The Education Committee will hold a deep-dive evidence session on
Tuesday 22 July to examine whether the Government has the right
strategies in place to tackle school absence.
The Committee welcomes contributions from experts in this field
to help inform its questioning. Relevant research can be sent
to educom@parliament.uk.
Rates of ‘persistent absence' – when a pupil misses 10% or more
of their school sessions in a term – have remained significantly
higher than before the covid pandemic.
The latest Department for Education (DfE) data shows that 20% of
all school pupils were persistently absent in 2023/24 – equal to
nearly 1.5 million pupils across state primary and secondary
schools. This was up from the 10.9% persistent absence rate in
2018/19.
Rates of persistent absence in 2023/24 were higher in secondary
schools (25.6%) than in primaries (14.6%).
Among secondary school pupils who were eligible for free school
meals, the persistent absence rate was 43%.
The rate of ‘severe absence' in 2023/24, meaning a pupil missed
50% of sessions, was 2.3%.
Meanwhile, for the 2024/25 academic year-to-date persistent
absence figure was 18.4 per cent.
Witnesses for this evidence session will be announced in the week
prior to 22 July.
Education Committee Chair MP said:
“As the pandemic came to an end, alarm bells began to ring
about the rising number of children missing school.
“As rates of persistent absence still worryingly stand at
one-fifth of all pupils in the last academic year, it is
imperative that the Government and the entire schools sector
maintain a focus on this generation-defining issue.
“In this evidence session we will take stock of the policy
interventions that have been used to encourage attendance, such
as Attendance Mentors, Attendance Hubs and breakfast
clubs.
“We will look at the impacts on attendance of unmet need for
pupils with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) and
mental health conditions, and the barriers to attending school
associated with poverty. We will also be informed by
recommendations made to the previous government by the
predecessor Education Committee in 2023.”
Read about the previous Education Committee's 2023 report on pupil
absence.
