Why is there an 'absence epidemic' in our schools?

Like many new ministers, Labour’s education secretary, Bridget Phillipson, found that she had a lot on her plate when she took up her new job in July.

- DAVID MADDOX

While she was braced for a fight with independent schools over the charging of VAT on fees - or ending their tax break, as she would argue – she knew she had a task in using the £1.5bn in revenue that raised to recruit 6,500 extra teachers.

But what she did not expect to be an early problem was the “absence epidemic” of pupils missing from classrooms. The situation is akin to the prisons crisis, which has meant the new government has had to release offenders early due to overcrowding, in that it appears to be much worse than expected.

For Phillipson, ensuring children make the most of their schooling is personal, as it was education that raised her out of severe poverty to Oxford University and now to become a senior minister.

How bad is the crisis?

According to the latest available data for England, 150,000 children were recorded as “severely absent” from school in 2022-23. This means they missed every other day – or half of all teaching time.

The Department for Education (DfE) says 22 per cent of pupils were labelled as “persistent” absentees and 1.5 per cent were judged “severe” absentees in the last academic year. Both figures have more than doubled since 2017-18. Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland’s education is overseen by their devolved governments.

What is the impact on children?