Complaints about tuition at home
This fact sheet is aimed at parents who are experiencing problems with their child being educated at home and may be considering making a complaint to the Ombudsman.
The council will not provide my child with home tuition. Can the Ombudsman help me?
- In some cases, yes. A child might receive tuition at home, rather than attending a school, if the child is on the roll of a school but for some reason, usually illness, he or she is unable to attend that school for a specific period.
- There is Government guidance which sets out the minimum national standard for the education of children who are unable to attend school because of medical needs. That guidance recognises that in some cases councils will arrange for sick children to receive home tuition.
The council says I can't educate my child at home. Can the Ombudsman help me?
- In some cases, yes. However, the law does not currently allow the Ombudsman to become involved in internal school matters - except in certain council areas. So, if for example you are not satisfied with things at your child’s school and you decide to remove your child from that school and educate him or her at home, we would not be able to look at any difficulties you had with the school unless it is in a specific area. Find out which are the specific (pilot) areas in our Schools section.
- If a council considers that a child is not receiving appropriate education it can serve a notice on parents requiring them to satisfy the council that their child is receiving suitable education. It can also take legal action and could serve a School Attendance Order. The Ombudsman cannot look at what goes on in court.
How do I complain?
- Unless the matter is urgent, you should normally complain to the council first. Councils often have more than one stage in their complaints procedure and you will usually have to complete all stages before we will look at your complaint.
- Then, if you are unhappy with the outcome, or the council is taking too long to look into the matter – we think 12 weeks is reasonable – you can complain to us.
- If the matter is urgent, we might look into your complaint even if you have not been through the council’s complaints procedure. This could be, for example, if your child is out of school and is not receiving any education. You should explain this when you contact us.
- You should normally make your complaint to us within 12 months of realising that the council has done something wrong.
- To complain to the Ombudsman phone our Advice Team on 0300 061 0614 or 0845 602 1983 (8.30am to 5.00pm, Mondays to Fridays). You will be able to discuss your complaint with one of our advisers. You can text us on 0762 480 4299.
- You can complete an online complaint form.
If you consider my complaint what will the Ombudsman look for?
If you are educating your child at home the council might ask you to provide details of the work your child is doing so that it can decide whether your child is receiving a suitable education. Council officers might ask to visit your home to monitor the education that was being provided. We could look at complaints where you felt that:
- the council was putting unreasonable demands on you in requiring you to supply excessive information about the educational provision you were making for your child, or
- the council did not respond appropriately to any requests for guidance about home education you made.
If your child is unable to attend school and the council is not providing the home tuition you believe it should we could look at complaints where:
- the council has failed to make the minimum provision
- there has been an unreasonable delay in providing tuition at home
- the council has failed to monitor and review the level of home tuition that is provided, or
- the council refuses to provide home tuition.
What happens if the Ombudsman finds the council was at fault?
- We may ask the council to reassess your child’s situation and, if appropriate, to provide home tuition.
- We may ask the council to apologise for any delay in providing home tuition and in some case we may recommend a compensatory payment.
- We may ask the council to review its procedures about how it deals with people who choose to educate their children at home.
Examples of some complaints we have considered
Mrs C complained about the way a council acted when it learned of her intention to withdraw her son from school and educate him at home.
The council’s procedures (which it applied to Mrs C and her son) require parents to submit their proposals to it in advance for approval. When the council learned of Mrs C’s intention to educate her son at home it informed her that the local education authority (LEA) should approve, in advance, the education which she proposed to provide for a child otherwise than in school.
The law indicates that an LEA has a part to play only after education otherwise than in school has begun and it appears to the authority that the education is not suitable. So there is no need for an application or any issue for the council to address in advance. In this case the council responded inappropriately to Mrs C’s decision to educate her son at home. This was a decision for Mrs C and not for the council, but the council was less than frank about this. The council’s role was confined to approving the syllabus and checking that it was followed.
The Ombudsman asked the council to apologise to Mrs C for its actions, review its procedures in the light of the relevant law and Government guidance, and pay Mrs C £100 to recognise her time and trouble in complaining and her avoidable anxiety and uncertainty. The council agreed to take these steps.
Other sources of information
Our fact sheets give some general information about the most common type of complaints we receive but they cannot cover every situation. If you are not sure whether we can look into your complaint, please phone 0300 061 0614.
The Local Government Ombudsmen provide a free, independent and impartial service. We consider complaints about the administrative actions of councils and some other authorities. We cannot question what a council has done simply because someone does not agree with it. If we find something has gone wrong, such as poor service, service failure, delay or bad advice and that a person has suffered as a result the Ombudsmen aim to get it put right by recommending a suitable remedy.
Date Updated: 11/08/11