The children’s commissioner for England has called for compulsory data sharing on attendance across all schools, academy trusts and local authorities in a bid to tackle “endemic” absenteeism in Key Stage 4.
In her latest report Missing Children, Missing Grades, Dame Rachel de Souza analysed the impact of post-pandemic absence from school on GCSE grades.
“School absence has become endemic in Key Stage 4. Over the last couple of years, over a third of all pupils in Key Stage 4 were either persistently or severely absent for at least one year,” she states in the report.
The report highlights that while 78 per cent of all children who were rarely absent in both years 10 and 11 passed at least five GCSEs including English and maths, only 36 per cent of children who were persistently absent in both years and just five per cent of children who were severely absent in both years reached this same standard.
