Councils have been urged to improve outcomes for children in care after new figures showed one thousand vulnerable children have attended three or more schools within a single academic year.
The figures, obtained by the Centre for Social Justice, showed almost one in ten children in care had moved schools once a term or more on average, with some students attending five schools or more in one academic year.
The think tank said the findings show a serious lack of stability for hundreds of vulnerable children and young people across England.
Alex Burghart, Policy Director of the CSJ, said: ‘Children are taken into care in order to give them a second chance. Too often they have had a dysfunctional family life and so the care they receive should be the absolute best possible.
‘Care leaders should want the same outcomes for children in care as they would want for their own children. No parent would like to see their children moving three or four times in a year. This will inevitably have a terrible impact on their education and their chances of finding work when they leave.’
The ten local authorities where the percentage of children in care attending three or more schools in an academic year comprises East Riding (13.1%), Milton Keynes (10.8%), Waltham Forest (8.6%), Lewisham (8.6%), Tower Hamlets (7.9%), North East Lincolnshire (7.5%), Islington (6.3%), Reading (6.0%), Cornwall (6.0%) and Devon (5.7%).
Those leaving the care system are now twice as likely not to be in education,employment or training (NEET) at the age of 19 than the rest of the population, with more than half of care leavers struggling to secure somewhere safe to live when they leave care.
