The lost children of lockdown: Shock report reveals 100,000 pupils failed to return to education full-time when their schools reopened after Covid closures

Almost 100,000 pupils have become the 'lost children of lockdown' after the pandemic ravaged the education system, a shock report reveals today.

A leading think-tank has uncovered the huge number of youngsters who have failed to return to education full-time after schools reopened their doors.

Analysis of official figures by the Centre for Social Justice has identified 93,514 pupils who were mostly absent between September and December – more than the capacity of Wembley stadium.

The figure for those off school more often than they were present has rocketed by more than 50 per cent on the previous year, with a particularly 'alarming' rise in primary schools, as the chaos caused by Covid made it easy for vulnerable youngsters to slip through the net.

It is feared many will end up being expelled or simply drop out of education altogether after the disruption of the past year, putting them at risk of being drawn into a life of crime.

Analysis of official figures by the Centre for Social Justice has identified 93,514 pupils who were mostly absent between September and December – more than the capacity of Wembley stadium (stock photo)

And today's study says the £3 billion announced by the Government in post-Covid funding will not help those who are no longer in school, pointing out that 'kids can't catch up if they don't show up'.

CSJ chief executive Andy Cook said: 'When a child disappears from our school system, their future often disappears with them.

'Our research shows that by the end of last year almost 100,000 pupils were missing more than half of lessons, even after Covid absence is stripped out.

'These are the lost children of lockdown. Charities working with these children are telling us there's now a real risk of children being picked up by street gangs.'

Former Conservative Party leader and CSJ founder Sir Iain Duncan Smith told the Mail: 'The Centre for Social Justice has uncovered the appalling truth that there are 93,000 children who are missing from our classrooms for more than half of lessons. Figures have doubled for primary school children in the last year.

Fewer children missed school because of medical appointments or holidays than in normal years as a result of lockdown restrictions, but absence for 'other unauthorised reasons' – likely to be linked to behaviour – rose (stock photo)

'These children are extremely vulnerable to being picked up by gangs. We need to urgently make sure these children are returned to the classroom as part of government catch-up plans.'

Department for Education statistics published last month show that the overall absence rate in schools across England stood at 4.7 per cent in the autumn term, between September and December 2020. That represents 22 million days lost, or three per pupil.

These absences were additional to the 33 million days lost because of Covid, which saw children either fall ill or forced to stay at home because a classmate tested positive. Bradford, Knowsley in Merseyside and Newcastle upon Tyne had the highest absence rates.

Fewer children missed school because of medical appointments or holidays than in normal years as a result of lockdown restrictions, but absence for 'other unauthorised reasons' – likely to be linked to behaviour – rose.

The figures showed that 13 per cent of pupils were classed as persistently absent, after missing more than one in ten sessions.

CSJ researchers dug deeper into the data and found they could calculate how many pupils were absent more often than they were present in class, dubbing these children 'severely absent'.

In autumn 2020, a total of 93,514 children were absent more than they were present – up 33,270 (54.7 per cent) on the previous year.

Of those, 53,171 were in secondary schools, up from 38,953. Severely absent primary pupils increased from 16,471 to 34,405 in the space of a year – a 109 per cent rise. The remainder of the 93,514 is made up of special schools pupils.

It is feared that tens of thousands of children have disappeared from registers altogether, some because they are being home-schooled but others because they have lost touch with the authorities and fallen prey to gangs.

Experts say gangs saw lockdown as an opportunity for a 'recruitment drive' as young people were increasingly vulnerable, isolated and spending time online.

Education select committee chairman Rob Halfon said: 'We can't help children to catch up if they don't turn up to school.

'We need to make sure these don't become invisible to us when we spend billions on helping children with lost learning.'