Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many primary school aged children in (a) Ashfield constituency, (b) Rushcliffe and (c) Nottinghamshire have been home educated in each of the last five years for which information is available.

Responsibility for providing a suitable full-time education for children of compulsory school age who are educated at home rests with the parents. Although local authorities do not have a power to monitor such provision on a routine basis, they are under a duty to identify children who are not receiving a suitable full-time education, and as part of that process take appropriate steps to ensure that if a child is not being properly educated at home, a school attendance order is served. There is published departmental guidance to local authorities on this matter at: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/288135/guidelines_for_las_on_elective_home_educationsecondrevisev2_0.pdf

The information requested on numbers of pupils that are home educated is not collected centrally. Although some local authorities operate voluntary registration schemes, there is no legal obligation for the registration of home educated children.