by Abigail Roch
Hundreds of children with special educational needs (SEN) are missing from school in England, a report suggests.
These children account for 22% of the 2,900 children not enrolled in education or being in a suitable alternative – which is very high, considering that 16% of children in state schools have SEN.
Findings in ‘The Unrolled Story’[1] revealed that 11,500 children were missing from education at some point throughout the 12-month period between spring 2022 and 2023.
Children’s Commissioner and Producer of the report, Dame Rachel de Souza[2], told BBC Radio 5 Live that she is: “increasingly worried about the thousands of children being denied their right to an education, having fallen off the radar of their local authorities within the space of a year”.
She then added that arrangements for children with additional needs were “the number one thing that needs sorting out alongside attendance to make sure our kids can go to school”, because “the numbers alone are a scandal”.
Children missing from education (CME)[3] are those of school age who are not registered at a school or are not receiving an alternative education elsewhere, such as at home.
The report found that how local authorities addressed the issue in their area was inconsistent, as there is currently no national definition of CME – under 50% of authorities had different interpretations.
In two authorities, investigations were only open after two months of a child being missing. In addition, many investigations were dropped if data checks were inconclusive – mainly because of poor access to key information like council tax records, for example.
The Teacher Tap survey conducted by BBC Radio 5 Live showed that 28% of school leaders of state establishments said that SEN funding was their first financial concern. That figure increased to 44% for primary school leaders.
Dame Rachel de Souza has proposed that each child be given a unique identifier to help track those missing from education, as “people would be stunned that there are that many children in this country that we do not know where they are.”Her report said that the government will make a law that councils make and maintain registers of those not in school to ensure “fewer young people slip under the radar”.
LYIS thought piece: This issue of SEN children missing from education is concerning and should be taken seriously. Leaders of international schools should be aware of this to provide the best support they can so that every child feels included within the educational establishment.
Have you got a news story about international education? Email: abbyroch@gmail.com
Reference
https://assets.childrenscommissioner.gov.uk/wpuploads/2024/09/Children-Missing-Education-The-Unrolled-Story.pdf [1]
https://www.childrenscommissioner.gov.uk/blog/lack-of-urgency-in-tracing-thousands-of-children-missing-from-education-and-unknown-to-authorities/ [2]
https://www.childrenscommissioner.gov.uk/resource/children-missing-education-the-unrolled-story/ [3]
Abigail Roch is the Journalist, Leading Your International School
To connect with Abigail on LinkedIn, click here
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