NI Education: Home Schooling Triples In Five Years

According to figures provided by the Department of Education (DE) in response to an assembly question from the UUP MLA Doug Beattie, there has been a significant rise in the number of children being educated at home in Northern Ireland over the past five years.

287 children were recorded by the Education Authority (EA) as home educated in 2017-18 but in the 2021-22 school year, that figure rose to 796 children reflecting an increase of about 175%.

However, the true figure could be much higher as parents are not legally required to register with the EA if they want to home educate their child.

They are, however, required by law to ensure their child receives full-time education at home.

Elective home education is the formal term used to describe the practice by which parents decide to educate their children outside of the school system.

According to guidelines published by the EA, parents choose to educate children at home for a variety of reasons including religious belief, dissatisfaction with the school system, special educational needs or for philosophical reasons.