The number of children being taught exclusively at home in Gateshead has almost doubled since the Covid-19 pandemic.
New figures show a total of 491 children were being home schooled during the 2024/25 academic year – a 98% rise from the 247 in 2020/21.
While numbers do vary throughout the academic year, ultimately 397 children were on the home education register, marking a 35% increase from the end of the previous school year. Councillors at Gateshead Council’s family scrutiny committee were told numbers can especially fluctuate in secondary school-age children when exams approach.
Experience of Covid-19 lockdowns was also cited as a factor for the increased popularity of home schooling at the meeting by council officers.
According to council documents, the three known leading causes for home schooling are mental health, philosophical or preferential reasons and dissatisfaction with the school.
Gateshead Council’s report on the issue states: “There is an increasing year-on-year trend of parents who are choosing to educate their children at home in Gateshead. There are processes in place to oversee and support the arrangements for children educated at home to ensure parents are informed of their obligations at the point of deregistration and that children and young people are receiving appropriate education and they are safe.”
North Tyneside Council also recently published a home school report which found that almost 300 children aged between 5-16 were also being currently educated at home.
Department for Education figures released earlier this year have confirmed a rise in home schooling across the UK. By the end or the 2024/25 academic year a total of 175,900 kids across the country were, at some point, educated a home – representing a 15% rise from the previous year.
