South Tyneside Council to probe home-schooling surge as mental health emerges as key reason

The data was discussed at South Tyneside Council’s most recent Education and Skills Scrutiny Committee during a presentation on “elective home education”.

Parents have the right to “deregister” their children from mainstream education and to educate at home, with councils also having a duty under the Education Act to “establish whether home-educated children are receiving suitable full-time education” in relation to their age, ability and additional needs, council documents state.

Councillors were told local procedures are in place to monitor elective home education, including parents being asked to provide information about the education they’re providing.

Although there is “no duty to respond to such enquiries”, the council can take “necessary consequent steps” to find this information via “calls, annual reports and home visits”.

If it is “deemed that the child is not receiving a suitable education”, the council can also make a “school attendance order” as a final step.

In line with national trends, South Tyneside is seeing a rise in the number of children who are classed as electively home-educated.

A snapshot of data taken in early-June, 2025, recorded more than 350 children as home-educated in the borough, with the largest numbers covering older year groups between year seven and year 11.

It was noted that around two thirds of electively home-educated children received support for special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) when they were in a mainstream education setting.

At a meeting to discuss the figures on June 19, 2025, Department for Education data on the “reason for deregistration” was outlined to the Education and Skills Scrutiny Committee.

The top reason for deregistration in South Tyneside was mental health (119 children) followed by lifestyle choice (67), other (37), unknown (30) and “dissatisfaction with the school” over bullying (30).

Other reasons for deregistration included physical health, health concerns related to Covid-19, the child not receiving school preference or “difficulty in accessing a school place”, permanent exclusion or risk of school exclusion, religious reasons and “dissatisfaction with the school” for various reasons.

The presentation to the Education and Skills Scrutiny Committee was given by Andy Ritchie, the council’s service manager for SEND, access and inclusion.

Councillors were told that the reasons for deregistration in DfE data were provided by parents and in the case of the mental health category, were “parents’ views” rather than the views of “medical professionals”.

The council officer said there were also wider concerns about the “significant increase” in the number of electively home-educated children year-on-year since 2021/22 and that the borough’s children’s safeguarding board was planning a “deep dive” into the issue to see if the system could be improved.

“We’re going to be doing questionnaires with schools, with agencies and with parents and carers to better understand the reasons why parents are choosing to electively home-educate their children,” Mr Ritchie told the meeting.

While noting that it is the right of the parent to pursue the path of elective home education, he added that for “a number of children it probably isn’t the best option.”

The council officer’s presentation added there were several challenges in assessing whether a child’s education is suitable.

This is because there are “no powers under the Education Act for local authorities to have a right of entry to the family home” and “no national processes to monitor education”, or a duty for parents to “‘prove’ that education at home is suitable”, a presentation to councillors said.

The presentation said the UK Government had recently announced plans to “legislate for a number of new powers and protections for children in the social care system,” which included “some elements relevant to schools”.

This included a “new duty on parents where if their child is subject to a child protection enquiry, or on a child protection plan, they will need local authority consent to home educate that child”.

It was noted that these powers, along with a new “mandatory register” of electively home-educated children, would help councils further support and safeguard children.

At a local level, South Tyneside Council said its approach was always to work with families around transitions and monitoring, including sharing government and council expectations around “monitoring education taking place at home.”

Councillor Liz McHugh, cabinet member for children, young people and families at South Tyneside Council, acknowledged there had been a “steady rise” in the number of children who are home-educated in South Tyneside.

Speaking after the committee meeting, the Labour councillor welcomed plans from Central Government to “give councils more powers and greater oversight”.

“We are seeing a steady rise in the number of children being home- educated in South Tyneside, in line with national trends,” Cllr McHugh said.

“Around a third of these cases are parents reporting the reason for de-registering their child from school is due to mental health needs, which is a growing area of concern.

“We welcome the Government’s plans to give councils more powers and greater oversight, including a mandatory register of home-educated children, to ensure all children receive a suitable education and are safe.

“South Tyneside Council offers support and guidance to families choosing elective home education.

“We want to support families while ensuring no child is left behind.”

Committee papers from South Tyneside Council’s Education and Skills Scrutiny Committee can be found via the council’s website.