The UK government's latest attempt to tackle stubbornly high school absence rates in England has been met with scepticism, despite the introduction of new funding for "attendance mentors" in some of the most severely affected regions. Education Secretary Gillian Keegan is expected to announce plans for caseworkers to offer individualised support to pupils across 10 areas, including Blackpool and Walsall, where unauthorised absence levels significantly exceed national averages.
This move comes as pupil absence figures continue to remain elevated compared to pre-pandemic levels. An estimated 1.5 million pupils across England missed 10% or more of their scheduled classes during the autumn and spring terms of the previous academic year, with over one in five children regularly missing school. The new programme builds on a successful pilot scheme already being run by the children's charity Barnardo's in five areas, such as Middlesbrough, Stoke-on-Trent, and Knowsley.
However, critics argue that the government's latest effort falls short of addressing the full scope of the problem. A tender from the Department for Education (DfE) last year estimated that the recruited mentors would initially work with approximately 3,600 children over one year, in addition to the 1,600 children being mentored through Barnardo's pilot over three years. This represents a small fraction of the pupils struggling with attendance.
A spokesperson for Labour described the response as "laughably poor" given the scale of the challenge. Labour's Shadow Education Secretary, Bridget Phillipson, is expected to unveil her party's own proposals to improve attendance in the coming week, which are anticipated to include mental health counsellors in every secondary school and breakfast clubs for primary pupils.
Jessica Prestidge, Deputy Policy Director for the Centre for Social Justice think tank, echoed concerns about the programme's reach. She highlighted that approximately 140,000 children are missing at least 50% of the time, according to recent data, and the government's initiative would only assist a small proportion of these individuals.
Barnardo's, however, highlighted the value of their mentors' work, citing a case where a mentor discovered a girl was absent because she had to share her only pair of shoes with her mother. Lynn Perry, Barnardo's chief executive, noted that 82% of children in their Middlesbrough pilot improved attendance through one-on-one support, with almost two-thirds also reporting improved mental health.
While Ms Keegan acknowledged last year that "there is still more work to be done" on attendance, the most recent DfE figures indicate that...