Question to the Department for Education:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of unregistered schools which have closed down and reformed into home education hubs.

Some educational settings may have changed their operations to support home educating parents. Unregistered schools are illegal, however, under the Education and Skills Act 2008; accordingly, they do not advertise their presence to the Department for Education. We cannot, therefore, estimate the number of previously unregistered schools which have closed down and reformed into home education hubs.

All settings which provide full-time education to five or more pupils, one child with an education, health and care plan (EHCP), or one child who is ‘looked after’ by a local authority, must be registered as a school even if this provision is only a temporary measure to support home-educating parents while in-person attendance at schools was restricted. It is an offence to conduct any independent setting which offers full-time education to five or more pupils, one child with an EHCP, or one child who is ‘looked after’ by a local authority.

​The Department for Education and Ofsted continue to investigate any settings where intelligence or evidence suggest the operation of an unregistered school.