Kent: Sharp rise seen in home educated children

Mental health problems, bullying and dissatisfaction with school are reasons given for a rise in home schooling

The number of pupils being home educated in Kent and Medway has risen by more than 50% within five years.

A total of 3,044 children in Kent were being home educated in April 2022, compared with 1,997 in 2018, according to Freedom of Information figures obtained by BBC Radio Kent.

The number in Medway has risen from 405 to 608 over the same period.

The Department for Education said any decision to home educate should have the child's best interests at heart.

Council officials say the reasons behind the rise include mental health problems, bullying and parents' dissatisfaction with schools.

The national home education charity Education Otherwise said it had seen a sharp increase in parents supporting children with anxiety since the pandemic.

Its co-chair Wendy Charles-Warner said: "We are seeing an enormous increase in children reporting with anxiety and mental health issues.

"A child who is anxious, or is nervous, or is miserable, simply is not a child who can be educated well in that environment and parents take them out to home educate them."

'School was causing my son anxiety'

Jodie Tennant began home educating her teenage son this year

Jodie Tennant has been home educating her 13-year-old son since January when she withdrew him from school in Dartford after noticing a difference in him since the pandemic.

She said: "When he went back to school he wasn't himself anymore. It was causing him anxiety, he was low and tearful and that's when I looked into home education to see if it could work.

"You hear all sorts of stories as to why people are doing this.

"The anxiety levels in children now seem to be a lot higher than they used to be, you hear of bullying at school that's not being tackled or children just not enjoying school, like my child."

Officials at Medway Council suggested the pandemic had contributed to more parents switching to home educating their children.

Councillor Adam Price, the authority's lead member for children's services, said: "There has been an increase in the number of children being home educated since the pandemic and I'm aware that mental health and anxiety is a factor, which has probably contributed to those higher numbers nationally."

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Kent County Council has been approached by the BBC for comment. The Department for Education said: "It is important that any decision to home educate is made with the child's best interests at the forefront of parents' minds, and the education provided is suitable.

"We remain committed to a registration system for children not in school, which will help local authorities undertake their existing duties and help safeguard all children who are in scope."

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