EO Deregistration in England and Wales

Deregistration from School
England and Wales

Education (Pupil Registration) Regulation 8, 2006.

Under regulation 8(1)(d), a 'school-age' pupil's name is to be deleted from the admissions register if:

"he has ceased to attend the school and the proprietor
has received written notification from the parent that
the pupil is receiving education otherwise than at school."

Here is a suggested brief de-registration letter for those deregistering a child from a school in England and Wales.
It doesn't need to be long or give any reasons for your decision or any details about your plans. If you have had a friendly relationship with the school you may like to add a note of thanks or give reason for your decision but this is not necessary. This letter is available to print out as a pdf file here.

Your address
The Date

Head teacher's Name

Dear Mr Taylor

Re: Catherine Jones (date of birth)

After careful consideration I/we have decided to withdraw my/our daughter from school in order to take personal responsibility for her education. Please delete her name from the register in accordance with Education (Pupil Registration) Regulation 8(1)(d) 2006, as she is now receiving education otherwise than at school.

Please will you confirm receipt of this letter and inform us of the date that our daughter’s name was removed from the register.

Yours sincerely etc.

It is advisable to include the reference to the Pupil Registration Regulation as there have been instances of schools failing to know or obey the law, imagining wrongly that they have some discretion in the matter. Often they will refer to the law pre-1995 where you had to wait for approval from the LEA before the child's name could be deleted. This no longer applies and the child's name should be deleted immediately.

You are not obliged to have any further contact with the school once they have received this letter.

Special Needs children in Special Schools

Although regulation 8 (1) (d) effectively allows deregistration on demand, it does not apply to children who have been placed by the LEA in special schools. Regulation 8(2) provided that in this situation a child cannot be deregistered without the LEA's consent. This restriction is meant to protect the interests of more vulnerable children by ensuring that their special needs are met. But using it to make it harder to home educate such children could be interpreted as discrimination and prejudice. Section 7 of the 1996 Act makes it clear that the right to "otherwise" education extends to children with special needs.

A sample letter which could be used in this instance (as suggested by Issie Brookfield of NAS) is shown below. A copy of it is available in pdf format here.

Mr/Mrs
Director of Education
Anytown Borough Council
Education Department
Full Address and Post Code

Dear

Re - (Child's name - date of birth - special school attending)

We are writing as the parents of the above named child, who is a child for whom the LEA currently maintains a statement of special educational needs and who is a registered pupil at (name) Special School, (address).

After very careful consideration, and following amicable discussions with staff and teachers from the above named school, we have now decided to take full responsibility for providing for our son's education, 'otherwise than at school' in accordance with section 7 of the 1996 Education Act.

We therefore seek the consent of the Local Education Authority to allow (child's name) name to be deleted from the admission register of the school, in accordance with Education (Pupil Registration) Regulation 8(2) 2006. Once consent has been given we will provide our son /daughter with an efficient full-time education suitable to his age, ability, aptitude and to his special educational needs.

We look forward to consent for (child's name) name to be deleted from the admission register being given to the proprietor of (name) Special School in the very near future and request that confirmation of such action be forwarded to us within the next 14 days.

Yours etc

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Deregistration from School England and Wales

Special Needs children in Special Schools

Deregistration from School
England and Wales