This article is part of our series of briefings on The Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Act.

The Children's Wellbeing and Schools Act 2026 has introduced significant changes to school attendance - including home education and school attendance orders. We consider what these changes mean for schools and local authorities.

Several child safeguarding practice reviews have identified problems with information sharing about children who are educated at home or who attend unregistered schools. There have also been concerns about the quality of some home education provision and the difficulty of monitoring children's welfare when they're not in regular contact with schools. The Act addresses these concerns by introducing new registration requirements and strengthening local authority powers.

The Act aims to prevent vulnerable children from going unnoticed, recognising the protective environment that schools provide.

Key changes to attendance and out-of-school education

• A duty on schools to notify the local authority whenever a parent intends to remove their child from school to home-educate them.
• Schools cannot remove children who are subject to child protection investigations or action from their roll unless the local authority has provided consent or directed the school to do so.
• A duty on local authorities to maintain a register to identify compulsory school-age children not in school, and to carry out checks on unregistered education providers.
• New provisions clarifying the process for making school attendance orders.
• A new mandatory meeting pilot scheme requiring parents to attend and participate in a meeting with the local authority before withdrawing a child from school for home education.

Why these changes matter

Many of the changes in the Act have been discussed across successive governments.

The tragic case of 10-year-old Sara Sharif, who was murdered by her father after being withdrawn from school, reinforced concern about the ability of parents of at-risk children to deregister their children when child protection issues have been identified. In Sara's case, this allowed abuse to persist unchecked. The number of home-educated children has risen steeply over the past few years.

New parental duty to obtain consent to home educate

Parents of a "relevant child" will need to obtain local authority consent before they can withdraw their child from school. This requirement applies specifically to "relevant children" -not to all parents.

A "relevant child" includes those who attend a special school, or an independent school specially organised to make special educational provision for pupils with special educational needs (Condition A), as well as those who are the subject of local authority child protection investigations, safeguarding action, or in respect of whom such action has been taken during the five years ending with the date of the application (Condition B).

The local authority must make its decision without undue delay. If consent is refused, parents may refer the question to the Secretary of State (in England) or Welsh Ministers (in Wales), who may uphold the local authority's decision or refer it back for reconsideration. The Secretary of State or Welsh Ministers may also make a direction determining the question - including the ability to reverse the refusal.

If a subsequent application is made in respect of a child for whom consent has previously been refused, the local authority is only required to make a new decision if six months have elapsed since the previous application. Parents are not prevented from applying before six months, but the local authority is under no obligation to determine it within that period.

Parents who withdraw their child without consent commit an offence and could face prosecution.

New school duty to notify the local authority of intended removal from roll

Schools have a duty to notify the local authority when a parent intends to remove a child to educate them at home. Where that child is a "relevant child", the local authority must consider whether to grant consent to the parent for removal.

The local authority can refuse if it believes it's in the child's best interests to receive education by regular attendance at school, or if the proposed home education is inadequate. If neither ground for refusal applies, the local authority must grant consent.

The local authority must serve notice of its decision on both the parent and the school. Schools cannot remove "relevant children" from roll until they have received notice that consent has been granted.

New mandatory meeting pilot scheme

A significant new addition in the Act is a mandatory meeting pilot scheme. The Secretary of State (in England) or Welsh Ministers (in Wales) must, within two years of section 37 of the Act coming fully into force, introduce regulations establishing a pilot that requires parents to attend and participate in a meeting with the local authority before they can withdraw their child from school for home education.

During that meeting, the local authority must ensure discussion of:

• The parent's duty to ensure their child receives a suitable education and how they plan to meet it.
• The local authority's own duties, including its support duties.
• The parent's reasons for considering home education.
• Any support needs the child may have and how those could be met.
• The child's safeguarding and welfare.
• Anything else relevant to the decision.

The child must also attend the meeting unless exceptional circumstances apply. A school representative may attend with parental consent.

Schools must not remove a child from the register unless the local authority has given notice that the meeting has taken place. The pilot must operate in no more than 30% of all local authorities in England or 30% in Wales, and must run for between two and five years. After the pilot, the appropriate national authority may make regulations extending the scheme to all local authorities.

A new register of home-educated children

Local authorities are required to maintain a register of compulsory school-age children who are not registered at any school, or who are registered at a school but receiving education elsewhere (for example, home-educated part-time), or who only attend a further education institution on a part-time basis.

Regulations will clarify who is eligible for registration. Parents of registered children can request support from the local authority, which must provide advice and information about educating their child - unless the child is in school or the local authority is already arranging the child's education.

"Not a safeguarding solution"

The register is not a safeguarding solution in itself, but forms part of the local authority's toolkit for checking the education and welfare of children not in school. It will also help address concerns about children missing education and those attending unregistered schools.

In many safeguarding reviews into the deaths of child abuse victims, problems were identified with information sharing and missed opportunities for intervention, with parents able to mislead or avoid contact with authorities. Local authorities can share register information with safeguarding partners (such as police and health services), Ofsted, education inspectors, other local authorities, and the Secretary of State or Welsh Ministers where directed. All sharing must be for the purpose of promoting or safeguarding children's education or welfare.

Home visits

A notable new safeguarding tool is the local authority's power to request a home visit. Before the end of the 15-day period beginning on the day a child is registered, the local authority must consider where the child lives and may request that the parent allows a visit. If that request is refused, the local authority must treat the refusal as a relevant factor in determining whether to serve a preliminary notice leading to a school attendance order.

Once a child is on the register

Once registered, parents must provide certain information to the local authority within strict time limits - specifically, within 15 days of their child becoming eligible for registration and within 15 days of any changes to their circumstances - or they risk being issued with a preliminary notice that may lead to a school attendance order. Required information includes the child's and parents' details, who provides education and for how much time, details of any other education providers, and how much education the child receives without parental involvement.

Questions arise as to whether local authorities have the resource to check whether all children on the register are receiving suitable education. Will they need to prioritise on a risk basis? Given the current state of SEND provision, we may also see more children removed from school to be home-educated, placing an even greater burden on local authorities.

School attendance orders

Before issuing a school attendance order (SAO), the local authority must first send a preliminary notice to parents, giving them at least 15 days to satisfy the authority that their child is receiving suitable education - or that education outside school is in the child's best interests where child protection concerns exist. The preliminary notice must be served within five days of the authority identifying the issue. Only if parents fail to satisfy the authority can an SAO then be issued.

The Act enables local authorities to name academies in SAOs. This will not significantly change the current position - local authorities already have the right to seek a direction from the Secretary of State under the terms of the funding agreement - but it makes the legislative framework clearer and the process more consistent.

Before a school is named in an SAO, it must be consulted. Written notice of the decision to name a school must be provided within 15 days of the preliminary notice period expiring. Schools can apply to the Secretary of State (England) or Welsh Ministers (Wales) for a direction within 10 school days.

Exceptions to the rule

The current exceptions remain in place: a school cannot be named if the child has been permanently excluded from it, or if admitting the child would breach class size limits or prejudice the provision of efficient education or the efficient use of resources.

Being full in a relevant year does not, however, prevent a maintained school being named (if the local authority is the admission authority), or a maintained school or academy being named where - in the local authority's opinion - the school is a reasonable distance from the child's home and there is no other maintained school or academy in the area that could be named and is a reasonable distance from the child's home. This will make it harder for academies to argue against being named.

Consequences of parental non-compliance

The school named in an SAO has a duty to admit the child. Parental non-compliance with a school attendance order is an offence.

Parents do have defences, however, if they can demonstrate that suitable education arrangements have been made outside school, that education outside school is in the child's best interests, or - where the order was based solely on child protection concerns - that such enquiries and action are no longer ongoing. There is also statutory guidance on children not in school and school attendance orders, which local authorities must have regard to.

What schools and local authorities should consider now

Schools and local authorities should now consider how to implement these changes following Royal Assent. Whilst the Act sets out detailed processes and timeframes, further regulations and statutory guidance will clarify specific operational details including registration eligibility.

Schools should consider how they'll identify "relevant children" who may require local authority consent before being removed from the school register. Local authorities will need to develop systems for processing consent applications, handling mandatory meeting requirements under the pilot scheme, maintaining registers, arranging home visits where appropriate, and issuing preliminary notices and school attendance orders within the required timeframes.

Both schools and local authorities should ensure staff are trained on the new requirements and that information-sharing protocols are in place to support safeguarding.

The safeguarding measures in the Act are a step in the right direction - but local authorities will need to be properly resourced if they're to take the proactive steps expected and discharge their new duties effectively. Good channels of communication with schools and parents will also be essential.

Find out more about The Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Act