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Guidance

EHE and CME data collection: guide and validation rules

Supporting guidance for local authorities submitting the elective home education (EHE) and children missing education (CME) 2026 to 2027 academic year data collections.

Updates to this page

From:
Department for Education
Published:
16 January 2025
Last updated:
24 July 2026
Show all updates

  1. Updated the EHE and CME data collection guide, notepad entries and validation rules for 2026 to 2027.

  2. Updated the 'EHE and CME data collection 2025 to 2026: guide'. The version history lists the changes.

  3. Updated the 'EHE and CME data collection 2025 to 2026: guide'. The version history lists the changes.

  4. Replaced 'EHE and CME data collection 2025 to 2026: notepad entries' with version 1.2, including wording for auto-okaying queries.

  5. Replaced the EHE and CME 2025 to 2026 validation rules and notepad entries v1.0 with version 1.1.

  6. Added 'EHE and CME data collection 2025 to 2026: notepad entries'. Removed guidance for the 2024 to 2025 data collections.

  7. Added 'EHE and CME 2025 to 2026: validation rules'.

  8. Added 'EHE and CME data collection 2025 to 2026: guide'.

  9. First published.

Applies to England

Documents

EHE and CME data collection 2026 to 2027: guide

PDF, 393 KB, 28 pages

EHE and CME data collection 2026 to 2027: notepad entries

MS Excel Spreadsheet, 24.7 KB

EHE and CME 2026 to 2027: validation rules

MS Excel Spreadsheet, 41.6 KB

Details

The guide is for local authorities preparing EHE and CME termly data collection returns. It includes information on:

  • the purpose of the data collection
  • definitions of elective home education and children missing education
  • how to prepare and submit the data
  • submission deadlines

The acceptable notepad entries helps local authorities understand the minimum notes needed when there are validation queries.

The validation rules shows the checks applied in COLLECT once local authorities enter their data.

More guidance on submitting your elective home education and children missing education data is available.

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