Home education

Whether current systems that support and monitor home education are the right ones

Some families with children with SEN make a positive choice to educate their children at home. For others it is the least bad option which may come about for a number of reasons:

• inadequacy of local SEN provision e.g. lack of special schools or lack of appropriately resourced units in mainstream schools
• religious reasons e.g. lack of local school of relevant faith which can cater
• school or LA failure to make statemented provision
• breakdown of relationships with school and/or LA
• response to threats of prosecution
• neutral position pending tribunal hearing (e.g. on secondary transfer)
• response to unsuccessful tribunal

It is clearly a matter of grave concern that some of the most vulnerable children including those with very complex special needs, should end up out of school through a default in the system. Once a child is being home educated, LAs may decline to provide support or make special educational provision.

IPSEA supports the statementing process as it is. Although clearly various LAs persist in writing statements which may be unenforceable due to vagueness, we would not wish to see any compromise of the guarantee that a properly written statement can bring. It is problematic, however, that Statements cannot be transferred to Home Education unless it can be demonstrated that all or part of a child’s special educational needs cannot be met in a school.