Children Not in School Consultation: What the Draft Guidance Says and How to Respond

Here is what the consultation actually contains, taken from the documents themselves, so you can decide for yourself what you think and what you want to say.

What is the children not in school consultation?

It is the Department for Education’s consultation on how the children not in school measures in the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Act 2026 will work in practice. It publishes a draft of the statutory guidance that local authorities and parents would follow, plus proposals for the regulations that sit under the Act. The consultation document says the new guidance “updates and incorporates” the department’s existing elective home education guidance (consultation document, page 6), and the draft guidance says it “replaces the Elective Home Education guidance for local authorities and parents” (draft guidance, page 2).

Responses “will help inform the final guidance and regulations” (page 7), and the government says it will publish its response on GOV.UK in spring 2027 (page 8).

Does this mean the register has started?

No. The draft guidance leaves the date it would apply from as a blank placeholder to be filled in later (draft guidance, page 2), and the documents do the same wherever a start date would go. The register duties in sections 37 to 42 of the Act are not yet in force; only the powers to make regulations under them have applied since the Act was passed on 29 April 2026. The latest commencement regulations, SI 2026/1165, made on 4 November 2026, set dates for other parts of the Act and do not touch them. There is nothing to register and nothing to send today. Our guide to what has and has not changed tracks the legal position.

Which children would be on a register?

The consultation document lists the children in scope, including home educated children (among them 14 to 16 year olds in part-time further education), children in alternative provision or education otherwise than at school who are not on a school roll, children in full-time online education, and children missing education (page 20).

• Flexi-schooled children are still a proposal: the consultation asks about including them (question 19, page 21), although the draft guidance already lists them.
• Child performers and children in paid sport, dance or modelling who are on a school roll are proposed to be left out (question 20, page 21).
• Children attending school full time in Scotland or Wales would not need to be included (draft guidance, page 25).

What information would be recorded?

The draft guidance lists names, addresses, the child’s date of birth, each parent who provides education, details of other education providers, and estimates of time (pages 25 to 26). The Act already requires councils to record “an estimate of the amount of time that the child spends receiving education from each of their parents” and a separate estimate for education from other people (consultation document, page 22), so this part is not itself being consulted on (page 40).

The estimates are bands, not exact hours. The draft guidance gives the bands as 0 hours, 1 to 5, 6 to 10, 11 to 15 and 16 or more (page 26, footnote 17). The template forms later in the same document use different bands (0, 1 to 5, 6 to 10 and 11 or more, pages 89 and 95), so the final bands are not yet clear.

Some information would be recorded only if the council holds it or can reasonably obtain it, such as ethnicity, special educational needs and exam entries (consultation document, page 23; draft guidance, page 31). The council may ask you for it, but you would not have to give it: “Parents of registered children will not be required to supply any of this information” (consultation document, page 23).

What would parents have to do, and by when?

• Give the required information to the council within 15 days of your child becoming eligible for registration (draft guidance, page 28). Both documents say this means information you know (draft guidance, page 27; parents’ overview, page 9).
• When the council asks for information, the deadline cannot be less than 15 days (page 29).
• Tell the council about changes to names, addresses or which parent educates within 15 days of becoming aware of them (page 29).
• Councils would ask for updates at least once a year, but not more often than once every three months (page 29).
• You would not need to contact your child’s other parent to give the information (page 27).

What happens if information is not given is worded differently in different places. One page says the council “must issue a preliminary notice” (draft guidance, page 31), another says it “has discretion” to (page 59), and the parents’ overview says deliberately withholding or giving false information “may lead to” the school attendance order process (page 9). Our school attendance order guide explains how that process works today.

Would tutors and groups have to give information?

Yes, above a threshold. The draft guidance describes providers such as “private tutors, supplementary schools, forest schools, or specialist providers for children with SEND” who educate a child for more than 6 hours a week without a parent actively involved (page 34). The consultation question puts it as “six hours or more” a week (question 26), so the wording differs between documents.

If the council asks, providers would have to give the child’s name, date of birth and address, and the total and unsupervised time (page 36). These would be exempt: Department for Education accredited online providers, accredited museums, council libraries and temporary work experience (page 37). Scouts, Guides and Cadets are not proposed to be exempt, although the consultation says they would not normally reach the six hour threshold (consultation document, page 31). Penalties would apply to providers, not parents: the proposed level is £300, rising to £600 if paid late (draft guidance, page 40), and the consultation asks whether that is right (question 27).

What is the mandatory meetings pilot?

In selected local authorities, which are not named, parents who want to take a child out of school to home educate would have to attend a meeting first (consultation document, pages 6 and 34). The details proposed:

• The child “must also attend unless exceptional circumstances apply” (page 35).
• The child stays on the school roll until the meeting takes place, with a target of holding it within two weeks (pages 34 and 35).
• The consultation asks whether exceptions should be limited to a child who is physically unable to travel (question 32), and in what circumstances, if any, meetings could be held online, with options covering disability, medical reasons (physical and mental health) and wider reasons (question 33).
• The pilot would start within two years of the children not in school measures coming into force (page 34).

The draft overview guide for parents does not mention the pilot, so if you only read that document you would miss it.

What does the draft say about home visits?

• Councils are “not expected to visit all families as a matter of course” (draft guidance, page 53).
• Officers should not comment on cleanliness, tidiness, décor or lifestyle choices unless it directly affects the child’s education (page 55).
• Parents are not required to agree to a visit, but the council must take a refusal into account (parents’ overview, page 9), and no reply to a request should be considered a refusal (draft guidance, page 55).
• A refusal “should not, by itself, be taken as evidence that education is unsuitable” (page 56).

Who would need council consent to home educate?

Consent would be needed for a child who is the subject of a current section 47 child protection enquiry, has a child protection plan now or in the last five years, or attends a special school under arrangements made by the council (draft guidance, page 14). The council “must only refuse consent if it considers that” no suitable arrangements have been made or attending school is in the child’s best interests (page 16). The council only has to consider a further application once six months have passed since the last one, and parents could appeal to the Secretary of State (page 19). For most families, no consent would be needed. Our guide to deregistering a child with an EHCP covers the special school rule that already applies today.

How do I respond to the consultation?

1. Read the documents on the GOV.UK consultation page. The parents’ overview is the shortest, but the consultation document has the questions and the pilot.
2. Respond through the online survey, which the department asks people to use “wherever possible” (consultation document, page 8). It has 35 questions, and you can answer as an individual. Children can respond too (question 5).
3. Email or post is only for exceptional cases where you cannot use the online system (pages 8 and 9).
4. Read each question and answer the ones you have a view on. You can describe your own family’s situation without naming anyone.

The deadline is 11.59pm on 3 February 2027.

Does it apply in Wales, Scotland or Northern Ireland?

No. This consultation is for England only. In Wales, the same sections of the Act are commenced separately by Welsh Ministers, and Scotland and Northern Ireland have their own systems.

Common questions

Is home education being banned?

No. The draft guidance says “Parents have the right to educate their children otherwise than at school” (page 3), and parents remain responsible for an efficient, full-time, suitable education. Some children, such as those on a child protection plan or at a special school under council arrangements, would need council consent first.

Do I have to register my child now?

No. The register duties in the Act are not in force and the guidance is a draft with no start date. There is nothing to register today.

When does the consultation close?

At 11.59pm on 3 February 2027. The government says it will publish its response in spring 2027.

Will I have to record how many hours I teach?

Yes, as estimates. The Act requires councils to record an estimate of the time your child spends being educated by each parent and by other people (consultation document, page 22). The draft uses bands rather than exact hours, but the bands differ within the draft, so they could change.

Would my child have to attend a meeting before I deregister?

Only in the pilot areas, which have not been named, and only once the pilot starts, within two years of the measures coming into force. In those areas the consultation document says the child must attend unless exceptional circumstances apply.

Sources

• Department for Education, Children not in school statutory guidance, consultation page, published 12 November 2026
• Consultation document (PDF)
• Draft statutory guidance for children not in school (PDF)
• Draft overview guide for parents (PDF)
• The Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Act 2026 (Commencement No. 1) Regulations 2026, SI 2026/1165