Once the Children Not In School chapter is in force, the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Act 2026 will change the Education Act 1996. This page explains the exact wording of the prospective new sections 436B to G relating to compulsory registration.
- 436B Duty to register children not in school (including home visit request)
- 436C Content and maintenance of registers
- 436D Provision of information to local authorities: parents
- 436E Provision of information to local authorities: education providers
- 436F Use of information in the register
- 436G Support
We do not have a firm date for when these changes will take effect, see https://edyourself.wordpress.com/2026/06/04/confusion-over-start-date/
Children Not In School Register
436B states that registers will be maintained locally ie each local authority will be responsible for its own register.
438B sets out which children must be on the register. 436B(4) indicates that this only applies to compulsory school age. 436B(5) covers elective home education; flexischooling; education offsite arranged by the school; part-time timetables; section 19 provision; and EOTAS for children with special educational needs.
“436B (1)A local authority must maintain a register of children who are eligible to be registered by the authority under this section.
(2)A child is eligible to be registered by a local authority under this section if conditions A to C are met.
(3)Condition A is that the child lives in the authority’s area.
(4)Condition B is that the child is of compulsory school age.
(5)Condition C is that—
(a)the child is not a registered pupil or a student registered at a relevant school,
(b)the child is a registered pupil or a student registered at a relevant school but the proprietor of the school has arranged or agreed that—
(i)the child will receive education otherwise than at that or any other relevant school, and
(ii)the child will be absent for some or all of the time when a child receiving full-time education at a relevant school would normally be expected to attend, or
(c)the child is a student registered at a relevant school falling within subsection (7)(d) but attends that school on a part-time basis, and is not also a registered pupil or a student registered at a different relevant school.”
Home Visit Request
436B(8) provides for the local authority to request a home visit as soon as a child is registered under the new law.
“436B(8) Before the end of the period of 15 days beginning with the day on which the local authority registers a child under this section, the local authority—
(a)must consider where the child lives, and
(b)may request the child’s parent to allow the local authority to visit the child inside any of the homes in which the child lives.
(9)If a request under subsection (8)(b) is refused by the person to whom it is made, the local authority must consider that to be a relevant factor in determining whether to serve a preliminary notice under section 436H.”
Information For The Register
436C should be read with 436D since 436C sets out the core contents of the register – including the name and address of each parent – while 436D sets out the parent’s reporting duties.
436C(1)(g) indicates that this only applies to providers above a certain hours threshold – which has still to be set out in future regulations.
“436C (1)A register under section 436B must contain the following information in respect of a child registered in it—
(a)the child’s name, date of birth and home address, and if the child has lived at their current address for less than 12 months, their previous address;
(b)any additional address if the child lives at more than one address;
(c)the name and home address of each parent of the child;
(d)the name of each parent who is providing education to that child;
(e)an estimate of the overall total amount of time that the child spends receiving education from parents of the child;
(f)an estimate of the overall total amount of time that the child spends receiving education from persons other than parents of the child;
(g)if a particular provider other than the child’s parent is providing education to the child for more than the prescribed amount of time—
(i)the name and address of the provider;
(ii)a description of the type of provider that it is;
(iii)the postal address of each place where that education is provided (where different from the address in sub-paragraph (i)) or the website or email address of the provider if that education is provided virtually;
(iv)an estimate of the total amount of time that the child spends receiving that education and an estimate of the amount of time the child spends receiving that education without any parent of the child being actively involved in the tuition or supervision of the child.“
Under 436D home educating parents will have a duty to supply the specified information. Once the child’s details are on the register, 436D(2) sets out different timescales for reporting changes, depending on whether it is 436C(1)(a)-(d) information or 436C(1)(e)-(g) information [3 monthly update request]
“436D (1)A parent of a child who is eligible to be registered by a local authority under section 436B must—
(a)inform the local authority that the child is eligible for registration, and
(b)provide the authority with any of the information referred to in section 436C(1) that the parent has.“
“436D(2)A parent of a child who is registered by a local authority under section 436B must—
(a)provide the authority, on request, with any of the information referred to in section 436C(1) that the parent has,
(b)inform the authority of a change, of which the parent is aware, to any of the information required to be included in the register under section 436C(1)(a) to (d),
(c)inform the authority, on request, if there have been any changes, of which the parent is aware, to any of the information mentioned in section 436C(1)(e), (f) or (g) since the information was last provided to the authority, and provide the authority with information about those changes, or confirm that there have been no changes, and
(d)inform the authority if the child ceases to be eligible to be registered by that authority…”
“436D(3)A local authority—
(a)must make a request mentioned in subsection (2)(c) in relation to each child registered by the local authority under section 436B at least once a year, but
(b)may not make such a request more frequently than once every three months.
(4)A person must comply with a duty under subsection (1) or (2) before the end of the relevant period.
(5)In subsection (4) “relevant period” means—
(a)in the case of the duty in subsection (1)(a) or (b), the period of 15 days beginning with the date on which the child becomes eligible for registration by the local authority;
(b)in the case of the duty in subsection (2)(a), such period of not less than 15 days as the local authority specify in the request;
(c)in the case of the duty in subsection (2)(b), the period of 15 days beginning with the date on which the parent becomes aware of the change;
(d)in the case of the duty in subsection (2)(c), such period of not less than 15 days as the local authority specify in the request…”
When Parents Do NOT Have To Give Information
436D(1) and (2) set out the parent’s duty to inform the local authority and provide updates on request. 436D(6) confirms that the parent’s reporting duty only applies to arrangements made by parents.
As per 436D(6) in a range of other scenarios where a child may be receiving full time education otherwise than at school but arrangements have NOT been made by parents, the local authority will add the child to the Not In School Register but parents will NOT have any reporting duties.
“436D(6)The duties in subsections (1) and (2) do not apply where the child is receiving full-time education by the following means—
(a)arrangements made by the local authority under section 19 (in England) or section 19A (in Wales);
(b)arrangements made by the proprietor of a relevant school at which the child is a registered pupil;
(c)where the local authority is a local authority in England, arrangements made by the local authority under section 61 of the Children and Families Act 2014 (special educational provision otherwise than in schools, post-16 institutions etc);
(d)where the local authority is a local authority in Wales, arrangements made by the local authority under section 53 of the Additional Learning Needs and Education Tribunal (Wales) Act 2018 (anaw 2) (additional learning provision otherwise than in schools);
(e)any combination of the arrangements mentioned in paragraphs (a) to (d);
(f)any one or more of the arrangements mentioned in paragraphs (a) to (d) and attendance at a relevant school.”
Other Information On The Register
Under 436C(2) the register must also contain a great deal of additional information. The full details of 436C(2) are still to be set out in secondary legislation by way of regulations; this is what is meant in 436C(2) by “as may be prescribed.”
“Protected characteristics” under equality legislation are: age; disability; gender reassignment; marriage and civil partnership; pregnancy and maternity; race; religion or belief; sex; sexual orientation.
436C(2)To the extent that the local authority has the information or can reasonably obtain it, a register under section 436B must also contain such information about, or in connection with, the following matters in respect of a child registered in it as may be prescribed—
(a)the child’s protected characteristics (within the meaning of the Equality Act 2010);
(b)in the case of a child who is in the area of a local authority in England, whether the child has any special educational needs, including whether the local authority maintains an EHC plan for the child;
(c)in the case of a child who is in the area of a local authority in Wales, whether the child has any additional learning needs, including whether an individual development plan is maintained for the child;
(d)any enquiries being made or that have been made by a local authority under section 47 of the Children Act 1989 (local authority’s duty to investigate) and any actions that are being taken or have been taken by the authority or any other local authority following, or in connection with, enquiries under that section;
(e)whether the child is or has ever been a child in need for the purposes of Part 3 of the Children Act 1989 (see section 17(10) of that Act) and, if so, any actions that a local authority is taking or has taken in relation to the child under that Part and any services that a local authority is providing or has provided to the child in the exercise of functions conferred on the authority by section 17 of that Act;
(f)whether the child has ever been assessed as having needs for care and support for the purposes of Part 4 of the Social Services and Well-being (Wales) Act 2014 (anaw 4) (see section 32(1) of that Act) and, if so, any actions that a local authority is taking or has taken in relation to the child under that Part (or Part 4 or 5 of the Children Act 1989) and any services that a local authority is providing or has provided to the child in the exercise of functions conferred on the authority by or under that Part (or Part 4 or 5 of the Children Act 1989);
(g)whether the child is or has ever been looked after by a local authority in England (within the meaning of section 22 of the Children Act 1989) or in Wales (within the meaning of section 74 of the Social Services and Well-being (Wales) Act 2014);
(h)the reasons why the child meets condition C in section 436B, including any information provided by a parent of the child as to those reasons or, in a case where a parent has not provided that information, the fact that they have not done so;
(i)whether, under arrangements made under section 436A, the child has been identified as a child who is of compulsory school age but who is not a registered pupil at a school and is not receiving suitable education otherwise than at a school;
(j)the school or institution or the type of school or institution (if any) that the child attends or has attended in the past;
(k)whether support is being provided in relation to the child under section 436G and, if so, the nature of the support being provided;
(l)any actions that have been taken by a local authority in relation to the child under sections 436I to 436Q (school attendance orders);
(m)whether—
(i)in the case of a child in England, the child is a young carer within the meaning of section 17ZA(3) of the Children Act 1989, as qualified by section 17ZB(3) of that Act, or
(ii)in the case of a child in Wales, the child is a carer (within the meaning of “child” and “carer” given by section 3 of the Social Services and Well-being (Wales) Act 2014);
(n)whether the local authority exercised any of its functions under section 436B(8), (9) or (10), 436H(8) or (9), or 436I(3) in relation to the child and the outcomes of any consideration of home and education settings or home visits conducted under those provisions;
(o)any other information about the child’s characteristics, circumstances, needs or interactions with a local authority or educational institutions that the Secretary of State considers, or the Welsh Ministers consider (as the case may be), should be included in the register for the purposes of promoting or safeguarding the education or welfare of children.
436C(3) gives permission for other information to be added to the register at the local authority’s discretion.
436C(3)A register under section 436B may also contain any other information the local authority considers appropriate.
Education Providers
436E sets out the rules for providers delivering “out of school education” above a certain hours threshold [“prescribed amount of time”] which has still to be set out in future regulations.
“436E Provision of information to local authorities: education providers
(1)This section applies where a local authority reasonably believes that— (a)a person is providing out-of-school education to a child for more than the prescribed amount of time without any parent of the child being actively involved in the tuition or supervision of the child, and
(b)the child is, or is eligible to be, registered by the authority under section 436B.
(2)In this section—
(a)“out-of-school education” means any programme or course of education, or any other kind of structured education, that is provided otherwise than as part of the education provided by a relevant school (within the meaning of section 436B);
(b)“prescribed amount of time” means an amount of time prescribed—
(i)by reference to a number of hours in, or a proportion of, a week or other period;
(ii)by reference to a proportion of the time a child spends receiving education;
(iii)in any other way.”
“436E(3)The authority may by notice require the person—
(a)to confirm whether or not the person is providing out-of-school education as mentioned in subsection (1)(a) to any child living in England or Wales (whether or not that child lives in the authority’s area) or has provided such education at any time during the period of three months ending with the date of the notice, and
(b)to provide the authority with the following information in relation to any child living in England or Wales (whether or not that child lives in the authority’s area) to whom they are providing such education, or to whom they have provided such education during that three month period—
(i)the child’s name, date of birth and home address,
(ii)the total amount of time that they provide such education to the child, and
(iii)the amount of time that they provide such education to the child without any parent of the child being actively involved in the tuition or supervision of the child.“
Information Sharing
436F provides for the local authority to share information from the register.
436F(1)A local authority must, if the Secretary of State so directs in relation to a local authority in England, or the Welsh Ministers so direct in relation to a local authority in Wales, provide the Secretary of State or the Welsh Ministers (as the case may be) with information of a prescribed description from their register under section 436B (whether that is information relating to an individual child or aggregated information).
(2)The Secretary of State or the Welsh Ministers may provide information received under subsection (1) to a prescribed person if the Secretary of State considers or the Welsh Ministers consider (as the case may be) it appropriate to do so for the purposes of promoting or safeguarding the education or welfare of—
(a)the child to whom the information relates, or
(b)any other person under the age of 18.
(3)A local authority may provide information from their register under section 436B which relates to a child, to a person mentioned in subsection (4) if the authority considers it appropriate to do so for the purposes of promoting or safeguarding the education or welfare of—
(a)the child, or
(b)any other person under the age of 18.
(4)For the purposes of subsection (3), the persons are—
(a)a person listed in section 11(1) or 28(1) of the Children Act 2004 (arrangements to safeguard and promote welfare);
(b)Ofsted, meaning—
(i)the Office for Standards in Education, Children’s Services and Skills, and
(ii)His Majesty’s Chief Inspector of Education, Children’s Services and Skills;
(c)His Majesty’s Chief Inspector of Education and Training in Wales;
(d)the Welsh Ministers.
If the family moves to a new area, 436F(5) requires the local authority to share information from the register with a new local authority.
436F(5)Where a local authority becomes aware that a child registered in their register under section 436B will move, or has moved, to the area of another local authority, the local authority—
(a)must provide the other local authority with any information relating to the child which is contained in the register under or by virtue of section 436C(1) or (2), and
(b)may provide the other local authority with any other information relating to the child which is contained in the register under or by virtue of section 436C(3)
Support Advice and Information
436G(1) and(2) set out the local authority’s home education support duty so far as it relates to advice and information.
436G(1)If a parent of a child registered by a local authority under section 436B so requests, the local authority must provide support to the parent by securing the provision of advice and information relating to the education of the child.
(2)The advice and information to be provided is whatever the local authority considers fit having regard to the parent’s request and may include—
(a)advice about the education of the child,
(b)information about sources of assistance for the education of the child, and
(c)information about access to examinations for the General Certificate of Secondary Education.
Support Forum Home Educating Parents
436G(3)-(5) set out the local authority’s duty to establish a forum for home educating parents.
436G(3)A local authority in England must offer parents of children registered by the authority under section 436B the opportunity to attend a forum to discuss the operation of sections 436B to 436P.
(4)The offer must be made twice per year and if it is accepted by at least one person to whom it is made, the local authority must arrange for the forum to take place.
436G(5)The duties in subsections (1), (3) and (4) do not apply in relation to a child where—
(a)the child is a registered pupil at a relevant school (within the meaning of section 436B),
(b)the local authority is required to make arrangements for the education of the child under section 19 or 19A of this Act,
(c)the local authority is required to secure special educational provision for the child under section 42(2) of the Children and Families Act 2014, or
(d)the local authority is required to secure additional learning provision or other provision for the child under section 14(10) or 19(7) of the Additional Learning Needs and Education Tribunal (Wales) Act 2018.”