Education is compulsory for children in England, but schooling is not. Parents are legally entitled to provide an education for their children at home. This is often known as home schooling, though in policy terms, the Department for Education uses the phrase “elective home education”.
The inclusion of the word “elective” in government terminology implies that home education is a matter of parental preference. Some parents do home educate as a result of their lifestyle, preferences or philosophy. But this only tells part of the story.
