Thousands of children are languishing in unregistered faith schools.
These schools prioritise fundamentalist religion over the education and welfare of children.
The scandal of unregistered schools must be addressed.
Some religious institutions operate schools which are not registered with the Department for Education, despite this being a legal requirement.
Schools are left unregistered to avoid regulations and inspections, so they can teach a very narrow, religion-based curriculum without oversight. This severely limits children's future options, as children leave these schools with very poor literacy, no formal qualifications and no skills or experience for life in modern Britain.
The lack of scrutiny also presents major safeguarding concerns. Children have been taught in unsafe conditions and subjected to physical punishment in these schools. The curriculum may also teach extremist, regressive and discriminatory dogma.
In 2019, Ofsted estimated as many as 6,000 children were being educated in unregistered settings. But the number could be even higher. Approximately 86,300 children and young people were electively home educated nationally during the year 2019/20. There is little regulation of home education, so many of these children could in fact be attending an unregistered school.
Some unregistered schools exploit loopholes in the law to avoid registration and operate at the margins of the law as an "out of school educational setting". Although many out of school settings, including tuition centres and supplementary schools, provide an excellence service, a minority put children's welfare at risk.
We are working to end the harms caused by unregistered schools by campaigning for greater powers for Ofsted tackle these settings, the elimination of loopholes to force more schools to register, and improved regulation of elective home education.
Take action!
1. Suspect an unregistered school? Report it!
Unregistered schools are illegal and pose a serious threat to children's wellbeing. If you think you know of a possible unregistered school, please report it to the schools inspectorate Ofsted.
If you are aware of children in imminent danger, please call 999 and inform the police.
2. Share your story
Tell us why you support this campaign, and how you are personally affected by the issue. You can also let us know if you would like assistance with a particular issue.
3. Join us
Become a member of the National Secular Society today! Together, we can separate religion and state for greater freedom and fairness.
Latest updates
NSS welcomes home education reform and registration scheme
Posted: Tue, 2 Apr 2019 15:13
The National Secular Society has welcomed a government plan requiring local authorities and families to register children outside mainstream education, partly to prevent religious abuse of children's rights.
In response to a consultation on elective home education in England the Department for Education (DfE) said it would consider legislation to create a register of children being home educated.
Education secretary Damian Hinds said the move would help councils to spot children who were receiving a solely religious education, attending unregistered schools or not receiving an education at all.
The NSS has lobbied education ministers and inspectors to urge them to take these issues seriously for many years.
The government said it would place a duty on local authorities to maintain a register of children of compulsory school age who do not attend school. Local authorities which responded to the consultation tended to be strongly in favour of a statutory system of registering children.
The register would apply to children who are not mainly receiving education in mainstream schools. It would not apply to children who are in mainstream schools but also receive supplementary education in out of school settings.
Parents would be required to inform their local authorities when children are not attending mainstream schools. The settings children attend would be required to respond to enquiries from local authorities about children's attendance.
There would be a duty on local authorities to provide support to home educating families, if it is requested by such families.
Writing in The Telegraph on Tuesday, Hinds said 'home education' had become "a catch-all phrase, used to refer to all children not in a registered school".
"While this does include those actually getting a really good education at home, it also includes children who are not getting an education at all, or being educated in illegal schools where they are vulnerable to dangerous influences.
"This register will provide a mechanism to catch those children who may 'fall through the cracks' of our education system by providing an immediate picture of where children are being educated, which will enable local authorities to offer support quickly and effectively if it is needed."
The NSS campaigns to protect children's rights against religious impositions and has played an important role in exposing the scandal of unregistered faith schools.
NSS education and schools officer Alastair Lichten welcomed the DfE's plans.
"Where there is evidence of EHE being abused or serving as a cover for illegal unregistered schools, these proposals will give local authorities the powers needed to intervene and protect children's rights. Registration is a necessary, reasonable and proportionate step.
"Good home educating families have nothing to worry about and many welcomed the additional support in these proposals during the consultation."
But he expressed disappointment that the plans would not include specific measures to define the suitability of home education or enable local authorities to monitor it.
A significant number of respondents called for greater clarity over what constitutes a "suitable" education. The NSS submitted research which showed that local authorities were taking almost no action against unsuitable home education or unregistered schools.
The DfE is now holding a further consultation over its plans for legislation.
Mr Lichten said: "We hope the next stage of the consultation will consider powers to monitor the suitability of home education where there are concerns, and outlining guidance for local authorities on what constitutes a suitable education.
"This need not be onerous, but without some common understanding children will slip through the cracks. Too many will end up in unregistered 'schools' that teach nothing but narrow religious curricula."
Last year the education inspectorate Ofsted identified 420 centres which it suspects are operating as illegal schools. Some of these are feared to be teaching a purely religious curriculum or exposing children to extreme views.
In its consultation response the DfE estimated that 57,600 children of compulsory school age in England were educated at home in 2018. It added that this figure may have increased by 20% over the previous 12 months, although this may be based on improved estimates.
It also said it had "probably" underestimated the true number, as councils do not know about all children who are out of school. Research has suggested that 93% of councils are not aware of all the children in their areas who are home educated.
The government held its consultation after outlining plans to register home educated children and issue school attendance orders for parents who refuse to comply last year.
In response to the previous consultation the NSS said registration would be a "minimal imposition" which would help to safeguard children's rights without unduly undermining home educating families' autonomy.
A consultation on the proposals runs till 24 June 2019
Update: The NSS has responded to the next stage of the consultation.
Out-of-school settings code should be mandatory, NSS tells DfE
Posted: Thu, 7 Mar 2019 12:40
The National Secular Society has said a code of practice for out-of-school educational settings (OOSES) should be mandatory in response to a government consultation on the subject.
The Department for Education (DfE) consultation came as it proposed introducing a voluntary safeguarding code of practice for OOSES in England. The DfE backtracked on plans to introduce a compulsory code last year under pressure from religious groups.
OOSES are institutions which provide tuition, training, instruction or activities to children in England without their parents' or carers' supervision, other than schools, colleges, academies and registered carers.
The NSS said a voluntary code had "potential to drive improvements in the OOSS sector" but may not adequately protect children's welfare unless it was "mandatory and enforced where proportionate".
The NSS said local authorities should take action whenever OOSES were "found to be providing an unregistered school, or to be a risk to children's welfare".
It added that the authorities should consider statutory changes to give local authorities the power to close OOSES.
The NSS, which has played a crucial part in exposing unregistered faith schools, stressed the importance of ensuring legitimate OOSES are not used as cover for illegal schools.
The society said OOSES should not be children's "primary education provider" and government guidance should make this clear to parents.
The NSS called for statutory changes to prevent corporal punishment in OOSES and to mandate the reporting of suspected child abuse to the authorities.
One of the speakers at the NSS's upcoming Secularism 2019 conference, Izzy Posen, has spoken out about the routine use of corporal punishment in the illegal Jewish school he attended. A report from the BBC last year also exposed the use of corporal punishment in an unregistered ultra-Orthodox Jewish school.
The NSS campaigns for a law requiring the reporting of suspected child abuse as part of its work to prevent, and secure justice for the victims of, clerical abuse.
The society also campaigns to ensure children's rights are not undermined on account of others' religion or belief.
The NSS said the Charity Commission, which regulates charities in England, should consider taking action against charities which provide out-of-school education but fail to register as OOSES.
And the society reiterated previous calls for stronger civil society responses to extremism and sectarianism.
NSS education and schools officer Alastair Lichten said: "Introducing a code of practice for out-of-school educational settings has the potential to prevent serious abuses of children's rights. That should be a major priority for the DfE, so it's regrettable that the government has decided not to make the code compulsory.
"The code should provide guidance to local authorities in their child safeguarding responsibilities. But unfortunately, the institutions most in need of attention are unlikely to sign up to a voluntary code.
"The government shouldn't shy away from taking necessary action to protect children's rights under pressure from religious groups."
