More than one in 100 children in England were homeschooled last summer term, with many parents citing lifestyle or “philosophical reasons” for abandoning traditional classrooms.
New estimates by the Department for Education (DfE) show that 97,000 children were home educated in 2023’s summer term, an increase of 11,000 compared with the 86,000 home educated at the start of 2023.
The figures suggest the surge in numbers of children being homeschooled during the Covid pandemic is at risk of becoming permanent, with only 4% of parents saying health concerns over Covid were the main factor behind their decision.
Nearly one in four families surveyed by the DfE said “lifestyle choice” and “philosophical or preferential reasons” were their primary motivation to educate their children at home.
The DfE also published new attendance figures showing the number of children persistently absent from school remained stubbornly higher than pre-pandemic levels, especially among older children at secondary school and those with special needs.
The DfE’s statistics show that 20% of secondary school pupils in England were persistently absent from September to mid-January, an improvement on the 24% of students who were persistently absent the previous year but far above the 11% recorded in 2018-19.
Paul Whiteman, general secretary of the National Association of Head Teachers, said ministers needed to “look at the bigger picture” to get more children back to school.
“Schools alone do not have the time, resources or expertise to address what are sometimes deep-rooted social issues, yet vital services like children’s social care and mental health support have suffered cuts or failed to keep up with demand over the last decade,” Whiteman said.
“We need to see more boots on the ground, with visits to families to get to the bottom of issues with children’s attendance – but crucial local authority roles like education welfare officers have been decimated.”
