What is efficient and suitable education?
These words are not defined in the Education Act. However, the courts have established that education occurs through systematic instruction and that it is efficient if it achieves that which it sets out to achieve and prepares young people for life in the community of which they are a part. The courts have also said that education is suitable if, and only if it prepares young people for life in wider society and enables them to achieve their full potential. Home education need not be the same as that provided in schools, nor need it follow any hypothetical standard set by local authorities or governments, but it must enable children to learn and develop according to their age, ability and aptitude.
