Commenting on a new report by the Association of Directors of Children’s Services (ADCS), which shows that the number of children and young people being home educated during 2020/21 rose 34% from the previous year, Paul Whiteman, general secretary of school leaders’ union NAHT, said:

“The government must find out the reasons behind so many more families choosing home education. The concern is that many appear to have chosen home education because they have lost faith in the government’s approach to school safety during the pandemic. A combination of high case numbers in schools and the government’s decision to remove safety measures could mean that we see this trend continue unless the government does more to reassure these parents.

“NAHT has long called for an official register of home educated children. Currently there is no legal obligation for a parent to provide any notification to a school about the withdrawal of a child to be home educated, and no way to check the quality of education that child is receiving.

“This is a clear safeguarding concern and could lead to a child at risk being missed, with neither school nor local authority knowing for certain what has happened to them. Without an officially maintained register, there remains the risk of children becoming lost outside the system.”