"Elective" Home-education: choice or necessity?

This research seeks to understand the increase in adolescents deregistering from school in the South
Coast region. Government research shows families cite dissatisfaction with school as the main reason for
deregistration. The research will establish what families mean by dissatisfaction, and whether
deregistration has an impact on access to further and higher education.
In the South Coast, the numbers of elective home-education (EHE) families are high, with three of the top
10 Local Authorities (LAs) by percentage of registered home-educators in the region. UK rates of
adolescent deregistration rose by 38% last year.
Guiding research questions are:
1. How many home-educating adolescents in the South Coast region are being home-educated because
of dissatisfaction with school?
2. What comprises this dissatisfaction and what impact do relationships with LAs have?
3. Is there a disadvantage to these cohorts regarding access to further and higher education?
Using data in the National Pupil Database and that held at LA level, the research will conduct and
compare case studies of adolescents within specific localities with high deregistration rates and
variations in access to further and higher education. These localities will be identified through analysis of
the OfS POLAR4 quintile data within LA regions and the adolescents will be identified through social
networks.
South Coast Schools, FE Colleges, regional Universities, and LAs will be asked to complete questionnaires
and surveys to understand regional perspectives on deregistration, with a smaller sample selected for
follow-up interviews on the nature of their relationships with adolescents and their families.