You may not realise this, but the last five years have seen a wave of new schools join the education landscape in the UK. If you didn’t know, you’re not alone and it is not surprising. They are barely mentioned in the media or in Department for Education (DfE) despatches, despite being accredited.
Largely through word of mouth, these establishments are now educating thousands of pupils who find themselves outside of mainstream schools for a variety of reasons.
Post-Covid absenteeism
The most recent figures on school attendance show that nearly one in five children missed school more than 10% of the time in the autumn and spring terms of 2023/24, while an estimated 111,700 children are being home-educated, based on a census taken this year. This marks a 20% rise in 12 months, though the Institute for Fiscal Studies believes it to be a huge underestimate.
Some pupils struggle with a physical school environment, resulting in emotional school avoidance; some had a special educational need that wasn’t being addressed; others were elite athletes who needed a flexible timetable, or who had opted for remote learning as a lifestyle choice.
Virtual schools as a solution
The concept is simple: Virtual schools educate pupils online, using specialist teachers and innovative technology. Pupils may have a mentor with whom they meet regularly, and they can sit their exams from home or at an official exam centre. Hybrid learners, meanwhile, spend some time in a physical school but do some of their lessons remotely and so may, therefore, be enrolled at two different schools.
Set in the context of the current rates of absenteeism from school, it would seem that virtual and hybrid schools could help to address the problem.
But no one is talking about them as an option.
Hugh Viney runs the fastest growing school in the UK of any kind, Minerva Virtual Academy (MVA). It has more than 1000 students from Years 7–13 from the UK and globally. Pupils sit GCSEs and A-levels but do their lessons online with subject teachers. Every child also has a 30-minute weekly meeting with a mentor.
With fees at around £10,000 a year, virtual schools are more affordable than traditional independent schools. In some cases, the funding can be met by local authorities if the child has a diagnosed special educational need that cannot be met in the mainstream sector.
MVA was accredited by the DfE earlier this year, following an initial Ofsted inspection visit, to check it was offering a good education and that it complied with guidance on safeguarding. The school started out as a fully remote, virtual school but is now meeting increasing demand from parents, local, and state schools to offer a hybrid education.
Obstructive rule changes
Viney is disappointed in the lack of interest from the government in schools like his which he says offer a realistic alternative to traditional schooling.
“We thought that things would improve with the change of government, but they’ve actually got worse,” he said. “The DfE has changed the rules around attendance, making it more complicated than before for those pupils who are dual enrolled with us and their existing state school.”
A pupil who is enrolled at a state school but splits their time between that and a virtual school like MVA, is automatically marked as absent from school for the times they are learning remotely.
“When you think about it, it really is outrageous, considering we’re solving attendance issues,” Viney said. “Some of these pupils haven’t attended school regularly for two years, but now they are. The whole point of the Ofsted inspection and the accreditation was to allow us to help and support these children. It is a bizarre reaction to mark these children absent.”
Viney believes alternative schooling isn’t a symptom but a solution: “I don’t understand this reluctance to officially support virtual schools instead of continuing to try and force kids back into an environment that makes them anxious, overwhelmed, or even sick.”
Inspired Online Schools runs the oldest remote school in the UK, Kings InterHigh, as well as Academy 21, which offers online provision for children with special needs. They agree the new guidance is causing difficulties.
“The current attendance guidance issued by the DfE and published in August 2024 presents a challenge,” a spokesman said. “Schools that commission places in Academy 21 for their students must mark these students as absent, even when they are actively participating in live lessons each day with fully qualified teachers. This classification is not only illogical but also undervalues the dedication and efforts of these students.”
Parent voices
Meanwhile, at MVA, a group of parents has begun a campaign and a petition to raise awareness of how online education has benefited their children. They want the government actively to promote DfE accredited schools as an alternative to traditional schools for students who would find them beneficial.
In an open letter to the DfE, the group calls on the government to “establish an efficient pathway that offers families a DfE accredited online school of their choice if their child’s needs cannot be met in mainstream schools” and highlights the years many spend fighting for support.
The letter goes on: “Our stories are the reality behind the government statistics and headlines about school absence. Our children are not lazy truants; we are not unsupportive, disengaged parents. For our children, attendance at mainstream school is an impossibility – it is a hostile place unable to meet their SEND needs or support their mental health.
“Although demand for DfE accredited online schools is growing, it is still only an option for those who happen to have forward-thinking professionals on their side and/or the means to fund it themselves. This is manifestly unfair, creating an unnecessary barrier to education and putting these already vulnerable children at further disadvantage.”
The group is urging parents with children attending other virtual schools to join them in the campaign.
Karen Powell is a parent of an MVA student and initiated the campaign, called Voice for Learners, with other parents. She said: “There is an existing solution to some of the problems around absenteeism that is available and affordable, but it’s just not on offer. We want the government to listen to what is working for families affected by these issues and to recognise, acknowledge and legitimise the role that online education can play alongside mainstream schooling as part of a more innovative and flexible system.”
Is government policy shifting?
Bridget Phillipson, the Secretary of State for Education, has recently taken a more conciliatory approach to pupil absence from school than her predecessors, urging schools to make happiness, wellbeing, and inclusion the heart of their attendance policies. However, she has made no official mention of virtual or hybrid education in any speech since taking up the role in July 2024.
A DfE spokesperson said: “This government’s ambition is that all children and young people receive the right support to achieve and thrive in their education, as part of our plan to break down barriers to opportunity for every child.
“We understand there are some circumstances where online education may represent a child’s best opportunity to receive a full and balanced curriculum, though it is often not a suitable alternative to traditional settings. Online education providers are not regulated in the same way as schools, and so attendance will be marked as an authorised absence in the usual way as the school has no physical supervision over the child’s education.”
The DfE says it is analysing responses to a consultation on strengthening protections for young people with special educational needs and disabilities or who are in alternative provision. They plan to set out the next steps in early 2025.
Parents like Karen Powell will be hoping to see some recognition of the contribution virtual and hybrid schools make. As Karen puts it, “Every single child deserves a happy education, and the solution is already here. We just need to get to the kids who need it.”
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