The number of children being home-schooled in Powys has more than tripled since the Covid-19 pandemic, figures show.

The information on Elective Home Education (EHE) registrations in the county is contained in a report for the Powys County Council’s Learning and Skills committee.

It showed there are now 473 children and young people in Powys who are being schooled at a home, up from 154 in the year before the pandemic.

The figures come as the council makes plans on strengthening “Education other than at School” (EOTAS) provision in response to a scathing Estyn report published last year.

Estyn’s February 2025 report said that Powys council needed “to improve strategic and systematic EOTAS evaluative approaches” to provide education for these children which is “value for money.”

The report wonders whether better EOTAS provision in the past would have stopped a number of these children from being pulled out of mainstream education altogether to be schooled from 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, while 139 children 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 relationship 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 to be given 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 was 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.