The Schools Minister Nick Gibb will be questioned by the Education Committee on how the Government will tackle the growing problem of persistent absence from school.
This final session of the Committee’s inquiry into persistent absence and support for disadvantaged pupils comes after the Department for Education (DfE) released figures showing that the absence problem continues to grow. It will also be the Minister’s first Committee appearance since regaining his post last year.
In the autumn 2022/23 term, 24.2% of pupils were persistently absent (meaning they missed 10% or more sessions). This was more than double the 10.9% persistent absence rate of autumn 2018/19, before the pandemic. 1.7% of pupils were severely absent in autumn 2022/23 (defined as missing 50% or more sessions); this again was more than double the pre-pandemic level when 0.7% of pupils were severely absent in autumn 2018/19.
The cross-party Committee will question the Minister on the underlying causes of low attendance that it has heard from witnesses, such as unmet need among children with mental health conditions or special educational needs and disabilities.
