The number of children moving to home education in the UK is at its highest level since the pandemic.

A BBC investigation found that councils received almost 50,000 notifications in the last academic year from families wanting to take their children out of school. This is in addition to the children already being educated at home.

The number of pupils moving to home education was up by 22% in the past year, with UK councils receiving at least 49,819 notifications in 2022-23 from families wanting to educate a child a home.

This is in line with the figures for the height of the pandemic in 2020-2021, when there were at least 49,851 new notifications.

In the last four years, these notifications have more than doubled in the West Midlands, North East, North West, Wales and Scotland. Figures have remained static here in the South West.

According to the most recent government census data, there were an estimated 92,000 children being educated at home in England on census day in autumn 2023. This is a rise of around 11,100 on census day in autumn 2022.

The data showed that the biggest known reason for switching to home education was philosophical beliefs, but mental health was the biggest factor in the recent increase.

The number of families choosing home education for mental health reasons was up by 64%, from around 7,281 in 2022, to 11,960 in 2023.