Severe absence from schools has jumped by a staggering 50 per cent over less than two years, according to an alarming new study from a major think-tank. 

Across the country, the number of children missing half of their time in school has reached a record high.

 The report from the Centre for Social Justice (CSJ) finds that the South West is the second worst performing region in England for the number of severely absent so-called ‘ghost children’ – not at their desks more than 50 per cent of the time – with 15,178 children across the region being out of school more often than not. 

More than one in 10 of all severely absent children across the country live in the South West. It is roughly the equivalent of 15 entire schools where the children are mostly missing lessons. 

The South West is one of the regions with the worst rates of severe absence. Inner and Outer London have the lowest rates of severe absence, 1.3 per cent compared to 2.3 per cent in the South West. 

The startling CSJ report, Lost and Not Found, highlights the immense educational damage done by school shutdowns because of covid. More than one in 50 children are regularly skipping lessons despite remaining on class rolls. 

It is not just severe absence that is on the rise. Persistent absence is also increasing (absent more than 10 per cent of the time). The report exposes the many reasons children are missing school including: increased anxiety and mental health problems, unmet special educational needs/disabilities, and issues at home. 

The government has stated that the attendance gap is one of the key risks for the Department for Education this year and that this gap “cannot be explained by directly permissible covid-19 related absences”.

 At an alarming pace, children are disengaging with education entirely. 

CSJ is calling for a seven-point plan to support children back into school, which includes the roll out of attendance mentors, ensuring families can access the right support, put more support in place in schools, improve school attendance data, recognise the value of relational work, introduce an ‘enrichment guarantee’ in schools and ensure fines are working.

Flick Drummond MP, a member of the Commons Education Select Committee, says in a foreword to the report: “School absence has become a defining feature of our education system. 

“The CSJ has revealed that there is one child in every class who is being denied access to a brilliant education. One child in every class who we cannot account for. 

“Our most vulnerable children are those most likely to be missing. 140,000 children have slipped through the cracks. 

“We must act urgently to get these children back into school. If we do not act now, we will have failed this generation.”

 The CSJ’s policy director Joe Shalam said: “The South West may have one of the worst rates of school absence, but this is a national scandal with  children missing school at a terrifying rate. 

“If more than a quarter of children are regularly missing classes, we are failing an entire generation. A generation that will be locked away from reaching their undoubted potential. 

“Far too often, schools and local authorities are unable to provide the support that children need to access education. This cannot be allowed to go on. Our recommendations provide a blueprint for how we can support the most vulnerable severely absent children to return to school.”