More than 300,000 children of school age were missing from the education system in England last year, according to new research.
The Education Policy Institute (EPI) analysis, published today, estimates that the number of children aged 5 to 15 who were not registered at a school or in home education last year was around 40 per cent higher than it was in 2017.
In a new report the EPI calls for the government to speed up and expand on existing plans for a register of children not in school by using health, education and local authority data to ensure that vulnerable children do not “fall through the cracks”.
By comparing GP registrations with school registrations and data on pupils in registered home education for the first time, EPI estimates that up to 400,000 children were not in school in 2023 - an increase of more than 53 per cent from 2017.
It said just over 205,000 girls were not in school, compared with around 195,000 boys.
“This [gender] gap has widened over time and runs parallel to the increasing disparity in mental health outcomes between adolescent girls and boys,” the report says.
Children not in education
Across the same period from 2017 to 2023, the number of formally registered home-educated children more than doubled, from 45,500 in 2017 to 94,800.
After accounting for pupils in home education, the EPI estimates that as many as 305,000 were missing from education in 2023 - an increase of 41 per cent from 2017.
Those who leave education are more likely to be vulnerable and already marginalised, the EPI says. Pupils from Traveller communities are nine times more likely to leave school early, and those who are persistently disadvantaged are twice as likely, compared with pupils overall.
The researchers recommend that schools should be required to record the reasons for removing pupils: “This would allow better oversight of illegal exclusions, including off-rolling; the role played by mental health issues or disengagement from education in system exits; along with a better understanding of the proportion of system exits related to out-migration from the country.”.
The report also says the government should build on plans to create a register of children not in school “by integrating data from education, health and other relevant administrative data sources”. “The Office for National Statistics could maintain a more complete register on all children in contact with services in England,” it adds.
Pepe Di’Iasio, general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders, described the reported rise in the number of children missing from education as “extremely worrying” and said a register of children not in school is “long overdue to ensure their safety and wellbeing”.
Responding to the EPI’s recommendations, the union leader said that schools are already required to inform their local authority when a child’s name is removed from the attendance register and to explain the circumstances involved.
“We’d support any suggestions about how this process might be improved as long as it doesn’t end up duplicating work that is already being done,” he added.
Paul Whiteman, general secretary of the NAHT school leaders’ union, said: “It is extremely concerning that so many children are missing school entirely, both for their education but also potentially their safety.
“That is why it’s so important that the government’s Children’s Wellbeing Bill delivers its promised, desperately-needed requirement for councils to maintain a register of children who are not in school, something NAHT has long called for.”
One of the report’s authors, Whitney Crenna-Jennings, who is the EPI’s associate director for mental health, wellbeing and inclusion, said children who go missing from education are often among the most vulnerable, potentially at risk of harm and poor outcomes.
“Our findings reveal the potential scale of the issue as well as the urgent need for comprehensive data on children and targeted interventions to ensure that every child receives their legal entitlement to education,” she said.
A Department for Education spokesperson said: “Our mission is to break down the barriers to opportunity that are holding young people back, making sure they have the support and education they deserve, and to tackle the pattern of children falling through the cracks.
“That’s why we have confirmed plans to introduce children not in school registers, new protections for children being home educated when they are subject to a children’s social care investigation, and a single child identifier so children can get the right support from education, health and care services.”
For the latest education news and analysis delivered every weekday morning, sign up for the Tes Daily newsletter
