Updated page about Lords’ amendments previewing the debate on July 3rd plus analysing interest across political parties https://edyourself.org/lords-amendments-wellbeing-bill/
News
206 posts
NEW PAGE answering the main questions I am asked about the Wellbeing Bill in the Lords https://edyourself.org/faq-house-of-lords-wellbeing-bill/
Teacher abused adopted children with family court judge partner failing to intervene NEW POST https://edyourself.wordpress.com/2025/06/29/family-court-judge-abuse-case/
10 year old Sara Sharif was found dead at the family’s home in Woking, Surrey in August 2023 NEW POST https://edyourself.wordpress.com/2025/06/29/sara-sharif/
NEW post – Wellbeing Bill what to expect next week in the Lords https://edyourself.wordpress.com/2025/06/27/july-3rd-and-after/
2ND NEW FAQ PAGE – impact of Wellbeing Bill on children already home educated including with EHCP https://edyourself.org/faq-2-childrens-wellbeing-bill/
NEW PAGE FAQ Will I still be allowed to home educate/ What if my child has an EHCP/ How soon is all this happening? https://edyourself.org/faq-childrens-wellbeing-bill/
The House of Lords will start to scrutinise the Children Not In School clauses of the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill on Thursday July 3rd, beginning with clause 30. NEW POST https://edyourself.wordpress.com/2025/06/24/july-3rd/
Clause 30 is the start of Children Not In School (Wellbeing Bill) My submission to the bill committee on clause 30 has now been fully updated for the Lords https://edyourself.org/bill-committee-evidence-january-2025/. NEW POST https://edyourself.wordpress.com/2025/06/23/consent-withdrawal-school-certain-categories/
The House of Lords committee appears to be a day’s worth of amendments away from Children Not In School, but just in case the first few amendments to clause 30 are debated on June 23rd, I have made a new page https://edyourself.org/condition-a-cnis-wellbeing-bill/
Lords got up to clause 26 yesterday. NEW POST https://edyourself.wordpress.com/2025/06/20/lords-up-to-clause-26/ with my reasons for predicting July 3rd Children Not In School
Today the House of Lords is back in Committee for the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill READ MORE HERE https://edyourself.wordpress.com/2025/06/19/day-6-committee-lords-wellbeing-bill/
The Lords got up to clause 15 of the Wellbeing Bill in committee last night, so it is just possible that scrutiny of clause 30 Local authority consent for withdrawal of certain children from school could start on July 3rd [Day 8]. NEW post here https://edyourself.wordpress.com/2025/06/18/lords-up-to-clause-15/
Now predicting June 23rd or even July 3rd for scrutiny of Children Not In School Wellbeing Bill Lords Committee, NEW POST https://edyourself.wordpress.com/2025/06/13/lords-only-up-to-clause-10/
The House of Lords is still only on clause 6 of the Wellbeing Bill after day 3 of Committee, hence June 19th seems earliest likely date for Children Not In School clauses 30-35. My updated bill page is here https://edyourself.org/childrens-wellbeing-schools-bill/
How far peers get with scrutinising the bill today will determine when they reach Children Not In School. New post here https://edyourself.wordpress.com/2025/06/09/children-not-in-school-debate-in-lords/
Overview main areas of amendments from members of the House of Lords – NEW PAGE https://edyourself.org/lords-amendments-wellbeing-bill/
NEW page: Children’s Wellbeing Bill – what’s happening when https://edyourself.org/childrens-wellbeing-bill-how-to-track/
As a bill goes through parliament, government will realise or be persuaded – that some things are priority for changing. NEW POST https://edyourself.org/changing-a-bill/
Scrutiny of Children Not In School measures no earlier than day 4 of committee June 12th https://edyourself.wordpress.com/2025/05/09/wellbeing-bill-lords-may-july-2025/
New post: what makes a good LA for home education https://edyourself.wordpress.com/2025/05/21/what-makes-good-la-for-home-education/
New post – good and bad local authorities for home education https://edyourself.wordpress.com/2025/05/20/good-and-bad-las-for-home-education/
June 9th added as day 3 of committee in the Lords. Updated blog post here https://edyourself.wordpress.com/2025/05/09/wellbeing-bill-lords-may-july-2025/
Overview of new and updated pages about Wales https://edyourself.wordpress.com/2025/05/14/pages-about-wales-on-my-website/
Children Not In School (Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill) not till June. New post here https://edyourself.wordpress.com/2025/05/09/wellbeing-bill-lords-may-july-2025/
Second reading Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill House of Lords. NEW PAGE https://edyourself.wordpress.com/2025/05/01/lords-2nd-reading-and-after-may-2025/
The Ministry of Justice has confirmed 800 school attendance order prosecutions in 2023-24 resulting in 546 fines. Read my new page on SAO Prosecution Statistics HERE https://edyourself.org/school-attendance-prosecution-statistics/
My MP has asked the Ministry of Justice for statistics on School Attendance Order prosecutions and fines over the past 10 years. Read the PQ page HERE https://edyourself.org/parliamentary-questions-wellbeing-bill/ (For context, the Department for Education has said “We can predict from Ministry of Justice data that the number of families ultimately subject to a fine for breach of a SAO will be low compared to the overall number of SAOs that are issued.” [LINK])
The Welsh government has made slight changes to its elective home education guidance and also began displaying it as a web page. Read my new page HERE https://edyourself.org/home-education-guidance-wales-2025/
The Children Not In School clauses of the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill will now apply to Wales as well as England, read my new page HERE https://edyourself.org/wellbeing-bill-applying-to-wales/
Second Reading in the Lords has been announced for May 1st with 37 peers on the speakers list so far. Read more here https://edyourself.org/childrens-wellbeing-schools-bill/
The Department for Education estimates it will only take 10 minutes a year for parents to report all registration information and updates to the local authority. Read more here https://edyourself.org/parent-registration-information/
By the end of March 18th the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill had been amended in a number of ways. Read my NEW post here https://edyourself.wordpress.com/2025/03/24/clause-25-is-now-clause-30/
I have updated my Children and Schools Wellbeing Bill page now the Bill has finished in the Commons. MPs are of course still able to submit Written Questions and write to the Minister on behalf of their constituents. https://edyourself.org/childrens-wellbeing-schools-bill/ The Bill now has to go through the House of Lords.
A new impact assessment has just been published on the day of Report for the Wellbeing Bill. NEW PAGE here https://edyourself.org/impact-assessments-wellbeing-bill/
The Children Not In School clauses of the Wellbeing Bill will be debated on Tuesday March 18th in the House of Commons. This NEW post explains what to expect https://edyourself.wordpress.com/2025/03/16/tuesday-march-18th-report-stage-bill/ –
Part 2 of the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill will be debated in the House of Commons next Tuesday 18 March. NEW POST with links to 1 page flier for MPs (including image file and copyable PDF) https://edyourself.wordpress.com/2025/03/14/amendments-abtisam-mohamed-parliament-march-18/
Some clues about funding for the proposed new law on Children Not In School can be found in a document which has never been published on the main bill page, read more HERE https://edyourself.org/wellbeing-bill-wheres-the-money/
I have written a new post about approaching MPs to ask if they will help you and your family by raising your concerns in parliament over the Wellbeing Bill https://edyourself.wordpress.com/2025/03/12/wellbeing-bill-amendments-for-report/ There is some urgency as the debate will take place on March 17th and 18th next week
My MP Abtisam Mohamed has tabled a number of amendments for Report regarding “suitable education” and mandatory home visits once in the school attendance order process. NEW PAGE here https://edyourself.org/amendments-for-wellbeing-bill-2/
My MP Abtisam Mohamed has tabled a number of amendments for Report to address the disproportionate impact on lone parents. NEW PAGE here https://edyourself.org/amendments-for-report-1/
Report has been confirmed for March 17th and 18th, see https://bills.parliament.uk/bills/3909/stages/19544 The last day for tabling amendments within the notice period for selection is MONDAY MARCH 10TH. MPs wishing to speak at Report don’t have to put their names on a list. Read more here https://edyourself.org/childrens-wellbeing-schools-bill/
It has been provisionally announced that report stage of the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill will take place on Monday 17th and Tuesday 18th March [LINK]
My MP has tabled a number of parliamentary questions about the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill – NEW PAGE read more here https://edyourself.org/parliamentary-questions-wellbeing-bill/
The Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill has been reissued after committee, with adjustments to clause and page numbering. Read more here https://edyourself.wordpress.com/2025/02/12/clause-24-is-now-25/ The updated version of the children not in school clauses can be viewed onscreen here without needing to download https://shorturl.at/eJleP
My written evidence never appeared on the committee website so I secured permission to publish it here https://edyourself.org/bill-committee-evidence-january-2025/
I have updated my page on the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill to reflect the fact that it is finishing in committee and will shortly be considered at Report by all MPs in the House of Commons before going to the House of Lords https://edyourself.org/childrens-wellbeing-schools-bill/
NEW blog post explores when we might expect Report stage https://edyourself.wordpress.com/2025/02/09/report-stage-childrens-wellbeing-and-schools-bill/
The bill committee has finished with the home education clauses, so the focus now moves to report stage, NEW blog post here https://edyourself.wordpress.com/2025/02/01/90-minutes-home-education-30-1-25/
New blog post overview of the children not in school proposals set out in the Wellbeing Bill https://edyourself.wordpress.com/2025/01/25/overview-children-not-in-school-wellbeing-bill/
I have published a new blog post explaining why the children not in school proposals are likely to be scrutinised on Thursday January 30th (or possibly the following Tuesday) and hence why there is still time to send written evidence https://edyourself.wordpress.com/2025/01/24/children-not-in-school-bill-committee-dates/
Interested parties can send written evidence to the bill committee, but time is short, read my new blog post here https://edyourself.wordpress.com/2025/01/14/evidence-childrens-wellbeing-bill-committee/
NEW blog post about the public bill committee which will start meeting shortly to go through the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill https://edyourself.wordpress.com/2025/01/09/bill-committee-childrens-wellbeing-and-schools/
NEW blog post about second reading of the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill taking place tomorrow Wednesday January 8th https://edyourself.wordpress.com/2025/01/07/second-reading-childrens-wellbeing-schools-bill/
What to expect as the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill makes its way through parliament https://edyourself.org/childrens-wellbeing-schools-bill/ + view the bill onscreen here without having to download a PDF https://shorturl.at/eJleP
I have added a link to my Pilot Areas Children’s Database Wales page containing further information about opting out including template letters. Read more here https://edyourself.org/pilot-areas-wales-cme-database/
I have updated my post-16 Universal Credit page to add information about issues with local authority letters plus DWP clarification re UC accepting Child Benefit as proof https://edyourself.org/universal-credit/
I have created 2 new pages to provide further information on database proposals for Wales https://edyourself.org/pilot-areas-wales-cme-database/ (updated 16.10.24) + https://edyourself.org/children-missing-education-wales/
On September 11th 2024 the Minister confirmed that “database arrangements will be piloted across a small number of local authorities for the first year”. My consultation page has now been updated, read more here https://edyourself.org/wales-cme-database-consultation/
On September 5th 2024 Lord Storey’s Home School Education Registration and Support Bill [LINK] had its first reading – without debate – in the House of Lords. The bill was 13th in the private members bill ballot [LINK] which means that second reading – with debate – will not be for a few months. This bill is unconnected with the government’s Children’s Wellbeing Bill [LINK] mentioned in the Kings Speech which has not been published yet. More about private members bills here
In Wales, statements of special educational needs are being replaced by Individual Development Plans which are different from statements (or EHCPs as in England) Read more here https://edyourself.org/wales-home-educating-with-special-needs/
Two new sets of regulations related to pupils in and out of school came into force yesterday. This was flagged up in a news post from March 2024. The 2006 Pupil Registration Regulations (covering deregistration) no longer apply, and in addition, there are new requirements for reporting absence more promptly to the LA. Read more here https://edyourself.org/pupil-registration-regulations-2024/ and here https://edyourself.org/technical-changes-cme-guidance-2024/
The Kings Speech on July 17th 2024 included proposals for a Children Not In School Register as part of the Children’s Wellbeing Bill. Read more here https://edyourself.org/registration-in-kings-speech-july-2024/
Shortly before the general election was announced, the Department for Education launched a consultation on the use of alternative provision under section 19 plus EOTAS with EHCPs. It closes on July 5th. Read my consultation response here https://edyourself.org/alternative-provision-consultation-response-2024/ LINK TO CONSULTATION HERE https://consult.education.gov.uk/behaviour-attendance-exclusions-and-alternative-provision/strengthening-protections-in-unregistered-ap/
The Welsh government’s plans for a children missing education database rely on doctors to share patient information. The General Medical Council [GMC] does not seem convinced, read more here https://edyourself.wordpress.com/2024/05/23/gmc-response-wales-cme-database-consultation/
The Department for Education is proposing new national standards and time limits for pupils in alternative provision. There will also be new rules for children unable to attend school and for those receiving EOTAS (part-time or full-time) via an EHCP. I explain more here https://edyourself.org/unregistered-alternative-provision-new-rules/ CONSULTATION CLOSES 5.7.24
I have just submitted my response for the Wales CME database consultation which closes this Thursday April 25th. The link for the consultation is here https://www.gov.wales/node/59753/respond-online and I have posted a copy of my response here https://edyourself.org/consultation-response-cme-database-wales/
I am sharing my draft CME database consultation (Wales) response here https://edyourself.org/consultation-response-cme-database-wales/ I am not based in Wales but the education law Wales is relying on applies to both England and Wales
Here is a one page summary and introduction to the pages on this website about the Wales Children’s Database https://edyourself.org/guide-to-wales-cme-database/ The database consultation closes on April 25th. The Welsh government has still not uploaded a child-friendly version of the consultation
The Welsh government wants GPs to hand over the name, address, date of birth and gender of nearly half a million children. Read more https://edyourself.org/gp-data-half-a-million-children-wales/ + https://edyourself.org/why-include-gps-in-wales-database/ Reminder that the database consultation closes on April 25th
The Welsh government plans to pilot the children’s database in a small number of councils where it will only apply to a few children initially but once section 29 is brought into force, any future government will be free to expand the database as much as it wants. Read more here https://edyourself.org/childrens-database-wales-law-but-not-law/
On Friday March 15th 2024 MP Flick Drummond’s home education bill had its Second Reading in the House of Commons. Read more here about what this means https://edyourself.wordpress.com/2024/03/16/flick-drummond-home-education-bill/
The Wales database proposals will have significant impact on home educating families who are already known to the LA. This may or may not have been intended. Read more here https://edyourself.org/wales-database-impact-children-already-known/
See also 1/ https://edyourself.org/wales-cme-database-consultation/ + 2/ https://edyourself.org/legal-powers-for-childrens-database-wales/ + 3/ https://edyourself.org/details-childrens-database-wales/ + 4/ https://edyourself.org/2024-wales-database-compared-with-2020/ + 5/ https://edyourself.org/data-sharing-childrens-database-wales/
The Welsh government has come up with a supposedly scaled-down version of the children’s database it tried to introduce in 2020. I have written a new web page about how the two versions compare https://edyourself.org/2024-wales-database-compared-with-2020/
In response to queries about the changes to the Pupil Registration Regulations and exactly what they mean for home educators, I have just published a new web page https://edyourself.org/pupil-registration-regulations-2024/
The School Attendance (Pupil Registration) (England) Regulations 2024 laid yesterday in parliament will come into force on August 19th 2024 and will replace the 2006 Regulations. Deregistration from mainstream school for home education is currently covered by Regulation 8 (1)(d) 2006 but after August 19th it will be Regulation 9 (1)(f) of the 2024 Regulations.The exact wording for deleting pupil names from the school roll is also slightly different; my page on deregistration has more details https://edyourself.org/deregistration/ (For updated links on deregistration from special school click here https://edyourself.org/taking-child-out-of-special-school/ )
I have just written two new pages to explain the proposed Welsh database of “children potentially missing education.” The first page explains how the Welsh government hopes to adapt the database provisions in the Children Act 2004 because this is easier than passing a new law https://edyourself.org/legal-powers-for-childrens-database-wales/ The second page sets out exactly what is proposed https://edyourself.org/details-childrens-database-wales/
Minister Damian Hinds said yesterday in Parliament that the recent guidance consultation which closed on January 18th had received more than 4,000 responses. The shortened Hansard link is here http://tinyurl.com/5n842f37 By comparison, the 2019 children not in school consultation number was “nearly 5,000”; the 2018 guidance consultation was 3441; the 2009 Badman review consultation was 5211; and the 2007 Guidelines consultation was 919.
The Welsh government is proposing that the names and addresses of school age children using health services in Wales (including being registered with a GP) be passed on to the local authority where the child lives so that the LA can maintain a database of children “potentially missing education.” Read more here https://edyourself.org/wales-cme-database-consultation/
Towards the end of 2023 the government put forward some possible changes to the guidance on home education. A public consultation ended on 18.1.24. The government will now consider the responses to the consultation and will publish an official statement about next steps in due course. More information about consultation principles can be found here https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/consultation-principles-guidance
Meanwhile the current guidance remains in force until such time as a final new version is published. The current guidance can be found here https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/elective-home-education My web page on the guidance is here https://edyourself.org/guidance/
I have posted a write up of the Facebook discussion from a couple of days ago here https://edyourself.wordpress.com/2024/01/12/answer-day-summary-home-education-guidance-consultation/ I have added a few extras and also pulled out some General Points. There is no rule says the government has to go with the majority in a consultation but there might be a tipping point where the proposed changes no longer seem such a good idea particularly if operational difficulties become apparent or if it looks likely to be counter-productive. This is where words matter in those answer boxes! REMINDER CONSULTATION CLOSES THURSDAY JANUARY 18TH
On Wednesday January 10th I will be answering queries and responding to comments about the home education guidance consultation. More details here https://edyourself.wordpress.com/2024/01/08/answer-day-wednesday-january-10th-2024/
The law on home education is unchanged. In place of new law, the government is testing the waters as to how far existing law can be stretched. My new blog post summarises the proposed changes and considers the possible impact on relationships between home educating families and the local authority. It also has tips on how to give feedback via the consultation which is open till January 18th. https://edyourself.wordpress.com/2024/01/03/changes-to-home-education-guidance-introduction/ See also https://edyourself.wordpress.com/2024/01/04/why-is-the-home-education-guidance-so-long/
For everyone who has told me “I know it’s important but I haven’t been able to face looking at it yet I have written this blog post https://edyourself.wordpress.com/2024/01/02/home-education-guidance-consultation/ It sets out a few simple steps for trying the “save and come back later” option on the consultation form (with screenshots!) so you can feel you have made a start.
Meanwhile all my other consultation pages are linked from here https://edyourself.org/2023-consultation-revised-ehe-guidance/#allpages and the consultation CLOSES ON JANUARY 18TH
I have recently published 2 new pages about the home education guidance consultation https://edyourself.org/7-consultation-questions-and-suggested-pages + https://edyourself.org/safeguarding-in-new-guidance-2/ (ensuring “sufficient secular education” by way of literacy and numeracy checks)
All my pages on the consultation are linked from here https://edyourself.org/2023-consultation-revised-ehe-guidance/#allpages
A closer look at the SEND Chapter has revealed some problems. 2 new web pages have just been added https://edyourself.org/special-educational-needs-in-new-guidance/ + https://edyourself.org/special-needs-in-new-guidance-2/
My Starting Page has links to all the consultation pages on this site https://edyourself.org/2023-consultation-revised-ehe-guidance/
The safeguarding chapter in the new draft home education guidance is much the same as the current guidance but because of what now appears elsewhere in the guidance, the advice on safeguarding has become even more problematic. New web page on Safeguarding in the New Guidance https://edyourself.org/safeguarding-in-new-guidance/
My Starting Page has links to all the consultation pages on this site https://edyourself.org/2023-consultation-revised-ehe-guidance/
The online consultation form for the new draft home education guidance puts respondents into different categories depending on their background. Most of the questions which follow are multiple choice which enables responses to be sorted eg x% of parents agreed; x% of local authorities agreed. 10 questions have a comment box for writing your answer. DfE is likely to use automated textual analysis which will search for key words and phrases in the written responses. Read more here https://edyourself.org/online-consultation-new-guidance/ My Starting Page has links to all the consultation pages on this site https://edyourself.org/2023-consultation-revised-ehe-guidance/
The new draft guidance encourages information gathering on a far bigger scale than any previous guidance yet has virtually nothing to say about GDPR or the statutory responsibilities of being a data controller plus there is no mention of the need for Privacy Notices or complying with Subject Access Requests. New web page https://edyourself.org/data-protection-in-new-guidance/ My Starting Page has links to all the consultation pages on this site https://edyourself.org/2023-consultation-revised-ehe-guidance/
In the new draft guidance support is left entirely up to local authorities to decide as part of their local process. Nothing is a must-do. Annual monitoring is one of the potential support options. The consultation asks for your views. Read my new web page here https://edyourself.org/support-in-new-guidance/
The Starting Page for the consultation with links to all documents and web pages is here https://edyourself.org/2023-consultation-revised-ehe-guidance/ CLOSES 18.1.24.
In the new draft home education guidance all the investigation and weighing up of evidence has been brought forward to the informal enquiries stage as part of a detailed “assessment of suitability”. The consultation asks a number of questions about this. I have created 2 new web pages to assist with your response https://edyourself.org/informal-process-in-new-guidance/ + https://edyourself.org/formal-process-in-new-guidance/ The Starting Page for the consultation with links to all documents and all the consultation pages on my site is here https://edyourself.org/2023-consultation-revised-ehe-guidance/ CLOSES 18.1.24.
The sentence “this should not be taken as implying that it is the responsibility of parents under s.436A to ‘prove’ that education at home is suitable” no longer appears in the new draft home education guidance for local authorities. What does this mean for home educators? Read more here https://edyourself.org/will-parents-have-to-prove-suitable-education/ The Starting Page for the consultation with links to all documents and all the consultation pages on my site is here https://edyourself.org/2023-consultation-revised-ehe-guidance/ CLOSES 18.1.24.
Assessment of suitability is the big idea in the new draft home education guidance with LAs seeking to “establish the child’s levels of literacy and numeracy”. This has massive implications if LAs feel parents are not co-operating to the fullest extent. Read my new page here https://edyourself.org/suitable-education-in-new-guidance-2/ The Starting Page for the consultation with links to all documents and web pages is here https://edyourself.org/2023-consultation-revised-ehe-guidance/ CLOSES 18.1.24.
In view of the current consultation mentioning “several edits to the guidance to aid in the understanding of suitable education” I have just published two new pages https://edyourself.org/suitable-education/ + https://edyourself.org/suitable-education-in-new-guidance/ The Starting Page for the consultation with links to all documents and web pages is here https://edyourself.org/2023-consultation-revised-ehe-guidance/ CLOSES 18.1.24.
The Department for Education is proposing to issue new guidance on home education. A public consultation opened on October 26th 2023 which runs till January 18th 2024. Read more here https://edyourself.org/2023-consultation-revised-ehe-guidance/
The Child Element of Universal Credit can continue to be paid on behalf of home educated young people over the age of 16 when they meet the conditions for being treated as a “qualifying young person.” Read my new page here https://edyourself.org/universal-credit/
In June 2022, the Department for Education included a consultation question about changing the regulations so that the local authority would have to agree before a child with an EHC Plan (or other statutory Plan) could be deregistered from the roll of a mainstream school for home education. At the end of August 2023 the government confirmed that this would NOT be taken forward. Hence the law is unchanged and consent is ONLY required for deregistration from special school. My page with more information and links about deregistering a child from mainstream school is here https://edyourself.org/deregistration/