LEGAL READINESS

IN PLAIN ENGLISH

The register, explained plainly.

Councils in England are setting up registers of children who are not in school. Here is what that means for your family, and how keeping a simple record helps you answer calmly when you are asked.Councils in England are setting up registers of children who are not in school. Here is what that means for your family, and how a simple record helps you answer calmly.

WHAT IT MEANS FOR YOUR FAMILY

Three things worth knowing.

  • A register of children not in school

    Councils are bringing in registers of children who are educated at home or otherwise not in school. How and when it works is set out in law and guidance, and the details can differ between councils.Councils are bringing in registers of children educated at home or otherwise not in school. The details can differ between councils.

  • You may be asked about it

    Parents can be asked for details about their child and how they are being educated. A letter or form from the council is not an accusation. It is a question, and you can take a breath before you answer.Parents can be asked for details about their child and how they are being educated. It is a question, not an accusation.

  • Home education is still your choice

    Educating your child at home remains a legal choice in England. The register is about councils knowing which children are educated outside school. For the exact rules, check GOV.UK and your council.Educating your child at home remains a legal choice in England. For the exact rules, check GOV.UK and your council.

HOW KEEPING A RECORD HELPS

A record will not answer every question for you. A record will not answer every question. It means you never start from a blank page.

  1. As it happens

    Snap a photo or say what happened. The date is kept with it, so you are not trying to remember in March what you did in October.Snap a photo or say what happened. The date is kept with it.

  2. Sorted as you go

    Flybrite spots the learning in each moment and files it under the right subject, building a picture across the year.Flybrite spots the learning and files it under the right subject.

  3. Ready when the council asks

    When a letter arrives, you open a report drafted from your own record, check it, and decide what to send.Open a report drafted from your own record, check it, and decide what to send.

Four different things, easily confused

Most of the worry around home education comes from these four being run together, so that something a council may politely ask for starts to sound like something the law demands. They are not the same, and the difference is worth knowing before you answer anyone.

  1. What the law requires of you

    In England, section 7 of the Education Act 1996 places one duty on you: secure an efficient, full-time education suitable to your child’s age, ability, aptitude and any special educational needs. That is the whole of the duty.

    • There is no legal duty to follow the National Curriculum, keep school hours, use a timetable, sit tests, or hold a teaching qualification.
    • There is no legal duty to produce any document at all. Section 7 asks you to secure an education, not to evidence one.
    • Two exceptions change the ordinary route: a special school arranged by the local authority needs the authority’s consent first, and a School Attendance Order stays legally binding until it is revoked.
    • Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland run their own systems. In Scotland you need the council’s consent to withdraw a child who has been attending a public school.

  2. What a local authority may ask for

    An authority may make informal enquiries to satisfy itself that a home-educated child is receiving a suitable education. Asking is not the same as requiring, and none of the things below is a duty on you.

    • It may ask for a report, ask to visit your home, ask to meet your child, or ask to see samples of work. You can say no to any of them.
    • It cannot insist on a particular format, and it should not dismiss what you write simply because it is not in the form it would have preferred.
    • One thing here is different: a formal notice under section 437(1) is a real legal step with a set period to reply, and it is worth taking seriously and answering.
    • Engaging calmly tends to make life easier, and parents are strongly encouraged to co-operate. That is a good idea, not a legal obligation.

  3. What you may choose to give

    Everything a parent typically sends an authority sits here, and all of it is optional. Departmental guidance for parents (paragraph 5.4) says you are under no legal obligation to produce specific evidence.

    • A short written account of your approach, your child’s interests and some recent learning. Most families find this alone is enough.
    • Photographs, samples of your child’s work, reading lists, a meeting, a visit. Your choice, every time, and never expected of you.
    • You can answer in writing instead of meeting, and you can decline a visit without giving a reason.
    • Choosing to give more does not make your education more legal, and choosing to give less does not make it less legal.

  4. What Flybrite can help you record

    Flybrite records everyday learning as it happens and turns it into a clear account you can share if you decide to. That is what it does, and it is genuinely useful on the week a letter arrives.

    • It saves you rebuilding a year from memory, and it makes the account in rung 3 much easier to write.
    • It does not discharge the duty in rung 1. Only a suitable education does that.
    • It is not required by any authority, and no record carries special weight with one. A notebook and a phone camera work too.
    • What you share, and whether you share anything, stays entirely your decision.

Where things stand

Children Not In School register

NOT YET IN FORCE

The register is coming, but it is not live yet. The provisions have not been commenced, so there is currently no duty on you to register. When that changes, Flybrite already holds a plain, evidenced record, so it is a submission rather than a scramble.

Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Act 2026

PASSED

The Act received Royal Assent on 29 April 2026. The home education sections commence separately, once regulations and statutory guidance are in place, currently expected from 2027. Until then the existing law applies unchanged. We track the commencement regulations and update this page as dates are confirmed.

EHCP awareness

SUPPORTED

If your child has an Education, Health and Care Plan, your record can reflect provision and progress in the language reviews expect.

Data & privacy

UK-BASED

Your family’s record is stored in the UK, never sold, and fully exportable or deletable. Compliance built in, not bolted on.

STRAIGHT ANSWERS

What Flybrite does, and what it does not.

Flybrite does

  • Keeps a dated record of your child’s learning, as it happensKeeps a dated record of your child’s learning
  • Sorts each moment by subject so the picture builds over the yearSorts each moment by subject
  • Drafts a report from your own record, in plain EnglishDrafts a report from your own record
  • Lets you edit every word and export a PDF to send yourselfLets you edit every word and export a PDF

Flybrite does not

  • Give legal advice or tell you what the law requires of youGive legal advice
  • Contact your council or send anything on your behalfContact your council or send anything for you
  • Promise how a council will respond to what you sendPromise how a council will respond
  • Replace your own judgement about your child’s educationReplace your own judgement

READ MORE

Guides, written by parents.

All guides →
All guides →

This page is general information, not legal advice. Always check GOV.UK and your own local authority’s current guidance. If you need advice about your situation, speak to a qualified adviser.