Home education helped me thrive, A* student says

A home-educated student who achieved straight A and A* grades believes she would not have done so if she had stayed in a mainstream school.

Alys Harrison, from Church Stretton in Shropshire, began learning from home when she was 13, after her confidence dipped and she felt she could not function in a traditional classroom.

BBC figures have revealed a 161% increase in the number of children from the West Midlands moving to home education in the last five years.

Many parents say it helps their youngsters thrive but some experts have expressed concern.

Ms Harrison now works part-time grooming horses and doing photography, while studying film in the hope of becoming a director.

She said she wanted young people to know home education was an option.

"I would probably have barely scraped through school," she said.

"My ability didn't need to be compared to everyone else in the classroom.

"Once I took myself away from being compared to others I realised I was able to apply myself and find the knowledge myself."

The BBC's data unit has found home education figures have doubled in the UK from the 2019-20 academic year to 2023-24.

In 2023-24, councils received more than 66,000 notifications from families wanting to move their children to home education, up from less than 30,000 in 2019-20.

In the West Midlands, including Derbyshire, the figure was up from 3168 five years ago to 8270 in 2023-24.

Figures are from the 2019-20 academic year and the 2023-24 academic year.

• Birmingham City Council - 512 to 1545 (202% change)
• Coventry City Council - 60 to 298 (397% change)
• Derby City Council - 98 to 234 (139% change)
• Derbyshire County Council - 343 to 943 (175% change)
• Dudley Council - 171 to 357 (109% change)
• Herefordshire Council - 13 to 227 (1646% change)
• Sandwell Metropolitan Borough Council - 183 to 492 (169% change)
• Shropshire Council - 118 to 260 (120% change)
• Solihull Metropolitan Borough Council - 105 to 180 (71% change)
• Staffordshire County Council - 437 to 782 (79% change)
• Stoke on Trent City Council - 88 to 353 (301% change)
• Telford & Wrekin Co-operative Council - 130 to 309 (138% change)
• Walsall Metropolitan Borough Council - 190 to 409 (115% change)
• Warwickshire County Council - 263 to 809 (208% change)

The Children's Commissioner Rachel de Souza told the BBC the figures worried her because she thought a lot of children did not want to be home educated.

"I’m deeply, deeply concerned. I think this is forced home education. I think so many of the young people are not getting their needs met in mainstream education."

She said while some home educate really well, it was often children who were vulnerable or had additional needs who were becoming home educated.

Telford mum Sandra said she believed home education had allowed her eight-year-old daughter Beatrice to flourish.

After home schooling Beatrice during the coronavirus pandemic, she made the decision to keep her daughter at home.

Like Ms Harrison, she wants others to know that parents have a choice when it comes to educating their children.

"It's just so incredibly sad that all the wonderful teachers and schools are so restricted by budget and government targets," she said.

"They are unable to focus on children as individuals and meet their needs, particularly around mental and emotional health."

A Department for Education spokesperson said it wanted to make sure every child received a suitable education.

“We are legislating for Children Not in School registers so local authorities can better identify and support all home educated children," a statement read.

The department added it was also reforming the system for children with special educational needs and disabilities so they received better support to thrive in education.

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