Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment her Department has made of the potential merits of providing Elective Home Education officers with training in (a) neurodiversity and (b) mental health.

Home education is a proactive choice made by parents. In electing to home educate they choose to leave the state school system and the associated support and access to facilities which are available as part of having a school place.

Special educational needs (SEN) support, including access to therapies, is not conditional on the child being in school. Children are able to gain access to SEN support and mental health support when educated not in school.

Non-school based SEN and mental health support can be accessed through the local authority, via an education, health and care plan, and the NHS. Access to services is determined based on individual need, not how a child is educated.