Children not educated at school may be educated at home. Information on home education is provided in the article on the ‘Organisation of the Education System’.

Schools may provide a range of additional services and activities to pupils, their families and the community. These extended services, enabled under the provisions of the Education Act 2002, often take place outside of normal school hours. Extended services that schools might offer include access to:

• learning opportunities outside of the school day, such as study support or homework clubs for pupils
• parent support services, or more specialist services such as health, social care or special educational needs (SEN) services
• sports and arts activities for pupils
• childcare services before and after school
• holiday clubs
• school facilities for members of the community, such as those used for adult and family learning, sports, and computing.

Primary Schools Providing Access to Out of School Care, published by the Department for Education (DfE) in June 2014, found that 64% of all primary schools in England provided access to before school care; 70% provided access to after school care; and 19% provided access to holiday care.

The Government has introduced the right for parents to request their child’s school to establish ‘wraparound’ (before and after school) and / or holiday childcare. It has also introduced the right for childcare providers to ask schools to use their facilities for wraparound and / or holiday childcare when a school isn’t using them. Following a consultation on the proposals, the DfE published guidance to assist schools in understanding how to respond to these requests in May 2016.

For information on alternative provision for children and young people who would otherwise not receive suitable education because of illness, exclusion or any other reason, see the article on ‘Support Measures for Learners’.

Article last reviewed April 2021.