Elective home education (EHE) off-rolling

Electively Home Educated (EHE) is when a parent chooses not to send their child to school full-time but assumes responsibility for making sure their child receives a full-time education other than at school. Some children are electively home educated from age 5 and may never attend school. In other cases, a child may be removed from their school’s roll for EHE.

Educating children at home works well when it is a positive choice and carried out with proper regard for the needs of the child. In many cases, elective home education is appropriate, well-delivered and involves considerable sacrifice on the part of parents.

EHE requires parents to take full responsibility for their child’s education, including all associated costs (such as exam fees). Schools are not required to provide any support to parents that have withdrawn their child for EHE. Support provided by Local Authorities (LA) is discretionary, including support for a child’s special educational needs.

Parents should not be placed under pressure by schools to electively home educate their child. This is a form of ‘off-rolling’ and is never acceptable.

Parents' right to educate their child at home applies equally where a child has SEN. This right is irrespective of whether the child has a statement of special educational needs or an Education, Health and Care Plan (EHC plan), or neither.

Local authorities have a duty under s.22 of the Children and Families Act 2014 to try to identify all children in their areas who have SEN. This includes home-educated children. Local authorities must have regard to the statutory guidance in the Special Educational Needs Code of Practice when carrying out SEN functions. The Code provides information about SEN in relation to home education (paragraphs 10.30 – 10.38).

When a child has a EHC plan, it is the local authority's duty to ensure that the educational provision specified in the plan is made available to the child - but only if the child’s parents have not arranged for the child to receive a suitable education in some other way.

Elective home education: guide for parents and local authorities (GOV.UK)

The two templates below are for schools to use when parents have expressed their intention to off roll their child in order to electively home educate.

EHE consideration form

When the school becomes aware that a parent/carer is considering Elective Home Education, we would ask that you arrange a meeting/ conversation with the parent(s) to ensure that they have considered what is in the best interests of the young person and are aware of their responsibilities in educating at home.

The parent/carer should complete the EHE consideration form.

KCSIE compliance form

If the parent/carer chooses to go ahead and withdraw their child, the school should complete the KCSIE compliance form

Action: Schools should email the KCSIE compliance form and the parent’s completed EHE consideration form to blundy@ealing.gov.uk, along with a copy of the parent/carer’s written notification to the school.

The KCSIE compliance form does not of course replace consideration by safeguarding leads in the school as to whether to make a referral to social care if there are concerns. Referrals can be made via Ealing Children's Integrated Response Service (ECIRS)

This can be done alongside a removal from roll, consent should be sought in the usual way

Amended EHE process

We have amended our Elective Home Education process in light of the changes to the Keeping Children Safe in Education guidance [KCSIE]:

178. Where a parent/carer has expressed their intention to remove a child from school with a view to educating at home, we recommend that LAs, schools, and other key professionals work together to coordinate a meeting with parents/carers where possible. Ideally, this would be before a final decision has been made, to ensure the parents/carers have considered what is in the best interests of each child. This is particularly important where a child has special educational needs or a disability, and/or has a social worker, and/or is otherwise vulnerable.

179. DfE guidance for local authorities on Elective home education sets out the role and responsibilities of LAs and their powers to engage with parents in relation to EHE. Although this is primarily aimed at LAs, schools should also be familiar with this guidance.

Contact

Debby Legg, manager, exclusions and elective home education team
Tel: 020 8825 5070
Email: dlegg@ealing.gov.uk