Overview
- Government figures show 126,000 children were in elective home education on the October 2025 census, up from 111,700 a year earlier, with 175,900 educated at home at some point in 2024–25 versus 153,300 in 2023–24.
- The share citing mental health as the primary reason rose to 16%, with increases also recorded for general dissatisfaction with school (8%) and dissatisfaction with SEND support (4%), while philosophical preference fell to 12%.
- The government is preparing mandatory registers of children not in school, a single unique child identifier, and requirements for council permission to home educate some groups, with related legislation progressing in the House of Lords.
- NAHT’s Paul Whiteman welcomed plans for a register and urged greater investment in community mental health, children’s social care, and the government’s promised SEND reforms to support families.
- DfE data on children missing education recorded a fall to 34,700 on the autumn 2025 census day and 143,500 across the year, though officials cautioned the trend may reflect improved recording in a relatively new dataset.