Q:

09.338 Is elective home education the same as EOTAS under CFA2014 s61?

Noddy 'no-nonsense' Guide

Noddy 'no-nonsense' Guide
Authors: David Wolfe QC, Leon Glenister
29 Mar 2023

A: SenseCheck

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  • 29 Mar 2023
  • No

    Complex

    No. Parents have a duty to ensure their child received efficient full-time suitable education “either by regular attendance at school or otherwise”: EA 1996 s7. Elective home education is where parents choose to provide education for their children at home. This may include where parents do not agree with the placement named in their child’s EHC Plan and decide to educate the child at home or with other provision. Where the parent or young person “has made suitable alternative arrangements” the LA’s duty to secure the SEP in the EHC Plan does not apply: CFA 2014 s42(5). In practical terms that means that a parent who undertakes elective home education can ask the LA to undertake a statutory assessment and even produce an EHCP. But there would be no obligation on the LA to arrange any of the SEP specified in section F of an EHCP that came out of that process. In other words, a parent cannot insist on a hybrid arrangement in which they are electively home educating while at the same time calling on the LA to provide some SEP.

    Noddy 'no-nonsense' Guide

    Noddy 'no-nonsense' Guide
    Authors: David Wolfe QC, Leon Glenister