Exploring the reasons why people home educate in Hertfordshire

Home education, that is providing education to children within the home setting rather than within school, is increasing nationally year on year. In England, home education is a legal choice and ongoing monitoring of children is not required if the Local Authority [LA] is satisfied that adequate arrangements for education are in place. The national rise in the number of families deciding to home educate is mirrored within Hertfordshire. When asked to complete a questionnaire on the withdrawal of their child from a school in Hertfordshire, parents/carers are asked to provide a reason for making that decision. For those parents/carers who do, the most frequently selected reason is ‘dissatisfaction with the school system’. This is a broad reason that can incorporate many different factors. Indeed, the research literature identifies a myriad of reasons why parents/carers decide to home educate, including, amongst others, concerns about the school environment, special educational needs and disabilities [SEND], additional learning needs [ALN], and philosophical or ideological views. These reasons for home educating are often intertwined and complex; they may vary for each child within a family; and can change over time. While government discourse often refers to ‘elective home education’ (i.e. EHE), for some parents/carers, home education is not perceived as elective or a positive and desirable choice, rather something that they were compelled to do, due to a combination of different reasons.