Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many students were classified as educated otherwise than at school in the latest period for which figures are available; and how many children receiving educated otherwise than at school funding received less funding in the 2024-25 academic year than in 2023-24.

The department collects a range of data on children being educated in contexts other than school. This includes data on children and young people with education, health and care (EHC) plans who, as part of their education, are receiving ‘Special educational provision otherwise than in schools, post-16 institutions’ under section 61 of the Children and Families Act 2014. The latest figure for those receiving such support is 8,640, as at January 2024. More information can be found at: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/education-health-and-care-plans.

Provision set out in an EHC plan is funded by the relevant local authority. The department does not collect funding data from local authorities in enough detail for us to be able to identify funding at an individual level for those whose EHC plan contains provision made under section 61 of the 2014 Act.