Home education guidance: island communities impact assessment

Step two- gather your data and identify your stakeholders

2.1 What data is available about the current situation in the islands?

Little data is available on home educators in Scotland in general, and this is also the case for Scotland’s island communities. This means that there is little empirical evidence available to inform decisions about home education policies in relation to island communities.

Specific consultation exercises were carried out with home educators and local authority representatives from island communities. However, engagement was limited.

Families who participated noted that online access to teaching materials is good, particularly since the Covid-19 pandemic, meaning that the choice to home educate is more accessible to those located in island communities than it may have been previously. However, it was noted that extracurricular activities are hard to find.

Stakeholders noted that a benefit to being located rurally as the surrounding environment can be utilised in providing a well-rounded education and feeds hunger for adventure.

As a part of the updated guidance for home education, a high-level form of data collection of home educators in Scotland known to local authorities will be recommenced. Officials hope that this data, whilst non-identifiable, will allow for more understanding of the number of home educators in Scotland, and subsequently that this can inform future policy decisions.

2.2 How does any existing data differ between different islands?

As no specific data is held, we are unable to quantify differences between islands at this time. We expect that population size would affect statistics on home education.

2.3 Are there any existing design features or mitigations in place?

We are aware that current practice across local authorities includes digital communication and video conversations between families and local authorities, and the guidance will make clear that this option is available for families who would find this more accessible than having an in-person conversation.