Alarm as record 150,000 pupils are absent for at least half of school days
THE number of school pupils classed as ‘severely absent’ – defined as missing at least half of all school days – is at a record high of more than 150,000.
With the figure tripling in just six years, fears are growing that serial absenteeism is ‘becoming entrenched’.
During the most recent year there was a rise of almost 30,000 children ‘severely absent’. Head teachers said the ‘social contract’ through which parents ensure attendance had ‘fractured’ since the pandemic and are concerned that families got out of the habit of the daily school routine during the 2020 lockdowns.
Last night, Paul Whiteman, of school heads’ union NAHT, said: ‘School leaders and teachers are doing all they can to reverse the increase in pupils who are persistently absent.
‘However, absence rates are still significantly higher than before Covid and much more needs to be done to bring them down. The causes can span everything from illness, including mental health issues, to poverty and other challenges at home.’
Government data released yesterday shows 150,256 children – 2 per cent – were classified as severely absent in 2022-23, the latest year available.
This was up from 120,623 the previous year, which represented 1.7 per cent of all pupils. In 2016-17 it was just 48,460, or 0.7 per cent of the total.
Beth Prescott, of the Centre for Social Justice think-tank, said: ‘These record high figures... confirm our worst fears that absence from school is becoming entrenched. Failure to get these children back to school will have enduring consequences for them, for wider
‘Poverty and other challenges’
society and for the economy.’ The latest data also shows 21.2 per cent of pupils – about 1.57million – were ‘persistently absent’ during 2022-23, which means they missed 10 per cent or more school sessions. This is nearly double the 10.8 per cent rate in 2016-17 – 744,276 pupils.
Fines for unauthorised absences start at £60, rising to £120 if not paid within 21 days. From this autumn fines will be £80, rising to £160 if unpaid, as part of a drive to return attendance to pre-pandemic levels.