Please note that the legislation on the following pages, and any proposed changes to working practice and possible legislative changes referred to, only apply at present to England. Education Otherwise's Government Policy Group are waiting for an urgent reply from Peter Walsh at the DfES to clarify whether any changes might also apply at any point to Wales.

There is no indication that these moves by the DfES will affect home educators in Northern Ireland and Scotland except insofar as governments may be aware of what others are planning and may have their own reasons for instituting similar changes at some time but without the explicit legislative underpinning of the 2004 Children Act itself.

More specifically the Children Act 2004 makes separate reference to Children's Services in England and Children's Services in Wales, and we are not clear whether the 5 outcomes of Every Child Matters (found here under section 25 part 2 with the heading "Co-operation to improve well-being") will prompt similar concerns on the part of the Welsh authorities as the ECM agenda appears to have done in England.