There are now 473 children and young people in Powys who are being schooled at home.

The information on Elective Home Education (EHE) registrations in the county is contained in a report that will be brought before a meeting of Powys County Council’s Learning and Skills committee on Friday, June 5.

Councillors and independent lay members will discuss a report on strengthening “Education other than at School” (EOTAS), which mentions EHE children.

The report wonders whether better EOTAS provision in the past would have stopped a number of these children and young people from being pulled out of mainstream education altogether to be schooled at home.

The report shows that Covid-19 is still used as a reason for five children and young people in Powys to be schooled at home.

The biggest reason for a youngster to be home educated is “lifestyle/ideology/philosophy”, which was given for 195 children and young people.

The second biggest reason is that 139 children and young people were deemed to be “anxious or phobic” about school.

A further 30 were being home schooled due to “attendance or prosecution” issues.

A breakdown of relationships between the school and parent/child was a reason for 17 being home schooled, 10 were due to bullying, four were because of waiting for a place in a “school of choice,” and two were due to medical reasons.

An explanation for home schooling was refused for five children and was either left “blank” or “unknown” for a further 25 children.

“Other” reasons were given for the remaining 41 children.

The report said: “EHE registrations in Powys have continued to increase.

“This upward trend, seen both locally and across the country, is driven by a range of factors.

“There has been a noticeable shift in some parental perspectives regarding mainstream schooling, as more families pursue alternative pathways due to concerns about academic pressures or their children’s anxiety and wellbeing.

“The impact of the Covid-19 pandemic has also contributed, with the traditional relationship between home and school being disrupted for some families, prompting many to see home education as a practical option.

“It is also notable that as of May 2026, the reason given for de-registration from school and registration as EHE was anxious / phobic for 139 or 28.9 per cent of children and young people.

“Whilst it is not possible to explicitly align EHE registration with the breadth of EOTAS provision, it is certainly likely that some of these children and young people may have returned to education in a maintained school following a ‘turnaround’ EOTAS provision, rather than being registered as EHE, had a widened EOTAS provision been available.”

The figures for elective home educated children in Powys are monitored regularly in reports produced by the corporate safeguarding board.

Figures from the board meeting in March said that the number of EHE children was 455 at the time.

In June 2025 there were 409 EHE children and young people in the county.

This figure has risen from June 2023 when the board would only say that the figure was “more than” 300.

Before the Covid-19 pandemic the figure was 154.