Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent estimate his Department has made of the number of children who are being home-schooled in England.

The department does not collect data on children who are home educated. We are aware of the rising number of home-educated children.

The department supports the right of parents to educate their children at home. Most do so with the best education of their child at the centre of their decision. The rising numbers of home educated children cannot be overlooked. For some parents, the child’s education is not the primary reason behind the decision to home educate, which can mean that some children are not being provided with a suitable education.

The government remains committed to a form of registration system for children not in school. Further details on this will be in the government response to the ‘Children Not in School’ consultation, which the department will publish in coming months.