How Many Children Are Home Educated in the UK? The 2026 Figures

Ask Google how many children are home educated in the UK and you will mostly find tuition companies quoting each other. Here are the actual numbers, from the Department for Education’s own data, with the honest caveats the DfE itself attaches to them.

The headline numbers

The DfE publishes an official count of elective home education in England, built from local authority returns. The latest release, published in January 2026, covers the autumn 2025 census day. The trend is unmistakable:

• Autumn 2022: 80,900 children (estimated)
• Autumn 2023: 92,000 children (estimated)
• Autumn 2024: 111,700 children
• Autumn 2025: 126,000 children, roughly 1.5% of all children of the same age

That is a rise of 14,300 in a single year, about 13%, and a rise of more than half since 2022. The snapshot also undersells the churn: across the whole 2024/25 school year, 175,900 children were home educated at some point, with 78,000 starting during the year and 28,100 returning to school. The full data is on the DfE’s explore education statistics service. The next update lands in winter 2026.

One honesty note before the numbers get quoted at a dinner party: these figures only count children known to their council, and reporting by councils only became mandatory in autumn 2024. The DfE itself says part of the recorded growth reflects better counting, not just more home education. Both things are true: recording has improved, and home education has genuinely surged.

Why are so many families home educating?

Where councils recorded a reason, the biggest single one in autumn 2025 was mental health, at 16%, followed by philosophical or lifestyle preference at 12%. And in nearly 3 in 10 cases no reason was recorded at all, partly because parents are under no obligation to give one.

Behind the mental-health figure sits the story most home-educating parents will recognise: children who were anxious, unwell or simply sinking in a school environment, and families who concluded they could do better at home. If you are weighing that decision yourself, our honest home education vs school comparison is the place to start, and our guide to starting home education covers the practical steps.

Who is being home educated

The stereotype of home education as a primary-age lifestyle choice is out of date. The autumn 2025 data skews strongly to teenagers:

• Year 11 alone accounts for 19% of all home-educated children, and Years 10 and 11 together are more than a third. Year 1, by contrast, is about 3%.
• 52% are girls, 48% boys.
• 16% have special educational needs support and a further 7% have an EHC plan, both above the national average.

The GCSE-years surge has a very practical consequence: more home-educated teenagers sitting exams as private candidates than ever, and exam centre places filling earlier each year. If that is on your horizon, read our guides to how home-ed exams and exam centres work and what home-ed GCSEs actually cost.

A scope note: these figures cover England. Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland count home-educated children separately and differently, so no single official UK-wide total exists.

What about the new register?

The Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Act 2026 received Royal Assent on 29 April 2026 and will eventually create a “Children Not in School” register in every English council area. Here is the status as of July 2026, which most coverage gets wrong: the register is not yet in force, and no start date has been announced. The government has commenced other parts of the Act, but not the register sections. Commentators widely expect 2027 at the earliest, because regulations and statutory guidance must come first, but that is expectation, not law.

When it does start, parents will need to notify their council within 15 days of starting home education and provide basic details: the child’s name, date of birth and address, the parents’ details, and how and where the child is educated. There is no direct fine for not registering; instead, non-registration can trigger the school attendance order process. Breaching an order is today punishable by a fine of up to £1,000, and once the new Act’s enforcement sections start this rises to a fine of up to £2,500 with a possible custodial sentence in serious cases. The Act also gives councils a new duty to provide advice and support to registered home educators who ask for it. It does not ban home education, does not require permission for most families, and gives councils no power of entry to your home. Our calm guide to the 2026 Act covers exactly what changes and when.

What the figures do not show

Alongside the home-education count, the DfE publishes a separate estimate of children missing education altogether: not at school, not home educated, not receiving a suitable education. On the same autumn 2025 census day that figure was 34,700 children, down from 39,200 a year earlier. Home-educated children are not “missing education” in law, and conflating the two groups, as some reporting does, is wrong on the government’s own definitions.

How many children are home educated: FAQ

How many children are home educated in the UK in 2026?

The latest official count for England recorded 126,000 home-educated children on census day in autumn 2025, about 1.5% of children, and 175,900 home educated at some point during the 2024/25 year. The other UK nations count separately, so no single UK-wide total exists, but England’s figure is by far the largest share.

Is home education growing in the UK?

Yes, sharply. England’s census-day count rose from 80,900 in autumn 2022 to 126,000 in autumn 2025, a rise of more than half in three years. The DfE notes some of that reflects better council recording, but the underlying growth is real and fastest among teenagers in Years 10 and 11.

Why do parents home educate?

Where a reason was recorded in autumn 2025, mental health was the largest at 16%, followed by philosophical or lifestyle preference at 12%. In nearly 3 in 10 cases no reason was recorded, as parents do not have to give one.

Do you have to register a home-educated child in 2026?

Not yet. The Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Act 2026 will create a register, but those sections are not in force and no start date has been announced as of July 2026. Some councils invite voluntary registration. When the register starts, parents will have 15 days to notify their council after beginning home education.