Guide · For tutors, centres and groups

Does the CNIS register apply to private tutors?

Tutors do not go on the register, and most tutors will never hear from a council about it. A tutor is only affected if they teach a home-educated child for more than a set amount of time with no parent actively involved. That amount has not been set yet.

Last checked 10 November 2026. This is general information, not legal advice.

The register lists children, not tutors

The Children Not in School register is a list of children. Tutors do not register, apply or pay anything. What the Act creates for tutors is a duty to answer a council's written notice, if one arrives.

Tutoring schoolchildren is outside it

The register covers children who are not in school full-time. If your pupils are all on a school roll and attend full-time, they are not eligible for the register, and the duty does not reach you.

When a tutor could be in scope

You could receive a notice if all of these apply to a child you teach:

the child is home educated or flexi-schooled
you teach them for more than the prescribed amount of time
no parent is actively involved while you teach

A weekly hour of maths with a parent in the room is a long way from that. A tutor who teaches one child for many hours a week, alone, is much closer.

The number nobody has yet

Everything turns on the prescribed amount of time. The Act leaves it to regulations. The Tutors' Association reports that officials suggested it might be measured in hours of provision a week.

Until the regulations are made, no tutor can know for certain which side of the line they fall on.

Online tutors

The Act lets a council ask whether you teach any child in England or Wales, not only children in its own area. During the Bill's passage, the government said some online and international providers could be caught.

If you are in scope

You would only need to act when a council writes to you. It can ask for the child's name, date of birth, home address and the time they spend with you. You would have at least 15 days to answer.

What to do now

Keep a basic log of sessions with home-educated pupils: date, length, and whether a parent took part. It costs a minute a week and covers you whatever the threshold turns out to be.