Weird legal loopholes to avoid going to school

The headline shown here is compatible with Betteridge's Law, but the actual headline within the article ("Is there a problem with unregistered schools?") is definitely not. These are legal loopholes that need to be closed.

When you think of a place that teaches groups of children - all day, every day - the word most people would use is "school". But the law in England is surprisingly vague on what a school actually is. More than 350 sites - suspected of being unregistered schools - have been investigated in England by education watchdog Ofsted since a specialist taskforce was set up two years ago. Ofsted inspectors say they don't have proper powers to inspect or close them. The people running these sites say they are not schools at all.

Some of them are on industrial estates, in church basements and even in pubs. The BBC has obtained pictures showing squalor, appalling food hygiene and dangerous wiring. Some premises have blocked fire escapes and no access to clean drinking water. Many sites do no criminal records checking of staff. But because of the confusing legal situation, most remain open.

Suri's son will never do GCSEs there, as these yeshivas usually don't provide any maths, English or science despite operating full-time. Instead they offer a wholly religious education for boys, focused on scripture, from the age of 13. At their schools, girls are often able to study secular subjects and do exams, but after a Haredi boy's Bar Mitzvah, devotion to religious education is imperative. Those who run yeshivas would argue that they are not schools and therefore don't have to abide by the rules that the state imposes.

And the Department for Education seems to accept that yeshivas are not technically schools. In a statement, the DfE told the BBC that yeshivas "do not meet the definition of a school and cannot therefore be prosecuted for operating as an unregistered school"... legal guidance known to have been cited by the DfE says a site is not technically a school if it doesn't teach general classes of education, such as maths, English or science. Hence any place that only teaches religious education - be it Muslim, Jewish, Christian or any other faith - is arguably not a school.

For the critics, to define the yeshivas as anything other than schools would suggest that the children are getting their main form of education elsewhere. The law demands all children have an efficient full-time education, whether at a school or at home. That's simply not happening, says Izzy Posen, 23, who was at a Stamford Hill yeshiva from the age of 13.

"Children are in a yeshiva from as early as 8am until as late as 9pm - if that isn't a school, I'm not sure what is. They're not taught anything else at home. There's no secular studies but this is the sole education I got - I didn't get any other. I couldn't speak or write English. When I came out of these yeshivas, I had to teach myself English because I was never taught English. I remember at 18 reading an elementary school text book. I had no idea what the maths Pi symbol meant."

Surely, though the legal status of the schools might be questioned, the legal right of the children to education cannot. The Education Act of 1998 (https://www.loc.gov/law/help/constitutional-right-to-an-education/englandandwales.php) :

In addition to the right to education being provided for by the Human Rights Act, the Education Act 1996 places a legal duty on the parent or guardian of a child aged five to sixteen years (known as compulsory school age), to ensure that the child attends and receives full-time education, either in a traditional school or by any other means that is appropriate for their age, ability, and aptitude, taking into account any special needs they may have.[4] The Act makes it a criminal offense for parents or guardians to take their child out of school without authorization from the school, and an offense for parents who are aware that their child is failing to attend school to not take reasonable action to ensure that the child attends. The offense of failing to ensure regular attendance at school is punishable by up to three months’ imprisonment and/or a fine of up to £1,000 (approximately US$1,600).[5] There are a number of statutory defenses to these offenses, such as the student’s illness, absences that are authorized by the school, or home-schooling the student.

More Googling reveals that while full-time education is a legal requirement, there's a bizarre lack of legislature about avoiding state schools :
There are no requirements to inform the authorities when one is home educating, unless the student was previously enrolled in the government school system. At that time, the parent must let the school official know they are withdrawing their student to home educate him. No other requirements for home education exist.
https://hslda.org/hs/international/UnitedKingdom/default.asp

And :

Write to the headteacher if you plan to take your child out of school. They must accept if you’re taking your child out completely. They can refuse if you want to send your child to school some of the time.
But again, nothing on not registering in the first place.
As a parent, you must make sure your child receives a full-time education from the age of 5 but you don’t have to follow the national curriculum.
For all the faults of the education system, that is batshit crazy.
The council can make an ‘informal enquiry’ to check your child is getting a suitable education at home. They can serve a school attendance order if they think your child needs to be taught at school.
And how are they supposed to know about that if your child never attends school in the first place ?
https://www.gov.uk/home-education
http://www.bbc.com/news/education-43170447