Home schooling numbers

Summary

A request for 10 years of home schooling statistics and assessment details was partially fulfilled, with data provided for 2022-2024 and a link to Hansard for 2018-2022, while older records and specific proportions were withheld due to retention limits or lack of holding.

Key Facts

• Records for home schooling numbers prior to 2018 are not held due to a 6-year retention period.
• Data for 2018-2022 is available via a Tynwald Hansard link rather than direct provision.
• The Department does not hold data on the proportion of children home schooled or the reasons given for choosing it.
• The Home or Private Education Registration Form does not request reasons for choosing home schooling.
• Information on how home schooling environments are assessed is not held by the Department.

Data Disclosed

• 40
• 38
• 2018-2019
• 2019-2020
• 2020-2021
• 2021-2022
• 2022-2023
• 2023-2024
• 2024-06-19
• 2024-07-10
• 3929345

Exemptions Cited

• Section 20 of the Act (Information accessible to applicant by other means)
• Records not held or cannot be found after reasonable steps (Retention period)

Original Request

Please could you provide me with the below information: 1. How many children have been recorded as being home schooled for each school year for the last 10 years 2. What proportion of children on the Isle of Man have been recorded as being home schooled for each school year for the last 10 years 3. If the information is held, what reasons are given for choosing home schooling 4. How home schooling environments are assessed by the Department

Data Tables (1)

Data Tables (reformatted)

Full Response Text

Policy, Strategy and Governance Division Department of Education, Sport and Culture Thie Slieau Whallian Foxdale Road St Johns IM4 3AS

Telephone: (01624) 685808 Website: www.gov.im/dec Email: dec@foi.gov.im

Our ref: 3929345 10 July 2024

Dear ###

We write further to your request, received 19 June 2024, which states:

"Please could you provide me with the below information:

1. How many children have been recorded as being home schooled for each school year for the last 10 years

2. What proportion of children on the Isle of Man have been recorded as being home schooled for each school year for the last 10 years

3. If the information is held, what reasons are given for choosing home schooling

4. How home schooling environments are assessed by the Department"

Please find the information being released you below:

1. How many children have been recorded as being home schooled for each school year for the last 10 years

Prior to 2018 While our aim is to provide information whenever possible, in this instance the public authority does not hold or cannot, after taking reasonable steps to do so, find the information that you have requested.
By way of advice and assistance the retention period for such records is date of last entry in the book (or file) + 6 years.

Years 2018-2019 2019-2020 2020-2021 2021-2022

S20 Information accessible to applicant by other means

While our aim is to provide information whenever possible, under section 20 of the Act, we are not required to provide information in response to a request if it is already reasonably accessible to you, whether free of charge or on payment of a fee. All of the information that you have requested is available from;

https://www.tynwald.org.im/spfile?file=/business/BusinessHansardIndex2126/W- 202201-0146.pdf

2022-2023
40

2023-2024
38

1. What proportion of children on the Isle of Man have been recorded as being home schooled for each school year for the last 10 years
   While our aim is to provide information whenever possible, in this instance the public authority does not hold or cannot, after taking reasonable steps to do so, find the information that you have requested. By way of advice and assistance please find a link to the number on roll data:
   https://www.gov.im/media/1380569/schools-nor-sep2023-all-290923.pdf

2. If the information is held, what reasons are given for choosing home schooling
   While our aim is to provide information whenever possible, in this instance the public authority does not hold or cannot, after taking reasonable steps to do so, find the information that you have requested. By way of advice and assistance please find a link below to the Home or Private Education Registration Form where information on what reasons are given for choosing home schooling are not requested.

https://www.gov.im/about-the-government/departments/education-sport-and- culture/policies-and-procedures-a-to-z/h/home-education

1. How home schooling environments are assessed by the Department

While our aim is to provide information whenever possible, in this instance the public authority does not hold or cannot, after taking reasonable steps to do so, find the information that you have requested.

Please quote the reference number 3929345 in any future communications.

Your right to request a review

If you are unhappy with this response to your freedom of information request, you may ask us to carry out an internal review of the response, by completing a complaint form and submitting it electronically or by delivery/post.

An electronic version of our complaint form can be found by going to our website at https://services.gov.im/freedom-of-information/Review . If you would like a paper version of our complaint form to be sent to you by post, please contact me and I will be happy to arrange for this. Your review request should explain why you are dissatisfied with this response, and should be made as soon as practicable. We will respond as soon as the review has been concluded.

If you are not satisfied with the result of the review, you then have the right to appeal to the Information Commissioner for a decision on; 1. Whether we have responded to your request for information in accordance with Part 2 of the Freedom of Information Act 2015; or 2. Whether we are justified in refusing to give you the information requested.
In response to an application for review, the Information Commissioner may, at any time, attempt to resolve a matter by negotiation, conciliation, mediation or another form of alternative dispute resolution and will have regard to any outcome of this in making any subsequent decision. More detailed information on your right to a review can be found on the Information Commissioner’s website at www.inforights.im. Should you have any queries concerning this letter, please do not hesitate to contact me. Further information about freedom of information requests can be found at www.gov.im/foi.

I will now close your request as of this date.