Home educated children
Where data is not held in the exact format requested, please provide the closest available data and explain any limitations. Please note this FOI is being sent to every LA in England, Wales and Scotland and therefore some terminology may be slightly different to that used in your country. 1) EHE - a) Please provide the number of home educated children known to your local authority as of the 1st April 2026 b) how many of these became known since 1st October 2025? c) how many of these are in 14-16 access college and still registered as EHE? d) how many of these are flexi-schooled/part time EHE and part time school? e) how many of these were previously attending private school before being EHE? 2) CME - a)How many children moved from EHE status to CME status between 1 October 2025 and 1 April 2026? This includes those where you dual categorise as EHE and CME. b) How many of these remain CME? 3) s437(1) England and Wales Notice to satisfy - Section 37(1) in Scotland. a) State how many s437(1) or 37(1) have been served between 1/10/2025 and 1/4/2026- This is in relation to home educated children (including those you may have transferred to CME prior to serving notice). b) How many were served more than one notice per child in this period? c) Please confirm whether your figures are recorded per notice, per child, or per parent. 4) SAO School attendance order England and Wales - AO attendance order in Scotland a) How many SAOs/AO were served in that same time period. This is in relation to home educated children (including those you may have transferred to CME prior to serving). b) How many were subject to more than one per child in this period? c) Please confirm whether your figures are recorded per order, per child, or per parent. 5) SAO/AO outcomes - For each SAO/AO identified in Question 4, please provide the outcome, including (but not limited to): Child registered at school before escalation to court (state if SAO was revoked) SAO revoked due to education deemed suitable Prosecution initiated Prosecution outcome (e.g. conviction, acquittal, withdrawn) Any other recorded outcome 6) Reasons for Section 437(1) or 37(1) Notices Please provide the recorded reasons for serving Section 437(1) notices in Question 3. This should include any internal categories, codes, or descriptors used (e.g. insufficient information, provided written information but chose not to meet, refusal to provide photos to back up a written report, no response, etc.). Where no formal categories exist, please provide a summary based on case records. 7) Resolution Following Section 437(1) or 37(1) In cases where no further action was taken following a Section 437(1) notice, or where the authority accepted the education as suitable, please state what actions led to that decision (e.g. written report, meeting, home visit, samples of work, etc.). 8) SAO/AO Revocation Prior to Court For SAOs/AOs that were revoked prior to court proceedings, please provide the reasons for revocation, including what evidence or specific actions led to the decision. (e.g. written report, meeting, home visit, samples of work, etc.). 9) Recording Practices a) Does your authority record EHE and CME as mutually exclusive categories? b) Can a child be recorded as CME while also being known to be home educated? c) Does your authority maintain a record of children who have moved between EHE and CME categories? d) If yes, what is the process for this classification? 10) Home Visits a) How many EHE families had a home visit between 1 October 2025 and 1 April 2026 b) How many families had more than one visit in this time period? 11) SEN - a) how many of the known home educators in question 1 have an EHCP? b) how many have known SEND without an EHCP?