Home education guidance: equality impact assessment

Cross-cutting issues

Bullying

• It was noted from the review of published material and in the stakeholder comments that bullying can be a factor in a child or young person’s decision to home educate, or in their parent’s decision to home educate their child. Local authorities do not regularly collect information on the reasons for choosing home education, nor are parents obliged to provide these details, and so statistical evidence is not available to inform the consideration of bullying with relation to protected characteristics.
• Through research and in conversations with stakeholders, officials identified bullying as a significant issue that has impact across various protected characteristics. Research by sector stakeholders suggests that bullying is the third most common reason for families choosing to home educate.

Mental health

• The EQIA noted that mental health can be a significant issue which underpins a number of the above comments for protected characteristics. Where a child within a school setting is experiencing a decline in mental health, it is expected that the school and local authority identify and provide the appropriate support. If it is felt that the support provided is insufficient, there are various forms of mediation which can be pursued under the provisions of the 2004 Act.
• Further comments suggest that many home educating families have struggled to get access to Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS), or have lost access due to not being in school.
• While the choice to home educate means that the local authority is not responsible for providing a child’s education, young people who are home educated should still have equitable access to public mental health services as referrals can be obtained via GP.

Socio-economic circumstances of the family

• The family and socio-economic circumstances can make it harder to fulfil the choice to home educate. The choice to home educate may not be economically viable for some families, or socio-economic factors may affect the ability to provide the level of education that they wish to provide.
• Written feedback from Enquire suggested that a family’s decision to home educate may directly impact on their income, for example in the case that a parent needs to give up working in order to educate their child. Particularly in the relation to additional support needs, financial insecurity may prevent parents from making the decision to home educate even if they feel that it would be their preferred option for their child.
• While this will not be directly affected by the guidance, it is important to note that socio-economic factors may impact home educators with the above protected characteristics, particularly in relation to carers and those with additional needs.