Report

Where have all the children gone?

This report from UK think tank the Centre for Social Justice looks at the school absence crisis sweeping Scottlsh schools.

When schools reopened in Scotland after subsequent lockdowns, the expectation was that every child would come back to school, ready to re-engage with their education in person. The reality has been very different.

New data uncovered by the Centre for Social Justice (CSJ) has found that, more than three years on since schools re-opened, the number of children absent from school more than they are present appears to be at crisis level. Most concerning, however, is that due to a vast lack of data, we do not know just how many children are missing huge amounts of their education. These children are out of sight and at risk of catastrophic lifelong consequences if urgent action is not taken.

Scottish Government data released in December 2023 showed that 32.5 per cent of children were persistently absent in the 2022/23 academic year – missing 10 per cent or more of their school time. In comparison, in England – where persistent absence is also at crisis level – this figure stood at 21.2 per cent. Shockingly, Freedom of Information (FOI) data collated and analysed by the CSJ has revealed an estimated 72 per cent increase in the number of children severely absent across Scottish schools between the 2018/19 and 2022/23 academic years. Severely absent children are those who miss 50 per cent or more of their school time – they are absent more than they are present.

Despite these worrying indicators that school absences are proliferating across Scotland, we can only make very limited conclusions about how many vulnerable children are currently being impacted. This is due to a sizeable gap in the data collected by the Scottish Government.

It is not acceptable that Education Scotland does not know how many vulnerable children are regularly missing large parts of their education.