Your LA

Once you have deregistered, the school is required to notify your Local Authority that your child's name has been deleted from the register. This usually generates an initial contact from the LA; in most areas this will be an Education Welfare Officer and will often be an enquiry to ensure that the child is safe, has not been withdrawn to hide abusive behaviour, and that the parent has made an informed choice. This initial contact is then followed by some attempt by the local authority to "assess" your educational provision.

Elective home education is the term used by the Department of Children Schools & Families - and therefore local authorities - to describe parents’ decisions to provide education for their children at home instead of sending them to school. This is different to home tuition provided by a local authority or education provided by a local authority other than at a school.

In 2007 the Department issued Guidelines for Local Authorities in relation to the discharge of their statutory duties with relation to elective home educators within their area. It may, or may not, surprise you to know that not all local authorities have read, or chose to follow, these voluntary Guidelines.

The Guidelines remind LAs of their legal duty towards children who appear not to be receiving suitable education. This is found in Sections 437 to 443 of the Education Act 1996:

If it appears to a local education authority that a child of compulsory school age in their area is not receiving suitable education, either by regular attendance at school or otherwise, they shall serve a notice in writing on the parent requiring him to satisfy them within the period specified in the notice that the child is receiving such education. (s 437 (1))

Beyond this, nothing in the Education Act requires a local authority to carry out regular monitoring of provision where a child is receiving education otherwise than at school.

However, case law (Phillips v Brown, Divisional Court [20 June 1980, unreported]) has established that a local authority may initially ask parents who are educating their children at home for information in order to assess whether it appears to the local authority that no suitable education is being provided.

In Phillips v Brown, Lord Donaldson said:

Of course such a request is not the same as a notice under s 37 (1) of the Education Act 1944 [now s 437 (1) of the Education Act 1996] and the parents will be under no duty to comply. However it would be sensible for them to do so. If parents give no information or adopt the course … of merely stating that they are discharging their duty without giving any details of how they are doing so, the LEA will have to consider and decide whether it ‘appears’ to it that the parents are in breach of s 36 [now s 7 of the Education Act 1996].

The 2007 Guidelines state:

Parents are required to provide an efficient, full-time education suitable to the age, ability and aptitude of the child. There is currently no legal definition of "full-time". Children normally attend school for between 22 and 25 hours a week for 38 weeks of the year, but this measurement of "contact time" is not relevant to elective home education where there is often almost continuous one-to-one contact and education may take place outside normal "school hours". The type of educational activity can be varied and flexible. 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

  • match school-based, age-specific standards

Section 3.13

However, many Local Authorities will write to a new home educator requesting details of timetables, tutors, hours of study and other unnecessary questions. Whilst you do not have to provide any of that information, it may be prudent to acknowledge any communication from your LA in light of the many aspects of law relating to children and young people that have been affected by the 2004 Children Act, particularly the 5 Outcomes of Every Child Matters: Be Safe; Be Healthy; Make a Positive Contribution; Enjoy and Achieve; Achieve Economic Wellbeing.

The Information Sharing Index (Section 12 of the 2004 Children Act) allows for up to half a million professional and voluntary sector workers to access to information about our children, both within the Local Authority and also feeding into the National Database.

In addition the Children Missing Education Policy under Section 4 of the Education and Inspection Act 2006 puts a proactive duty on the Local Authority to categorise the place of education of each child in the area. This is the Statutoruy Guidance published by the DfES in February 2007. These have led to many local authorities pressing for more details of where and how a child is to be educated.

It is important however to note the Government's own acknowledgement that "Where a parent elects not to allow access to their home or their child, this does not of itself constitute a ground for concern about the education provision being made." (Section 3.6)

If your local authority does approach your family and ask for information, and you wish to provide that information, you may might chose to any number of ways to do so. For example, offer either a written report, samples of work, a meeting at their home, with or without the child being present, a meeting elsewhere, with or without the child, an endorsement of the educational provision by a recognised third party, or information in any other appropriate form.

Many families chose to provide an educational philosophy, and you can find out more about those here.