Safeguarding Children who are Elective Home Educated - Guidance (Sept 2025)
Elective Home Education (EHE) is the term used by the Department for Education (DfE) to describe education provided at home. Parents may choose EHE instead of providing education for their children by sending them to school. There are many reasons why parents decide to home educate their children, and The Child Safeguarding Practice Review Panel is clear in the view “that home education is not in and of itself, a safeguarding risk”.
Home-educated children are those who are educated at home and in the community by parents or tutors, and are not registered full time at mainstream schools, special schools, Pupil Referral Units (PRUs), colleges, or children’s homes with education facilities or education facilities provided by independent fostering agencies.
Recent statistics from the Department for Education show that as many as 92,000 children in England were being taught from home in autumn 2023 which is an increase of almost 14% from the previous term. This increase in home schooling has received considerable national attention, particularly in the context of wider concerns about education attendance during and after the COVID-19 pandemic.
Darlington Safeguarding Partnership agreed this information and guidance should be developed to help support practitioners across wider partner agencies in understanding the processes, pathways and powers held by Local Authorities in respect of EHE.
The Legislative context
Section 7 of the Education Act 1996 states “it shall be the duty of the parent of every child of compulsory school age to cause him to receive efficient full-time education suitable to his age, ability and aptitude (and to any special needs he may have) either by regular attendance at school or otherwise.” Therefore, education for all children in the United Kingdom is compulsory; attendance at school is not, provided suitable arrangements are in place. Parents are responsible for ensuring that their children receive a suitable education. To be considered suitable, a child’s home education need not be the same as a child would receive at school, but the Local Authority must be satisfied that the education is appropriate for the child.
The DfE “Elective Home Education Guidelines for Local Authorities”, published in April 2019, are guidelines to support local authorities in fulfilling their statutory duties related to children who are educated at home. These guidelines outline the legislative position, the roles and responsibilities of local authorities and parents, and encourage good practices in elective home education.
Local Processes
Where parents choose to home educate, Darlington Borough Council considers it to be desirable for parents and the Local Authority to work together, recognising each other’s rights and responsibilities and establish and maintain a positive dialogue in the interests of the child to ensure that a high-quality education is received and children are safeguarded.
Darlington Borough Council seeks to build improved relationships with home educators and provide a means to effectively protect the educational and safeguarding interests of children being electively home educated where vulnerabilities are identified.
Oversight and Monitoring - Local Authority
Local Authorities have a duty to identify children not receiving a suitable education. Section 436A of the Education Act 1996 states: “A local education authority must make arrangements to enable them to establish (so far as it is possible to do so) the identities of children in their area who are of compulsory school age but:
(a) are not registered pupils at a school, and
(b) are not receiving suitable education otherwise than at a school. “
Darlington Borough Council employs a EHE Advisor to work closely with parents, schools and multi-agencies and Local Authority Inclusion and safeguarding. The EHE Advisor will contact parents with an aim to establish the position, gather initial information and providing help if the parent is seeking a school place. Where parents intend to continue to home educate, the case will be monitored regularly by the Local Authority EHE Advisor.
The EHE Advisor will adhere to the principles laid out in Keeping Children Safe in Education (KCSIE) – statutory guidance published by the DfE in 2023, which sets out the legal duties of all staff to safeguard and promote the welfare of children and young people under the age of 18 in education. The EHE Advisor captures information on the EYES system. which is regularly updated.
Further information about Elective Home Education is available on Darlington Borough Council website [external link]
Darlington Borough Council has a pathway which outlines the EHE processes in Darlington and actions to be taken - DBC Pathway. [PDF Document]
Health - Harrogate and District NHS Foundation Trust also have a pathway, setting out the process to follow if a child is EHE in Darlington – HDFT Pathway [PDF Document]
Elective Home Education and Safeguarding
The welfare and protection of all children, both those who attend school and those who are educated at home, is of paramount concern and the responsibility of the whole community.
Keeping Children Safe in Education (KCSIE DofE) states ‘Many home educated children have a positive learning experience. We would expect the parents’ decision to home educate to be made with their child’s best education at the heart of the decision. However, this is not the case for all. Elective home education can mean that some children are not in receipt of suitable education and are less visible to the services that are there to keep them safe and supported in line with their needs. It is the responsibility of all professionals including school staff to understand the parental roles and responsibilities of delivering a full-time suitable home education provision and to share these with families who are considering EHE. It is the responsibility of professionals to contact the local authority EHE team with details of any family where there is a known concern that a suitable education is unlikely to be in place or sustained’.
As with children educated in schools, child welfare or safeguarding issues may arise in relation to home educated children. If any safeguarding or child welfare concerns come to light, they should be immediately referred to the Children’s Front Door in line with Darlington Safeguarding Partnership Child Protection Procedures.
If there are safeguarding concerns about a child who is EHE information should be shared with partner agencies, including GPs, Health visitors and other health professionals in accordance with DSP Child Protection Procedures and the DSP Information Sharing Protocol.
Local authorities have a duty under Section 175(1) of the Education Act 2002 to safeguard and promote the welfare of children. This section states:
“A local education authority shall make arrangements for ensuring that the functions conferred upon them in their capacity as a local education authority are exercised with a view to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children.”
If it is clear that in the opinion of the local authority a child is not receiving a suitable education, then they may refer the matter to the relevant local child protection service since ‘a failure to provide suitable education’ is capable of satisfying the threshold requirement contained in s.31 of the Children Act 1989 that the child is suffering or is likely to suffer significant harm.
Should any practitioner working with a home educating family have concerns regarding the education provision for the individual child, then the concerns should be discussed with the EHE Advisor in the first instance. A multi-agency meeting maybe arranged to explore how best to support the family.
Darlington Safeguarding Partnership will have oversight of EHE data to enable it to have a better understanding of the local picture of EHE in Darlington and be sighted on numbers to better understand the trends and be informed regarding any safeguarding issues or concerns that may need to be escalated.
Additional Guidance and Resources
Local - Information and guidance relating to Elective Home Education in Darlington is available on Darlington Borough Council website [external link]
National - A new briefing paper from The Child Safeguarding Practice Review Panel shares learning from case reviews where children have been electively home educated. The paper, titled Safeguarding Children in Elective Home Education Briefing [external link] aims to support the multi-agency workforce to help and protect children who are electively home educated. The briefing highlights that a small minority of children within this cohort may be at risk of harm and may not be visible to services. The paper draws on evidence from rapid reviews and local child safeguarding practice reviews to better understand some of the risk factors associated with elective home education.
Revised guidance regarding Elective Home Education will likely be released when the Children’s Well Being and Schools Bill has been ratified as further amendments may be required.
Keeping Children Safe in Education (KCSIE) – statutory guidance.