§ Mr. BeithTo ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what support and guidance is provided by her Department for parents educating their children at home; and what guidance has been given to education authorities about support for the education of children at home. [61369]
§ Mr. Ivan LewisThe Government fully recognise and support the right of any parent who wishes to educate their child at home, a right established under Section 7 of the Education Act 1996.
Parents choose to educate their children at home for a variety of reasons and the Department encourages LEAs to be sympathetic to these and endeavour to enter in to a discussion with home-educators. They should not seek to prevent parents from opting for home education, but must assure themselves that the education is appropriate to their child's age, ability and aptitude, and to any special 522W educational needs they may have (Section 7 of the Education Act 1996). In addition, the local education authority must satisfy itself that the child is receiving suitable education (Section 19 of the Education Act 1996), and the Department suggests that parents should provide sufficient information for the local education authority to be able to do this.
The Department has compiled a fact sheet regarding home education which is available to parents and local education authorities on request or can be downloaded from the Department's website at: www.dfes.gov.uk/parents/learning/home.