Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Act 2026

43 Expanding the scope of regulation E+W

(1) The Education and Skills Act 2008 is amended as follows.

(2) For section 92 (meaning of “independent educational institution”) substitute—

“92 Independent educational institutions in England

(1) The following are independent educational institutions for the purposes of this Chapter—

(a) independent schools in England;

(b) institutions in England, other than independent schools and excepted institutions, that provide full-time education for—

(i) at least five children of compulsory school age, or

(ii) at least one child of compulsory school age who is looked after by a local authority or has special educational needs.

(2) The following subsections apply for the purposes of subsection (1)(b) (and see section 138(1A) for provision about the meaning of an institution providing education).

(3) Regulations may—

(a) specify that an amount of time is or is not to be treated as “full-time” by reference to a number of hours in, or a proportion of, a week or other period, or in any other way;

(b) provide that time spent on a specified activity or on an activity of a specified description is or is not to be treated as time during which education is being provided;

(c) amend subsection (4) so as to add, remove or amend factors;

(d) amend this section so as to add, remove or amend provision about the interpretation of the factors in subsection (4).

(4) If, or to the extent that, the question of whether an institution provides full-time education for a child is not determined by regulations under subsection (3)(a) or (b), the factors relevant to determining that question include—

(a) the number of hours per week that—

(i) education is provided to children by the institution;

(ii) activities incidental to that education (such as breaks and independent study time) are provided;

(b) the number of weeks in an academic year that education is provided;

(c) the time of day that education is provided.

(5) An academic year means a period of 12 months ending with 31 August.

(6) A child has special educational needs if an EHC plan or an individual development plan is maintained for the child (see section 579(1) of the Education Act 1996 for the meaning of “EHC plan” and “individual development plan”).

(7) A reference to a child who is looked after by a local authority is to be read—

(a) in relation to a local authority in England, in accordance with section 22 of the Children Act 1989;

(b) in relation to a local authority in Wales, in accordance with section 74 of the Social Services and Well-being (Wales) Act 2014 (anaw 4).

(8) The following are excepted institutions—

(a) an institution that provides only early years provision;

(b) a school maintained by a local authority;

(c) a school approved under section 342 of the Education Act 1996 (approval of non-maintained special schools);

(d) a 16 to 19 Academy;

(e) an institution that is within the further education sector or the wider higher education sector;

(f) a secure college, secure training centre or young offender institution;

(g) an institution of a description specified in regulations.

(9) For provision regulating independent schools in Wales, see Chapter 1 of Part 10 of the Education Act 2002.”

(3) Omit section 93 (application of Chapter to institutions in England only).

(4) Omit section 93A (application of Chapter to alternative provision Academies that are not independent educational institutions).

(5) In section 98(3) (information to be included in registration application), omit paragraph (a).

(6) In section 99(5) (content of entry in register), for “98(3)(a)” substitute “98(3)(b)”.

(7) In section 132 (power to apply provisions of Chapter 1 of Part 4 to independent post-16 colleges)—

(a) in subsection (2)(a)(ii), for “student” substitute “person”;

(b) in subsection (4)(b)(i), for “a student” substitute “provided with education and training”.

(8) In section 138 (interpretation of Chapter 1 of Part 4)—

(a) in subsection (1), for the definition of “student” substitute—

• ““student”, in relation to an independent educational institution, means a person for whom education is provided at the institution, other than—

  (a)

  a person who has attained the age of 19 and for whom further education is provided, or

  (b)

  a person for whom part-time education suitable to the requirements of persons of any age over compulsory school age is provided;”;

(b) after subsection (1) insert—

“(1A) For the purposes of this Chapter, education is provided at an institution if the institution provides instruction or guidance on any matter (and for this purpose it does not matter whether, or by whom, students attending the institution are supervised).”

(9) In section 166(2) (instruments subject to affirmative procedure), after paragraph (f) insert—

“(fa) regulations under section 92,”.

Commencement Information

I1 S. 43 in force at Royal Assent for specified purposes, see s. 78(1)(a)(5)