in 2018. The number of homeschoolers in the United Kingdom rose by 130 per cent between 2013 and 2018, with the increase varying widely between communities. The Department for Education estimated that in summer 2023 some 97,600 children were being homeschooled.
England and Wales
History With the Elementary Education Act 1870 (33 & 34 Vict. c. 75) came attempts to formalise and regulate what had been an ad-hoc schooling system.The evolution of the nursery-infant school: a history of infant and nursery education in Britain, 1800-1970, Nanette Whitbread, Routledge, Campaigners to establish a school system such as the National Education League had argued that schools were for children "not otherwise receiving education" and the 1870 act specified "a reasonable excuse for non-attendance at school : 1. That the child is under efficient instruction in some other manner".Elementary Education Act, 1870, Introduction XXVI
In England and Wales, the law states that all children between the ages of 5 and 16 must receive a full-time suitable education as per their age, ability and aptitude and any special needs they may have must be met, either by regular attendance at school or otherwise.Education Act (1996): Section 7
With the growth of the schooling system came fresh theories and philosophies of education such as those of Johann Heinrich Pestalozzi who would influence the likes of Herbert Spencer who in his essays on education (1854 and 1859) argued against the traditional authoritative classical form of education that disregarded the natural wishes, tendencies, and motives of the child.Essays on Education and Kindred Subjects, Introduction by Charles W. Eliot, Dent, 1911 In turn there were many further pioneers such as Charlotte Mason, Caroline Southwood Hill and Susan Sutherland Isaacs.
Correspondence colleges, latterly online course providers began to make an appearance with Wolsey Hall, Oxford established in 1894 being the oldest.
The twentieth century saw the opening of schools such as Summerhill and Dartington and the establishment of The Peckham Experiment. The government had set up consultative committees chaired by William Henry Hadow. The Hadow reports (1923–1933) with their suggestions such that "a good school 'is not a place of compulsory instruction, but a community of old and young, engaged in learning by cooperative experiment'.Gillard, D. 'The Hadow Reports: an introduction', the encyclopaedia of informal education, http://www.infed.org/schooling/hadow_reports.htm laid the foundations for the Education Act 1944 which required that each child be educated according to their individual aptitude and ability either at school or otherwise. The plans for a liberal communal based education system incorporating schools, village halls and community centresThe Times, Friday, 22 December 1944; pg. 5; Issue 50023; col C floundered against local bureaucracy and finance and offered little more than a tripartite school system which itself would be abandoned as ineffectual in favour of comprehensive schools later to be dismissed as "bog standard".Blunkett rejects 'bog standard' tag BBC News 18 February 2001
During the early 1950s Joy Baker became one of the first parents to abandon the school based education system in favour of the otherwise path. She would spend ten years battling with the authorities who insisted her children should attend school.Joy Baker: Trailblazer for Home-based Education and Personalised Learning, Chris Shute, During the early 1970s Dartington school ran a scheme, known as The Terrace, with Yorkshire County Council overseen by Alec Clegg to provide education to pupils who were required to stay on at school due to the raising of the leaving age. The scheme was run by Dick Kitto who had been working at Dartington. Kitto set up an informal democratic system and was impressed by how well the pupils responded to such opportunities.Duane, Michael (1995). The Terrace: An Educational Experiment in a State School. London: Freedom Press. Kitto planned to expand his ideas to cover more schools but he discovered that some parents had already moved beyond his ideas and had decided to abandon schooling for their children altogether. A meeting for these families was organised in the late 70's/early eighties (check date) which would lead to the establishment of Education Otherwise. The meeting included Iris and Geoff Harrison whose fight with the authorities to home educate their five dyslexic children was widely publicised in the media at that time. Education Otherwise is now a charity and organisation that helps families and children with queries relating to home education and resource-related issues. Other organisations such as AHED also exist.
Badman Review
In 2009, Ed Balls,Elective Home Education Hansard 11 June 2009 : Column 44WS the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families, commissioned Graham Badman, the former Director of Children's Services at Kent County Council,Parents who home educate children to be forced to register The Guardian, 11 June 2009 to review current practice of local authorities in relation to home educators, and to investigate if home education was used as a cover for some forms of child abuse.Action To Ensure Children’s Education & Welfare DCSF Press Release, January 2009
When published in June 2009, the response was mixed. Balls himself accepted much of the review's recommendations in relation to safeguarding, however many home educators were extremely angry at the recommendation to force all to register.Home educators made to register The Children, Schools and Families Select Committee announced its own inquiry into the handling of the Badman Review.Children, Schools and Families Committee Press Notice It criticised both the Department and the Badman Review and made a number of recommendations against the thrust of the original report.
Although the Department framed legislation to implement much of the review, Queen's Speech: Bill-by-bill BBC News Children, Schools and Families Bill Schedule 1 - Home education, England (draft legislation) due to a lack of cross-party support and intense campaigning by home education advocacy groups it was dropped by the Labour administration in the run-up to the 2010 General Election.Ed Balls drops key education reforms BBC News 7 April 2010
Roles and responsibilities of parents and local authorities The government recognises that education is a fundamental right for every child and that parents have the right to choose to educate their child at home rather than at school. The roles and responsibilities of parents and local authorities in this regard are covered by a document called Elective Home Education: Guidelines For Local Authorities and is published by the Department for Education. These guidelines have statutory standing and following these guidelines is obligatory on local authorities.
The guidelines quote section 7 of The Education Act 1996:
"The parent of every child of compulsory school age shall cause him to receive efficient full-time education suitable (a) to his age, ability and aptitude, and (b) to any special educational needs he may have, either by regular attendance at school or otherwise."
The mention of "otherwise" is what covers education outside of state schools, including home education. The guidelines go on to explain that an efficient education is one that achieves what it sets out to achieve. It needs to prepare the child for adult life in the community of which the child is a member, as well as beyond should they wish to leave the community. Emphasis was formerly placed (section 2.3) on the fact that the education did not need to prepare the child for life in the country as a whole but for life in the community of which the child is a member.
There is no definition of what constitutes a full-time education, but the guidelines accept that education at home may not follow the rigid hours of the school structure and it is difficult to impossible to measure exact hours devoted to it.
Home educating parents are not required to teach the National Curriculum; provide a broad and balanced education; have a timetable; have premises equipped to any particular standard; set hours during which education will take place; have any specific qualifications; make detailed plans in advance; observe school hours, days or terms; give formal lessons; mark work done by their child; formally assess progress or set development objectives; reproduce school type peer group socialisation or match school-based, age-specific standards (section 3.13).
Local authorities have no duty to monitor the quality of home education (section 2.7), have no right to enter the homes of home educators or otherwise see children for the purpose of monitoring their education (section 2.14 - 2.16) and are required to leave home educators to just get on with the job (various sections) unless the LA already has information that the parents are not delivering a suitable education (section 3.4).
Except where the child is registered at a school for children with special needs no permission is required from the school or local authority to deregister the child (section 2.4). Parents can deregister a child from the school system by the simple means of notifying the school in writing (section 3.8). There is no action, notification or deregistration process for those children who have never been to school. When a child reaches the age of five parents can choose to register the child at a school or continue to educate the child at home as they have been doing since the child's birth.
Regulation and monitoring