Children Not in School register: England Guidance

Parents must ensure a suitable, efficient, full-time education for a compulsory-school-age child, either by school attendance or otherwise.

The Act does not remove that core duty. It adds registration and information duties around children not in school.

Keep the section 7 duty separate from the new register duties.

GOV.UK tells home-educating families: “you do not have to follow the national curriculum”.

The register does not turn home education into school-at-home or create a national-curriculum requirement.

Families still need to show suitable education if the local authority has questions.

GOV.UK says a school must accept a complete withdrawal request, but may refuse a part-time school attendance request.

The Act creates a future consent rule for a limited category of relevant children, plus a future local-authority meeting pilot.

Do not apply the simple withdrawal rule to special-school placements, School Attendance Orders or future relevant-child cases.

Families may already be known to their local authority through elective home education arrangements, but this is not the same as the new statutory register.

Each local authority must maintain a Children Not in School register once the relevant provisions are in force.

Check start dates and final DfE guidance before saying a live register duty applies to every family.

Local authorities can make enquiries where suitability is unclear, and families often respond with a written education overview.

The Act adds parent information duties and some provider information duties, including several 15-day periods or minimum response periods.

Do not invent forms, provider thresholds or final data requirements before regulations and guidance are published.

GOV.UK says a council can make an informal enquiry to check a child is getting a suitable education at home.

After registration, the authority may request a home visit; refusal must be treated as a relevant factor for a preliminary School Attendance Order notice.

Describe this as a request with legal consequences, not a general power to enter the home.

A council can serve an order if it thinks a child needs to be taught at school and the legal test is met.

The Act adds new preliminary notice triggers linked to suitable education, specified child-protection conditions and register information.

If a family receives formal paperwork, the safest next step is timely, case-specific advice rather than relying on general guidance alone.

Name, date of birth and home address.

These are core register details in the Act.

The exact format should come from official forms or guidance once active.

Names and contact details of parents or carers with relevant responsibility.

The local authority needs to know who can provide or update required information.

Keep contact details accurate, but do not assume every personal detail is required before a lawful request.

A short overview of subjects, approaches, routines, resources, projects and examples of learning.

This helps show the child is receiving suitable education otherwise than at school.

Do not make records look artificially school-like if that is not how the child learns.

Provider name, contact details, what is taught and estimated time where applicable.

The Act includes prescribed information about non-parent providers and some provider duties.

The threshold for provider duties is to be prescribed; do not assume every casual lesson is reportable.

Changes to education arrangements, address, provider details or eligibility.

The Act includes duties to provide information, respond to requests and update certain changes, with 15-day periods or minimum response periods in several places.

Dates and response detail should be checked against final commencement and guidance before treating them as live.

Starting full-time school, moving local authority area or reaching the end of compulsory school age.

The Act includes duties around telling the authority when a child ceases to be eligible.

Use official wording once local forms and DfE guidance are available.

Current GOV.UK wording says the school must accept a complete withdrawal request.

Tell the school in writing and keep a copy. Check whether any future consent rule has begun before relying on older wording.

GOV.UK says council permission is not needed just because the child has an EHC plan and attends a mainstream school.

The EHC plan still matters. Discuss how provision will be made and keep SEN evidence clear.

GOV.UK says council permission is needed to educate the child at home.

Do not withdraw first and sort permission later. Take advice before changing the placement.

GOV.UK says council permission is needed before home education.

Treat this as a formal legal matter and respond carefully to the local authority.

The Act’s future consent rule applies to a limited category of relevant child and includes section 47-related conditions.

Do not assume ordinary home education is a safeguarding concern. But if section 47 applies, get advice before withdrawing from school.

The local authority must decide without undue delay. It must refuse if it considers regular school attendance is in the child’s best interests or that suitable education otherwise than at school has not been arranged; otherwise it must grant consent.

Families should be ready to explain the proposed education clearly, but the exact evidence process needs DfE guidance or legal review.