Why are so many children still missing school?
The Covid‑era lockdowns altered perceptions of school attendance in England, leading to a rise in persistent absenteeism. Recent data show that 18.1% of pupils, about 1.34 million children, are now regularly absent, reflecting a shift toward more flexible attendance expectations. Policy focus has moved from extending school hours to supporting pupils who struggle to attend, with Ofsted emphasizing attendance support over strict enforcement.
- ▪The pandemic’s lockdowns demonstrated that education could be delivered outside the classroom, weakening the assumption that daily physical attendance is essential.
- ▪Persistent absenteeism increased from 11% before the pandemic to 18.1% in the 2024‑25 school year, affecting roughly 1.34 million pupils.
- ▪Former education secretary Michael Gove advocated longer school days, but current attitudes favor reduced or flexible school time for some students.
- ▪Ofsted now prioritises helping schools support pupils with attendance challenges rather than solely promoting attendance.
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| Original publisher | spiked |
| Canonical URL | https://www.spiked-online.com/2026/07/28/why-are-so-many-children-still-missing-school/ |
| Publication time | Tue, 28 Jul 2026 04:55:42 +0000 |
| Retrieval time | 2026-07-28T05:05:24.736Z |
| Last seen | 2026-07-28T05:05:24.736Z |
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| Cluster | lImj_FlPSwGS · 1 stories |
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| Ranking reason | Story pages are not engagement-ranked. Hub feeds use recency, with optional source-diversified chronological ordering (cap consecutive stories per source). No personalized ranking. |
| Publisher visit | Yes — open original |
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| Retrieval / RAG | May the content be exposed for third-party retrieval-augmented generation? | Not asserted |
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| Commercial reuse | May the content be reused commercially? | Not permitted |
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Opening excerpt (first ~120 words) tap to expand
Why are so many children still missing school? The Covid-era lockdowns devalued the classroom in the eyes of both parents and pupils. i Picture by: Getty dataLayer.push({ event: 'author', author: "Neil Davenport" }) Neil Davenport 28th July 2026 i Picture by: Getty Share Topics Politics UK Want unlimited, ad-free access? Become a spiked supporter. While Britain’s school children are currently in the midst of their six-week summer holiday, you won’t hear many politicians or educationalists revive an idea that was fashionable only a decade ago – shortening the summer break and extending the school day. Back in 2013, then education secretary Michael Gove argued that pupils in England spent too little time in school compared with our international competitors.
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