Rise in number of home-schooled children - council

Rotherham Council said more parents were choosing to home-school their children due to exam pressures

The number of children being home-schooled in Rotherham has increased by more than 300% since 2015, council data has shown.

Nine years ago there were 149 children in the borough who were educated at home but that figure has risen to 617, according to a report.

Mental health problems and exam pressures were among the main reasons for pupils leaving school for home education.

A council spokesperson said parents were offered "support, advice and guidance" if they chose to take their children out of school.

Secondary schools saw the biggest rise in pupils being removed for home education, particularly among Year 10 pupils.

Parents found that children were increasingly unable to "cope with the emotional demands placed on them as they progress through school," according to the report, prepared for a meeting of the council's Improving Lives Select Commission on Tuesday.

Students were also struggling with the "rigour of a Key Stage 4 curriculum and GCSE study," which had led to a rise in home-schooling, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

However, Rotherham Council said there was also an increasing number of cases where home-schooling was judged to be unsuitable.

The report said the council "always seeks to work in collaboration with parents where it is identified that children may not be in receipt of a suitable education".

The council's specialist team helped 248 children remain in school in the past year through early intervention work.

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