Education: Almost two million children in England missed 10% school last term

Almost 1.8 million children missed at least 10% of school in the autumn term in England.

That's according to figures gathered from 145 councils for the Children's Commissioner.

The latest estimates suggest frequent absence from school - missing more than 10% is at a rate almost twice as high as before the pandemic.

The investigation follows concerns some pupils have never fully returned to lessons after lockdowns during the Covid pandemic.

The number of children missing at least half of school is also greater than previously thought, at an estimated 122,000 in England.

The numbers relate more to secondary school students than those in primary school.

Why are so many children and young people missing school?

The reasons why more teenagers are not attending school are varied.

It's thought disruption and a loss of confidence in their school work and relationships with others during the pandemic is a likely factor.

Even schools that have previously had very good attendance are seeing an increase in persistent absence.

Stephen Brierley said the pandemic had made things worse

Stephen Brierley, a headteacher in Liverpool said: "There are some that have got out of the habit of coming to school, and some have extra social needs so have found it difficult to make that leap to come back to school."

His school has a dedicated family liaison officer who gets to know parents or carers and work with them to find out what the barriers are to teenagers returning.

What has the Children's Commissioner said?

Dame Rachel de Souza took on the job of Children's Commissioner in March 2021. At the time, she promised to raise the issues affecting young people with the Prime Minster, Boris Johnson

England's Children's Commissioner Dame Rachel de Souza said urgent action was needed to identify the children most at risk, and the reasons why they miss school.

She is also concerned that the lack of reliable figures could mean a small, but vulnerable group of children are entirely out of sight.

This makes it much harder for authorities to make sure they are safe and well cared for.

Dame Rachel said: "I'm extremely concerned, I'm surprised at the size of it.

"I'm worried about children missing education but also safeguarding and helping those who most need to be back at school to be back."

What about in other parts of the UK?

Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland did not publish a similar report for the autumn term.

However, weekly stats released in Northern Ireland showed that more than one in 10 pupils there were not in school during the second week of the new term, Department of Education figures show.

Department of Education said 88.9% of pupils were in school during the week from 6 September to 10 September.

They suggest 3.1% of pupils - about 10,000 - were learning from home due to self-isolation or social distancing, but another 8% were marked absent by schools for reasons not due to self-isolation or social distancing.

The Welsh government said attendance had varied between 80-90 percent between 6 September and 7 January, but advised against making comparisons between the other UK nations due to differences in data collection methods, presentation and definitions.