Surge in Ofsted investigations into illegal schools highlights urgent need for new Bill, says Humanists UK

Newly released Ofsted figures reveal that the number of suspected illegal schools investigated reached a record high in the last year. The watchdog’s Unregistered Schools Team – established in 2016 following extensive campaigning by Humanists UK – investigated 284 unregistered education settings over the past year, up sharply from 196 in 2023/24. The findings come as Humanists UK calls on the House of Lords to support the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill, which aims to give Ofsted stronger powers to inspect and close illegal schools.

Humanists UK first exposed the problem of illegal religious schools more than a decade ago, uncovering institutions where children were denied a broad and balanced education and taught almost exclusively religious instruction, often in poor or unsafe conditions where some were subject to abuse. Humanists UK’s work has played a pivotal role in prompting Ofsted and the Department for Education to take action. However, due to loopholes in the existing law, some unregistered faith settings continue to operate beyond state oversight, denying pupils essential subjects and exposing them to serious safeguarding risks.

Law change needed to tackle wider problem

According to the new data, only 9% of Ofsted’s investigations since 2016 have been into places of religious instruction. However, the true scale of the problem of illegal religious schools is far higher. There are two linked reasons for this. 

First, because these settings claim to offer only religious teaching, they fall outside the current legal definition of a school – even when they may account for all or most of a child’s education. This loophole limits Ofsted’s powers and enables those running such settings to provide a narrow religious curriculum while claiming pupils are home-educated (a claim that cannot be verified as no register of home-educated children exists). 

Secondly, Ofsted’s data groups ‘non-faith’ and ‘unknown’ categories together, making it impossible to know how many of the settings in this category actually have a religious character. While 18% of the settings inspected due to suspicions about operating illegally are recorded as faith-based, the real proportion may be higher, as some unregistered schools with a religious ethos are likely hidden within the ‘non-faith/unknown’ group.

The Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill aims to close many of the loopholes that allow illegal schools to operate unchecked. It introduces clearer legal definitions of what constitutes a school, gives Ofsted stronger powers to inspect and shut down unregistered settings, and establishes a register of home-educated children to prevent misuse of home education as a cover for illegal schooling. Humanists UK is urging peers to back the Bill, which it says is essential to protect every child’s right to a safe, broad, and balanced education.

Dr Ruth Wareham, Education Policy Researcher at Humanists UK, commented:

‘It is deeply concerning that the number of unregistered and illegal schools continues to grow, more than a decade after we first exposed this issue. These institutions deprive children of their right to a broad, balanced education and too often put them at risk of harm and abuse. We welcome the new legislative measures in the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill, which we hope will finally give Ofsted the powers it needs to close these settings and protect the education and welfare of every child.’