Thousands of children taught in 'illegal schools'

Thousands of children are being taught in unregistered schools across England, many more than previously thought, Ofsted's chief inspector has said.

Unregistered schools are those that operate outside the supervision of the Department for Education, local authorities or Ofsted inspections.

They are often run by faith groups and there are concerns about the safety of pupils in their charge.Sir Michael Wilshaw said a crackdown had found more than 100 suspected illegal schools - half of which were faith-based, Ofsted said.Roughly a third of them were Islamic and a sixth either Christian or Jewish.

Seven warning notices have been issued to schools in London, Wolverhampton, Birmingham, Luton and Staffordshire.

Any school offering 20 hours of lessons a week must be registered.