Children who don’t attend state-funded or independent schools are to be registered in a formal way to provide a clearer picture of home schooling.

The Education Secretary Damian Hinds has set out the plans in the hope of clarifying where children who are not in state-funded or registered independent schools are being educated.

The Department for Education (DfE) said an estimated 60,000 children are thought to be educated at home, with the number rising annually.

Parents will be responsible for registering their child under the plans, the government said.

The register will hope local authorities identify if a child’s education is not good enough, solely religious or absent, or if a child is attending an unregistered school.

Mr Hinds told Sky News most children who are being schooled at home are getting a good education, but there are some who are not.

Mr Hinds said: “The term ‘home education’ has now acquired a much broader meaning than it used to. It is now a catch-all phrase, used to refer to all children not in a registered school.

“So whilst this does include those actually getting a really good education at home, it also includes children who are not getting an education at all, or being educated in illegal schools where they are vulnerable to dangerous influences – the truth is, we just don’t know.

“As a Government, we have a duty to protect our young people and do our utmost to make sure they are prepared for life in modern Britain.

“That’s why this register of children not in school is so important – not to crack down on those dedicated parents doing an admirable job of educating their children in their own homes, but to prevent vulnerable young people from vanishing under the radar.”

He told Sky News that local authorities are also being reminded of their existing powers to issue direct orders to summon children back to mainstream education, or in the most extreme cases, to prosecute.

He stressed excluded or expelled children “should be continuing to get an education”.

He said the issue of illegal schools affects a small number of children and “is an area of concern”, praising Ofsted for managing to close some down.

Local authorities will also be required to provide teaching resources to parents who educate their children at home, or give financial contributions to exam fees.

A public consultation on the register will open today until 24 June.

The consultation follows battles between parents and teachers over LGBT+ education in primary schools in Birmingham. Mr Hinds told Sky News he backed teachers to know when the best time to introduce education on diversity is, and welcomed the “dialogue” between parents and teachers.

Ofsted chief inspector Amanda Spielman said the new register will help tackle problems including children being kept in illegal schools or not receiving proper education.

“Ofsted has long had concerns about the increasing numbers of school-age children not attending a registered school, many of whom may not be receiving a high quality education or being kept safe,” she said.

Anne Longfield, the children’s commissioner, said the number of children in home education has “sky-rocketed”, and welcomed the introduction of the new register.

She said: “It is vitally important that we know that all children are safe and that they are receiving the education they deserve to help them to succeed in life.”

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