The rate of school absence, education experts have said, is a “really serious issue” as over a fifth of pupils are missing classes. Ofsted found that schools in Cornwall, Plymouth, and Torbay, had rates of persistent absence. This means that pupils are attending less than 90% of classes. The region saw absence rates of around 23% in autumn 2023 and spring 2024, making them among England’s highest.
Children who regularly missed classes were at a risk of falling behind, says Lee Elliot Major, professor of social mobility at the University of Exeter. The Department for Education (DfE) said that it is woking with Ofsted to improve the figures which are affecting state-funded primary and secondary schools, as well as special schools.
For Torbay, Ofsted says the persistent absence rate was 23.2% while in Plymouth it was 23.1, ahead of Cornwall at 22.7%. Neighbouring Devon was 20.5% while on the Isle of Scilly, it was 17.1%, making it the only area in the south-west of England that was below the England average of 19.2% for the time period.
Missing 10% of school sessions, according to Ofsted, was equivalent to around seven days of absence over the term.
“This is a really serious issue, particularly for social mobility because it’s children from under-resourced or disadvantaged backgrounds who miss school the most.” Mr Elliot Major said. “If they’re missing school, they’re going to fall behind others and not do as well in the classroom.”
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