The Children’s Commissioner for England has published an interim report looking at how much local authorities know about children missing education in their area. The report highlights a lack of timely, real-time data on the number of children in each local authority, how many are enrolled in formal education and the number of children educated at home. The survey responses from 145 local authorities (LAs) carried out in the autumn term 2021, found that: about half provided estimates of the number of children in LA maintained schools and academies who were persistently or severely absent; only 18% provided an estimate of the number of children enrolled in mainstream Independent Schools; and only 8% provided estimates on the number of home educated children who were not registered with the local authority.
Read the news story: Where are England’s children? Interim findings from the Children’s Commissioner’s attendance audit
Read the report: Where are England’s children? Interim findings from the Children’s Commissioner’s attendance audit (PDF)
Source: Children’s Commissioner for England
Date: 09 March 2022
