For ChessyEvans: are there any restrictions at all on HE?

[SDeuchars]

Genuine question - are there any restrictions at all on HE? Are any checks made on development, progression etc? Is there any obligation that can be enforced for any curriculum to be followed, exams taken etc? I'm sure that lots of people who HE do it "properly" but it is a bit of a concern if there is no regulation whatsoever, it does mean that some parents could just keep the kids at home all day and do nothing educational with them at all?

I've started a new topic so that your question does not get buried. The basic answer to your question is "no". Section 7 of the Education Act 1996 lays a duty on parents:

The parent of every child of compulsory school age shall cause him to receive efficient full-time education suitable to his age, ability and aptitude, and to any special educational needs he may have, either by regular attendance at school or otherwise.

It is up to a parent what form the education should take. The big problem with the checks you suggest is that children's learning does not progress along fixed lines. As a sociaety, we do not agree on what we mean by an education (for me, five GCSEs at A* to C at 16 does not necessarily mean a child has received an education suitable to A, A and A).

Thanks for clearing that up, I suppose it just seems strange that where there is so much regulation in other areas, education can be left wholly up to parents. I would hope the majority of parents actually feel they can give a better or broader education to their children by taking them out of school but there must be a minority who lack the skills or interest to really offer any kind of "education" but who for some reason still take their children out of school.

We often compare it to other areas of childcare. Restaurants and nutritionists are regulated and monitored but no-one checks that a parent has the "skills or interest" to feed their children appropriately. The state's role there is negative - if it looks like a parent is not feeding (educating) their children, then officers of the state can step in and check it out.

TBH, I think that anyone who does not care about their children is unlikely to withdraw them from school - why would you want them around 24/7 if you did not care?

Someone with few skills who likes being around his or her children and cares about how they turn out may be just the person to help their child. There is a small amount of evidence that young children of parents with low educational attainment do significantly better in home education than their peers in school (the gap is wider than that for children of parents with high attainment). There is plenty of evidence that school increases the gap between middle- and working-class children. Home education is much less likely to entrench the differences.