By comparison, as of 1st July 2019 there were 6,573 homeschooled children from 3,597 families, representing 0.8% of the total primary/secondary student population.
We know that the COVID situation of 2020 has driven an increased interest in homeschooling, but the above statistics will not fully reflect that, as many families made a decision to pursue an exemption after the first lockdowns ended in around May, and their applications would not have necessarily been processed before the end of June, the cut off for the 2020 statistical data. It won't be until late 2021 when the next set of data is published that we get a clearer picture. However, we do know this is so far the greatest number, and proportion of overall students, being home educated since the data began being recorded in 1998.
Lots of data and statistics on home education can be found at Education Counts HERE. There is also much on the website that may be of interest to some related to school data, spending etc.
* This year for the first time the statisticians did not publish the number of families on the website; I contacted them and asked, and requested they revert to including it in the future, as this figure is important for various reasons, including planning and resourcing.