Severe classroom absence problem will lead to 'lost generation' of schoolchildren warns Meon Valley MP Flick Drummond

A Centre for Social Justice report discovered that the latest data available for the summer 2022 term has seen a 134 per cent increase in pupil absence from before the pandemic.

The total of 140,000 pupils is equivalent to 137 entire schools where the children are mostly missing education.

Meon Valley MP Flick Drummond, who is a member of the Education Select Committee and has campaigned to improve school attendance said in the foreword to the report that school absence ‘has become a defining feature of our education system’, with 3.5 per cent of all children in secondary school severely absent.

‘That’s equivalent to one child in every secondary school class,’ she said. ‘That’s one child in every class who is missing half of their time in school. One child in every class who is being denied access to a brilliant education. One child in every class who we cannot account for.

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‘Our most vulnerable children are those most likely to be missing. The severe absence rate for children who are eligible for free school meals is triple the rate of those who are not eligible.’

She added that children with special educational needs and disabilities are also more likely to be severely absent.

‘We must act urgently to get these children back into school. If we do not act now, we will have failed this generation.’

The report details recommendations to get them back into school including 2,000 attendance mentors, more support for families, integrating Family Hubs into existing school services and fast tracking mental health leads for all schools.

Ms Drummond has also pressed the prime minister to set up a register of home-schooled children to ensure their welfare following the rise in pupil absence.

She has highlighted that nine in 10 local authorities believe that they have not been able to identify home-educated children meaning many could be falling through the net and not receiving any lessons at all.

‘I agree many children are home schooled to a high standard but a lack of data and scrutiny for these children, who cannot all be well educated, will have long term repercussions,’ she added.