Mark Hendrick – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mark Hendrick on 2016-03-11.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps Ofsted is taking to ensure that home schooled children are (a) taught about British values and (b) integrated into British society.

Edward Timpson

Ofsted has no powers or duties in respect of home education with regards to specific children who are being educated at home. We recognise that parents may choose to home school their children and may do a good job, but that education must be of a suitable quality.

If parents do educate children at home, a local authority may intervene if it appears to the authority that the parents are not fulfilling their duty. When Ofsted inspects children’s services in local authorities under section 136 of the Education and Inspections Act 2006, it considers the effectiveness of the authority’s arrangements for dealing with children missing education, a category which includes any children who are home educated but not receiving a suitable education.

We are taking steps to ensure the system is as robust as it can be when it comes to protecting young people, while at the same time safeguarding the rights of parents to determine how and where to educate their children.