The Wellbeing Act
What just changed, and what hasn't yet.
The Children's Wellbeing and Schools Act 2026 received Royal Assent on 29 April 2026. What it actually says about home education, what the registration scheme involves, and what doesn't take effect until the regulations are made.
A broad Act with one significant provision for home educators
The Children's Wellbeing and Schools Act 2026 is a wide-ranging piece of legislation covering children's social care, school governance, teacher regulation, and school admissions. Most of it has nothing to do with home education.
For home-educating families in England, the significant provision is Part 3 of the Act — which introduces a compulsory registration scheme for children who are not attending school. This has been debated for years. It is now law.
The Children's Wellbeing and Schools Act 2026 · Part 3
The key provision for home educators
Local authorities in England must maintain a Children Not in School register. Parents of children of compulsory school age who are not registered at a school must register their child with the local authority.
The registration requirement applies to: children who have never attended school, children who have been removed from a school roll to be home educated, and children who were previously on a school roll and are no longer attending.
What registration involves — the specific information parents must provide, the timescales, and the format — will be set out in regulations made by the Secretary of State. Those regulations have not yet been made.
The single most important thing to understand about the Act: it is law, but most of its practical effect is still to come. The registration scheme cannot operate until the Secretary of State makes regulations specifying how it works. Those regulations are expected no earlier than 2027.
📌 England only
The Children's Wellbeing and Schools Act applies to England. Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland have separate legislative frameworks for home education. If you are not in England, this guide does not apply to your situation.
What registration means in practice
The Act establishes that LAs must maintain a register of home-educated children and that parents must register. The detail of what this means in practice — what information is required, by when, in what form, and with what consequences for non-compliance — is reserved for regulations.
What the Act itself makes clear:
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Registration is local, not national
Parents register with their local authority — not with a central government database. The register is maintained by the LA. There is provision for information sharing between LAs if a family moves, but the primary register is local.
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Existing home educators will need to register
The registration requirement will apply to all home-educated children once the regulations come into force — not just those who begin home educating after the Act commences. Families currently home educating will be required to register within a period specified in the regulations.
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Parents must notify changes
If a home-educated child returns to school, or other specified circumstances change, parents will be required to notify the LA. The Act creates an ongoing obligation to keep the register accurate, not just a one-time registration.
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Non-compliance will be an offence
Failure to register without reasonable excuse will be a criminal offence under the Act. The penalties, enforcement mechanisms, and reasonable excuse provisions will be set out in the regulations. Until those regulations are in force, there is nothing to comply with.
✓ What registration does
- Tells the LA that a child of school age is being educated at home
- Creates a record that the child is known to the system
- Allows LAs to have a complete picture of children not in school in their area
- Triggers the LA's existing duty to enquire whether suitable education is being provided
✗ What registration does not do
- Change what Section 7 requires — suitable education is still the test
- Give LAs new powers to inspect home education
- Require LA approval of your educational approach
- Give LAs a right of entry to the home
- Change the standard of evidence you need to provide
- Apply before the regulations are made (expected 2027 at earliest)
"Registration means LAs will know who is home educating. It does not mean they have new powers over what home education looks like."
Section 7 is completely unchanged
The most important reassurance for home-educating families is that the Children's Wellbeing and Schools Act does not alter Section 7 of the Education Act 1996 — the legal basis for home education.
Section 7 · Education Act 1996 · Unchanged
Still the same
The parent of every child of compulsory school age shall cause him to receive efficient full-time education suitable to his age, ability, aptitude, and any special educational needs he may have, either by regular attendance at school or otherwise.
The Wellbeing Act does not change this section. The standard of "suitable education" remains the same. The legal framework under which home education operates is unchanged. What changes is the visibility of who is doing it — not what is required of them.
This means that everything in the Legal Compass guide (F-02) — the LA's powers, the Section 437 enquiry process, School Attendance Orders, EHCPs — remains as it was. The registration requirement is a new administrative layer on top of an unchanged legal framework.
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Your educational approach is unchanged
You are not required to change how you teach, what you teach, or how you document your education as a result of the Act. The same evidence that satisfied your LA before the Act will satisfy it after. Charlotte Mason, unschooling, project-based, classical — none of this is affected.
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Your right to home educate is unchanged
The Act does not make home education conditional on LA approval. You do not need to apply for permission to home educate. The legal right to educate your child "otherwise" than at school remains exactly as it was under the 1996 Act.
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The LA's right of entry is unchanged — it still doesn't have one
Nothing in the Act gives local authorities a right to enter your home, observe your teaching, or assess your child directly. Those limits on LA power remain unchanged. Registration tells an LA you exist — it does not give them a key to your front door.
Where things stand right now
As of May 2026, the Act has received Royal Assent but most of its home-education provisions are not yet in force. Here is the current status of each element.
✓ 29 April 2026
Royal Assent receivedThe Children's Wellbeing and Schools Act 2026 became law on 29 April 2026. The framework for compulsory registration is now on the statute book.
⏳ Pending · Expected 2027
Secretary of State regulationsThe Secretary of State must make regulations specifying what information parents must provide when registering, the timescales for registration, and the consequences of non-compliance. Without these regulations, the registration scheme cannot operate. They are expected no earlier than 2027.
⏳ Pending · After regulations
LA registers establishedLAs must create and maintain their registers once the regulations are in force. The practical infrastructure — systems, processes, staffing — needs to be in place before registration can begin.
◯ Future · Date TBC
Registration duty commences for familiesOnce the regulations are in force and LA registers are operational, parents will be required to register within a specified period. Existing home-educating families will have a transitional period to register. This is the point at which there is something to do — and it is not yet here.
📌 What this means right now
As of May 2026, there is nothing new for home-educating families to do. You are not required to register with your LA under the new scheme — because the scheme is not yet operational. The only action required is to stay informed as the regulations are consulted on and made. LifeLearn will update this guide when the regulations are published.
The questions that still need answers
The regulations will answer several questions that the Act itself leaves open. These are the details that matter most for home-educating families — and what to look for when the consultation process begins.
What information must be registered?
The Act says a register must be maintained but does not specify exactly what it must contain. The regulations will specify: child's name and date of birth, parent contact details, and potentially information about the educational provision being made. The scope of this information matters.
When must registration happen?
The regulations will specify the timescale — for example, within a set number of days of beginning home education, or within a period after the scheme commences. The transitional period for existing home educators is particularly important.
How often must registration be renewed?
The Act creates a duty to notify changes but does not specify whether registration must be periodically renewed. Annual renewal, or renewal only when circumstances change, would have very different practical implications for families.
What triggers a welfare or education enquiry?
Registration tells LAs who is home educating — but the regulations may specify what, if anything, registration triggers in terms of automatic enquiry. Whether registration alone triggers an enquiry, or whether something further is needed, is a critical detail.
What are the safeguards against mission creep?
Home-education organisations have consistently argued that registration must not become a backdoor inspection regime. The regulations need to be clear that registration is administrative — not an approval process or a trigger for routine monitoring.
Will there be a consultation?
Government policy requires consultation before regulations are made. Home-education organisations will be engaging in that process. Following organisations such as Education Otherwise and AHEd will give you early sight of what is proposed and an opportunity to respond.
🌱 LifeLearn will keep this guide updated
As the regulations are consulted on and published, this guide will be updated to reflect what families actually need to do. The current position — that registration is coming but the practicalities are not yet confirmed — will change. When it does, we will reflect that clearly here.
Stay informed as the law develops
LifeLearn will keep this guide updated as the registration regulations are published. Join the community to be the first to know when anything changes that affects home-educating families.