Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, when his Department plans to publish its response to the 2019 Children not in school consultation; and whether he plans to introduce the register of children educated otherwise than at mainstream schools outlined in that consultation.

Parents have a right to educate their children at home, and the Government wants the many parents who do it well to be supported. Most parents who take up the weighty responsibility of home education do a very good job, and many children benefit from being educated at home.

However, there are examples in which pupils are home educated but such education provided is inappropriate, ineffective or through unsuitable settings, such as unregistered independent schools.

In response to this, a consultation was held in the spring of 2019 on proposals for: a mandatory register of children not attending state or registered independent schools to help local authorities carry out their responsibilities in relation to children not in school; a duty on parents to register their child with the local authority if not registered at specified types of schools; a duty on proprietors of certain education settings to respond to enquiries from local authorities; and a duty on local authorities to provide support to parents who educate children at home.

The consultation closed on 24 June 2019 with nearly 5000 responses. We remain committed to a registration system for children not in school. Further details on this will be published in the government response to the consultation which we intend to publish in due course.