A government-commissioned review into home education today recommends compulsory registration for parents who take their children out of school in England.
The review, headed by Graham Badman, former director of children’s services at Kent Council, was announced in January this year following concerns over the safeguarding of those children being educated at home.
Badman, who was commissioned to review home education by the Department for Children, Schools and Families, said that parents should be required to sign up to an annual registration scheme with their local authority.
Children’s secretary Ed Balls has indicated that he will accept the recommendation, saying it would bring England into line with many developed countries.
No obligation to register
While many local authorities already run a home education registration scheme, parents are not currently obliged to sign up.
According to the DCSF around 20,000 children are registered, but the numbers being educated at home could be double this figure.
Other recommendations, accepted by the DCSF, include for councils to provide easier access to extra home education support services, particularly for the relatively high proportion of home-educated children who have special educational needs.
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