More than1,300 Wakefield school children set to miss half their lessons by 2026, Labour says

The party says the UK is facing a ‘generational challenge’ after analysis shows over 200,000 children nationwide are set to miss half their time at school.

The data also exposes the scale of the problem in Wakefield, with a predicted 1,378 children missing half their school in two years.

Shadow education secretary Bridget Phillipson has unveiled a new long-term plan to tackle persistent school absences.

Wakefield MP Simon Lightwood said: “Every day of education matters for our children’s life chances.

“That is why tackling severe absence would be mission critical for Labour in government.

“The Conservatives have allowed the persistent absence crisis in school attendance to spiral out of control and have no plan to get children back to school.

“Labour’s long term plan will tackle the reasons children are out of class, with mental health counselling, breakfast clubs and a register of home-schooled children, funded by ending tax breaks for private schools.

“After a decade of Conservative-driven decline, Labour will put education at the heart of national life to give our children a bright future once again.”

Labour claims the number of children missing half their lessons has trebled between 2016 and 2022

A child is deemed persistently absent if they miss 10 percent of lessons or more, equivalent to four weeks a year, and severely absent if they miss 50 percent of lessons or more.

Department for Education (DfE) data shows more than one out of every five children in England are persistently absent from school – double the proportion before the covid pandemic.

Labour’s plans to tackle persistent absence includes the creation of a national register for home-schooled pupils, designed to track children who are not in mainstream schooling.

Proposals also include using Ofsted to review attendance data, and employing AI to spot trends in absence by linking with existing records in other services such as social care.

Last week, the government announced £15m worth of investment over three years to address school attendance issues.

The DfE promised 18 new attendance hubs – bringing the total to 32 across England – providing tailored support to pupils at 2,000 schools,.

The government also plans to provide more targeted and intensive support to more than 10,000 severely absent students and their families.