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 backs home education reform
Posted: Thu, 5 Jul 2018 12:25
The National Secular Society has backed a registration scheme and improved guidance for parents and local authorities in a submission to a government consultation on elective home education (EHE).
The NSS said a registration scheme would be a "minimal imposition" which would help to safeguard children's rights without unduly undermining the autonomy of families who choose to educate children at home.
It added that registration would ensure home schooling provision was "not used as a cover for or gateway to unregistered (illegal) schools".
The NSS was responding to a call for evidence launched by the Department for Education (DfE) after it published draft guidance in April. This was in response to NSS honorary associate Lord Soley introducing a private member's bill to register and monitor children receiving home education last year.
The NSS campaigns to protect the right of children in out-of-school educational settings to a proper education and has played a crucial part in highlighting abuses by religious groups.
In its submission the NSS agreed with the DfE that out-of-school educational settings should not face "unnecessary regulatory burdens". But it added that proportionate measures should be taken to ensure those providing intensive tuition are adequately safeguarding children's welfare.
"Simply put the more like a school setting appears the more like a school it should be treated."
While compiling its evidence the NSS researched the elective home education (EHE) policies – or lack of them – of every local education authority (LEA) in England.
The society found that LEAs vary widely in the steps they take to ensure EHE is suitable, and that inconsistent involuntary registration schemes mean they do not always fulfil their duty to ensure children receive a "suitable" education. Some LEAs also say they have been unable to fulfil their responsibilities due to lack of resources.
The draft guidance makes clear the DfE's view that "suitable" education "should not foreclose the child's options in later life". The NSS said EHE which only prepares children for life within a specific community should be considered "by definition unsuitable". It added that EHE should not be deemed "suitable" where it undermines fundamental human rights.
NSS education and schools officer Alastair Lichten said all young people – whatever their religious background – deserve the right to an open future, as it is essential to respecting their freedom of belief.
"Of course in safeguarding this right we need to balance the rights of others – including the autonomy of home educating families. The state should focus on the outcomes, not the motivations, of elective home education.
"A situation where those choosing EHE were subject to increased scrutiny based on their religious motivation would be concerning, just as a situation where authorities are hesitant to take proper safeguarding action due to misplaced religious sensitivities would be."
The NSS also noted that it had encountered a small number of cases where parents have felt pressured into EHE because a lack of religiously neutral school provision.
In a debate in the Public Bill Committee on Tuesday, Julia Lopez MP proposed an amendment to the Counter-Terrorism and Border Security Bill to "exclude from home educating any household of which a member has been convicted of a terrorist offence".
In March a Metropolitan Police study found that half of 70 known extremists in London had withdrawn their children from state education to educate them at home.
DfE consults on creating home education register
Posted: Wed, 11 Apr 2018 14:19
The government is considering introducing a register of home-educated children and issuing school attendance orders for parents who refuse to comply, as it undertakes a consultation on home education.
The Department for Education launched the consultation on Tuesday. The consultation documents ask for feedback on "mandatory registration of children educated at home, with duties on both local authorities and parents in this regard".
It also asks whether parents who refuse to register their children should be issued with school attendance orders or penalised in other ways, and if so how. It says the government "has not made any decision on these issues".
Local authorities have a duty to ensure children are receiving an adequate education, but there is widespread confusion about how this relates to home schooling. Some local authorities have voluntary registration and well developed inspections and support, but the government's document says some authorities "feel uncertain" over how they should assess the suitability of education.
The National Secular Society's education and schools officer Alastair Lichten said he looked forward to responding to the consultation.
"We hope that this conversation over home schooling prompts a wider discussion of children's educational rights. This includes tackling cases where parents are pressured into homeschooling without adequate support. Those involved in genuine homeschooling should be the first to welcome such a discussion.
"However legitimate home schooling can't be allowed to cover children being sequestered into illegal unregistered schools, or religious fundamentalists inculcating children with only a narrow dogmatic worldview.
"Whether children are educated in the state, independent or home sector, they have a basic level of rights that must be safeguarded."
The NSS has also repeatedly raised concerns about religious hardliners' abuse of out-of-school educational settings. In January a report from Hackney Council found that "legislation around the regulation of unregistered education settings is at best patchy and at worst contradictory". As a result council and other statutory bodies found it "impossible to satisfy themselves that the expected standards of safety and safeguarding are in place".
Last month a Metropolitan Police study revealed that half of 70 known extremists in London had removed their children from state schools to educate them at home.
In November NSS honorary associate Lord Soley introduced a bill which aimed to register and monitor children receiving elective home education. Mr Lichten responded by calling for "a wider conversation about safeguarding children's rights no matter their religious background".
Home education has become the subject of growing attention amid an apparent rise in the number of children receiving it.
In October a survey of all 152 local authorities in England estimated that 45,000 children and young people were receiving home schooling. The real figure is believed to be higher as some children may be being home schooled without the knowledge of the authorities.
