Hundreds of children in care are missing school and not receiving any kind of education, according to new research.
The Children’s Commissioner for England Dame Rachel de Souza says this means they at risk of being ‘without any of the vital opportunities education provides.’
Data collected from 149 of the 152 local authorities in England reveals that of the 50,846 school-age children who had been in care for at least four weeks in March 2022, 1,363 (2.7%) were missing from school.
Of these, 541 were not enrolled with any school or education provider, 673 were in unregistered settings such as private tuition, home education or a patchwork of other provision that is not inspected, and 149 were enrolled in a school but missing without authorisation 100% of the time.
Ms de Souza said: ‘These are not big numbers, which makes it all the more shocking that we are allowing children in care to be failed like this, becoming invisible to many of the services designed to support them.
‘These are children for whom being in school is a protective measure and the chance to build positive, caring relationships.
‘Some groups of children with additional needs or vulnerabilities were more likely to be missing from school, including unaccompanied children seeking asylum, those with special education needs or those who were either in semi-independent accommodation or moving between multiple care placements.’
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