Elective Home Education Procedures

Updated August 2021

Following consultation with schools, EHE community and local authority and external partners

Section 1: Contacts

Website links

National and local organisations

  • Home Education Lancashire on Facebook
    This Facebook group is for Home Educators and prospective Home Educators in Lancashire.
  • Lancashire Home Education
    Formed in 2010 with a purpose to improve the relationship between the Lancashire's Home Education Community and the Local Education Authority.
  • Home Schooling UK on Facebook
    This Facebook group is for UK Home Educators.
  • Education Otherwise www.educationotherwise.org
    0300 124 5690 A charity formed in 1977 to support and advise home educating families in England and Wales.
  • Department for Education
    Responsible for children's services and education, including early years, schools higher and further education policy.
  • Home Education Advisory Service www.heas.org.uk
    01707 371 854 Established in 1995 by home educators to provide information on both the legal and practical aspects of home education.
  • ACE Education 
    Independent advice and information for parents on education issues in England. Training and consultancy services covering education law and guidance provided to a wide range of education professionals.
  • The Standards & Testing Agency 
    0300 303 3013 The Standards and Testing Agency is responsible for developing and delivering all statutory assessments for school pupils in England. The STA is regulated by the examination's regulator, Ofqual.
  • ED Yourself 
    Home Education Consultant providing analysis of the key areas of elective home education practice and policy in England and Wales.
  • A Home Education 
    Established to provide parents with advice and information regarding elective home education.
  • Home Education in the UK – Special Educational Needs 
    A group of families who Home Educate children with Special Educational Needs and disabilities. 

Section 2: National information

A. Introduction

  1. The Government's aim is to ensure that 'all young people receive a world-class education which allows them to reach their potential and live a more fulfilled life, regardless of background.'
  2. Our vision for Education in Lancashire states that 'Children, young people and their families are safe, healthy and achieve their full potential.'
  3. Education should be provided in a safe environment, whether at school or at home.

B. Department for Education (DfE) revised non-statutory guidance

  1. Lancashire's Elective Home Education procedures document should be read in conjunction with The DfE revised non-statutory guidance (April 2019) documents on GOV.UK.
  2. In writing this document Lancashire's EHE team consulted with local families who educate their children/young people at home to reflect both the challenges and rewards of educating children/young people in this way and other local stakeholders.
  3. The purpose of this strategy document is to set out the current legal position and to outline Lancashire’s procedures.

C. Summary of changes

The main changes in DfE revised non-statutory guidance focus on

  1. Increased parental contact. Lancashire's EHE team are now requesting more detailed information from parents about the education they are providing for their children in order to satisfy that a suitable education is being provided.
  2. A greater emphasis on safeguarding EHE children/young people. Lancashire local authority has the same safeguarding responsibilities for children/young people that are educated at home as they do for other children/young people. This will require greater information sharing between agencies.

D. What is elective home education?

  1. Elective Home Education is a term used to describe a choice by parents to provide education for their children/young people at home - or at home and in some other way which they choose - instead of sending them to school full-time.
  2. Parents who choose to educate a child/young person in these ways rather than sending the child/young person to school full-time take on financial responsibility for the cost of doing so, including the cost of any external assistance used such as tutors, parent groups or part-time alternative provision.
  3. Parents have a right to educate their children/young people at home, and the government wants the many parents who do it well to be supported.
  4. Educating children/young people at home is a rewarding but challenging task that works well when it is a positive, informed and dedicated choice.

E. Safeguarding

  1. Parents are responsible for their child's/young person's well-being.
  2. Lancashire local authority has a moral and social obligation to ensure that a child/young person is safe and being suitably educated. The overriding objective is to ensure that a child’s/ young person's development is protected from significant harm.
  3. Lancashire local authority must identify children/young people not receiving a suitable education and take appropriate action. Unsuitable or inadequate education can impair a child’s/young person's intellectual, emotional, social or behavioural development.
  4. Where it is evident that a child/young person is not receiving a suitable education at home and the use of school attendance powers is not achieving a change in that situation Lancashire local authority will use its safeguarding powers to address a risk to a child’s/young person's welfare.
  5. There is no proven correlation between home education and safeguarding risk although the DfE has increasing concerns that some children/young people educated at home may not be in safe environments.
  6. If parents choose to employ other people to educate their child/young person, then they must ensure their suitability. Lancashire's EHE team advise parents, in these cases, to take up appropriate references and ensure that they have a recent Disclosure and Barring Service disclosure certificate.
  7. A child/young person being educated at home is not necessarily being seen on a regular basis by professionals such as teachers and this logically increases the chances that any parents who set out to use home education to avoid independent oversight may be more successful by doing so.
  8. Lancashire local authority has agreements with its partners services and teams, to increase our knowledge of children/young people who are not attending school. These arrangements include information sharing protocols and allow sharing of data on children/young people who appear to be home educated and about whom there is a concern as to the suitability of that education which amounts to possible neglect causing significant harm.

F. Special educational needs

  1. Parents’ right to educate their child/young person at home applies equally where a child/young person has an Education, Health and Care Plan (EHCP).
  2. Parents of any child/young person subject to the statutory provisions of an EHCP who are considering whether to make their own arrangements should consider discussing this with their child/young person’s school SENDCo and or the local authority named SEND Case Manager to ensure that they are fully aware of alternatives (amended provision and/or change of placement) and their SEN statutory rights of appeal.
  3. Parents considering Elective Home Education may wish to familiarise themselves with paragraphs 10.30 to 10.38 of the SEND Code of Practice January 2015.
  4. Section 42 of the Children and Families Act (2014) states the local authority is responsible for securing the specified special education provision within a child’s EHCP; however, this only applies if the child’s parents have not arranged a suitable education in some other way. Therefore, if the home education is suitable, the local authority has no duty to arrange any special educational provision for the child.
  5. Where a child or young person is a registered pupil the parent must notify the school in writing that the child/young person is receiving education otherwise than at school and the school must then remove the pupil's name from the admission register. However, the school should be minded that while they are named on the EHCP Section 66 of the Children and Families Act imposes a duty on the appropriate authority to ‘use its best endeavours to ensure that the special educational needs are met’. If the school is a special school, the local authority must give consent for the child's/young person's name to be removed, but this should not be a lengthy or complex process. There is no provision in law for a ‘trial period’ of home education.
  6. Where a child/young person is a registered pupil and the parent decides to home educate, schools should as good practice, call an early review as soon as they are aware the parent’s intention. The local authority has a duty to review EHCPs annually, following the procedures set out in the ‘SEND code of practice: 0 to 25 years.' Annual Review meetings for electively home educated children will be convened and chaired by the SEND Case Manager, parents are welcome to be present during the review, but they are not obliged to do so.
  7. In order to assess whether home provision is suitable for the special education needs of the child/young person, parents will be asked to provide information regarding the home education provision. The local authority will only be relieved of its duty to arrange the provision specified in the child’s EHCP if it is satisfied that the parents’ arrangements are suitable.
  8. If the local authority is satisfied with the parents’ arrangements, it will continue to have a duty to maintain and review the EHC plan annually until: it decides to cease the EHCP; or the EHCP is transferred to another local authority. In cases where local authorities and parents agree that home education is the right provision for a child/young person with an EHCP, the plan should make clear that the child or young person will be educated at home.
  9. If it appears to the local authority that a child/young person is not receiving education suitable to age, ability and aptitude and SEN, the procedures set out in paragraph10.36 (Special educational needs and disability code of practice: 0 to 25 years: January 2015) will be followed. If the EHCP remains in place, it will be maintained and reviewed annually and amended where appropriate.
  10. A parent who is educating their child/young person at home may ask the local authority to carry out a statutory assessment of their child/young person’s special educational needs and the local authority will consider the request within the same statutory timescales and in the same way as for all other requests.

Section 3: Parent’s rights and responsibilities

The responsibility for children’s/young people's education rests with their parents and parents have a right to educate their children/young people at home.

Section 7 of the Education Act 1996 provides that:

"The parent of every child of compulsory school age shall cause him to receive efficient full-time education suitable –

  • to his age, ability and aptitude, and
  • to any special educational needs he may have, either by regular attendance at school or otherwise."

Parents' voice – the rewards and challenges of elective home education

Rewards

  • Flexibility and improved mental health of my children.
  • It allows young people to follow their interests, build on their strengths and address their weaknesses in an educational structure that's designed specifically for them.
  • Playing to the child's strengths. Getting the most from their capabilities.
  • It allows young people to learn flexibly, in the way that works best for each child.
  • We can go into greater depths of some subjects that the children are loving and take a slower approach to things that they are struggling with.
  • Their complex needs were not being met or understood by the school. Meeting the needs of children with SEN better than large schools/ class sizes.

Challenges

  • The other big challenge is exam access for GCSE and A-level. The number of exam centres in the UK willing to accept private candidates has decreased.
  • Lack of financial support for resources and technical equipment.
  • The biggest challenge so far has been the fear of being monitored by the LA.
  • The fear of judgment from others who don't understand EHE.
  • As a parent, you feel very isolated and neglected.
  • I would say the initial step out of the education system was the most significant challenge. This felt like a huge decision.

Section 4: Lancashire procedures

A. Local authority responsibilities

  1. Lancashire local authority aims to work in partnership with our EHE community to support their decision of elective home education.
  2. Lancashire’s EHE team has no formal powers or duty to monitor the provision of education at home. However, Lancashire’s EHE team has a statutory duty (under s.436A of the Education Act 1996) to make arrangements to enable them to establish the identities, so far as it is possible to do so, of children/young people in its area who are not receiving a suitable education.

B. Children who have attended school

  1. Lancashire schools cannot remove a pupil from their roll until they have been informed in writing by the parents that their child is being electively home educated.
  2. Until a child/young person is removed from the school roll the parent is at risk of prosecution for not securing attendance at the school even if suitable home education is being provided.
  3. All Lancashire schools must inform the local authority of any child/young person removed from the school roll and the reason given.

C. Children who have never attended school

  1. If a child/young person has never attended school, Lancashire local authority may be unaware that he or she is being home educated.
  2. There is no legal duty on parents to inform Lancashire EHE team that their child/young person is being home educated.
  3. However when Lancashire EHE team becomes aware of a child/young person of compulsory school age, who is not on a school roll, they are governed by a statutory duty under s.436A of the Education Act 1996 - to make arrangements to enable them to establish if the child/young person is receiving a suitable education.

D. Database details and education overview

  1. When the local authority first becomes aware that parents have elected for home education initial contact will be made in writing. Lancashire's EHE team will request that parents complete the Contact Details form which can be completed online or in written form. The form asks for contact details, background information including the reasons for deciding to electively home educate and for parents to provide details of the educational provision that is being made.
  2. Lancashire's EHE support workers understand that in the early stages of home education, parents may not yet be able to respond fully to enquiries. We expect parents to have responded within 6 weeks of our initial contact with them.

E. Causes for concern

  1. Parents are under no legal obligation to respond to information requests regarding home education. However, if no response is received or the information provided is insufficient then the Lancashire EHE team may conclude that the child/young person may not be receiving a suitable education.
  2. Lancashire's EHE team will explore all reasonable avenues to gather relevant information that will assist in reaching an informed judgement regarding the provision of a suitable education. Parents will be given the opportunity to address any concerns that the authority has.
  3. Lancashire local authority could issue a School Attendance Order (Please refer to Appendix 3). This would only be issued as a measure of last resort.
  4. At any stage following the issuing of a School Attendance Order, parents may present evidence to Lancashire local authority (or the court) that they are now providing a suitable and appropriate education and apply to have the Order revoked.

F. Suitable education

  1. When Lancashire’s EHE team is satisfied that a child/young person is receiving a suitable education in a safe environment they will maintain contact with parents on an annual basis for an update on the child’s/young person's education.
  2. Parents are welcome to contact our support workers for advice and support at any time.

G. Annual contact

  1. The family's dedicated support worker will contact the family on an annual basis, by their preferred means of communication, which is usually in writing.
  2. This is to request an update regarding the educational provision and the progress that the child/young person has made during the past 12 months.

H. Local authority support

  1. Lancashire's Elective Home Education support workers are available to provide support if required. The support workers are available to offer support by phone, email and if required with a home visit.
  2. Many people find a home visit helpful. Parents are not legally required to give the local authority access to their home. They may choose to meet a support worker at a mutually convenient and neutral location instead, with or without the child/young person being present or choose not to meet at all. Children/young people are welcome to attend any meetings and make contributions to the information provided.
  3. Where a parent elects not to allow access to their home or their child/young person, this does not constitute a ground for concern about the educational provision being made. Where our support workers are unable to visit homes, support workers should, in the vast majority of cases, be able to discuss and evaluate the parents’ educational provision through the information provided by parents in completing the contact details form.
  4. The support workers may be able to suggest other services that may be useful or may suggest other contacts that can provide advice.
  5. Section 1 provides contact details of national and local organisations that provide additional support for EHE parents. Additional information can be found on Lancashire's EHE website.

Section 5: Appendices

Appendix 1: Definitions

Efficient:

  • There is no definition of this in statute law.
  • However, it can be interpreted as meaning education which ‘achieves what it is intended to achieve’.

Full-time:

  • There is no legal definition of full-time in terms of education at home or at school.
  • Children attending school normally have about five hours tuition a day for 190 days a year, spread over about 38 weeks.
  • Home education does not have to mirror this. In elective home education there is often almost continuous one-to-one contact and education may sometimes take place outside normal “school hours”.

Suitable:

  • There is no definition of suitable education in statute law.
  • It must be suitable to the age, ability and aptitudes of the child, and any special educational needs.
  • It must be age-appropriate, enable the child to make progress according to his or her particular level of ability, and should take account of any specific aptitudes.

Appendix 2: Sections from The Education Act 1996

Section 436A: Duty to make arrangements to identify children not receiving education
A local authority must make arrangements to enable them to establish (so far as it is possible to do so) the identities of children in their area who are of compulsory school age but—

(a) are not registered pupils at a school, and
(b) are not receiving suitable education otherwise than at a school.

Appendix 3: Section 437 of The 1996 Education Act and School Attendance Orders.

Under s.437(1) of the Education Act 1996, local authorities must act if it appears that parents are not providing a suitable education. This section states that: "If it appears to a local 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."

Section 437(2) of the Act provides that the period specified for a response shall not be less than 15 days beginning with the day on which the notice is served.

The local authority must consider any response made by the parent to the s.437(1) notice, in the light of s.437(3). Section 437(3) refers to the serving of school attendance orders: "If – (a) a parent on whom a notice has been served under subsection (1) fails to satisfy the local authority, within the period specified in the notice, that the child is receiving suitable education, and (b) in the opinion of the authority it is expedient that the child should attend school, the authority shall serve on the parent an order (referred to in this Act as a "school attendance order"), in such form as may be prescribed, requiring him to cause the child to become a registered pupil at a school named in the order."

Appendix 4: Privacy notice

The Elective Home Education Privacy notice.