Commons Sense

House of Commons · Ministers' Questions

Severely Absent Pupils

Monday 23 May 2022 · 2 questions

Summarised by AI from the official record, so it can contain mistakes.

Read the full transcript on Parliament.uk

At a glance

Answered 0 Partly answered 2 Not answered 0

Key points

  • Ministerial White Paper and new attendance guidance outline steps for schools and local authorities to support severely absent pupils.
  • A live data trial has been launched for schools, trusts, and local authorities to target support at pupils.
  • GCSE, AS-level, and A-level students have been provided with advance information to help them in their exams this year.

Topics (select to filter)

Questions & Answers

Q1 Robert Halfon Con
Education
Context

The MP is inquiring about the effectiveness of recent measures taken by his Department to support severely absent pupils returning to school.

Question

What recent assessment has been made of the effectiveness of the Department's steps to help return severely absent pupils to school?

Answer from Nadhim Zahawi

My schools White Paper and new attendance guidance set out how we expect schools and local authorities to support severely absent pupils so that they can attend regularly. We also recently launched a live data trial for schools, trusts and local authorities, enabling them to target support at pupils who need it most.

Partly answered

Not addressed: The specific effectiveness of the measures is not addressed; only outlines guidance and data trials are mentioned.

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Q2 Robert Halfon Con
Education
Context

The MP references the Centre for Social Justice suggesting that 13,000 children were severely absent during critical exam years. He also mentions FFT Education Datalab's data showing 5% of pupils were severely absent from September to May.

Question

What data are the Government collecting on children in exam years who have been severely absent, and what is being done to bring them back to school and ensure they get targeted tuition through the catch-up programme?

Answer from Nadhim Zahawi

I am delighted to confirm that, as my right hon. Friend knows, we are bringing forward legislative measures to establish a local authority registration system, but that is for the future. Those GCSE, AS-level and A-level students sitting exams this year have been given advance information to help them focus, and to give them the confidence to come in and take exams this year. We are also working to make sure that the alliance of national leaders across education is doing everything it can to deal with persistent absenteeism, and to make sure that all children are in school, which is the best place for them to be.

Partly answered

Not addressed: Does not provide specific data on absent pupils or details on targeted tuition through the catch-up programme. Instead mentions legislative measures and advance information for exams.

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