Question to the Department for Education:

To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many schools are currently unregistered; and in relation to how many unregistered schools Ofsted carried out investigative work in (1) 2014–15, and (2) 2015–16.

Children have a fundamental right to be safe both in and out of school. We have made it very clear that it is an offence to operate an unregistered independent school. In January 2016, we announced funding for Ofsted to establish a dedicated team of specialist inspectors to investigate such settings and since that time, there has been a significant escalation of Ofsted investigations.

The number of possible cases of unregistered independent schools that may be operating fluctuates all the time, as new settings come to our attention and existing ones are closed down or are confirmed as not operating as schools.

Ofsted Annual Report 2015/16: education, early years and skills, published on 1 December 2016, noted that at the time of publication, Ofsted was working on 152 cases of unregistered settings that they suspected may be operating as schools. It also reports that from January 2016 to end August 2016 (the end of the period covered by the report), Ofsted inspected 38 such settings; Ofsted issued 19 warning notices telling proprietors to cease operating illegally; and 15 of those providers ceased to operate illegally following those inspections.

A copy of the report is attached.