A Labour government will use artificial intelligence to spot trends in pupil attendance and ask Ofsted to look at absence as part of annual safeguarding reviews of schools.
Bridget Phillipson, the shadow education secretary, said she would be setting out Labour’s “long-term plan for our schools” this week. This includes plans to tackle persistent absence, as almost a quarter of pupils now miss at least a day a fortnight.
However, most of the proposals due to be outlined during an address to the Centre for Social Justice think tank tomorrow morning have already been announced by the party.
These include plans to legislate for a register of children not in school, funding for schools to deliver early language support, mental health counsellors in every secondary school, curriculum reform and breakfast clubs.
