Nearly half of children in need were persistently absent from school in 2023/2024. This is a rate of 44%, considerably higher than the 30% seen in 2020/2021, but slightly below that in 2022/2023, at 44.4%.
The Department for Education has released a report on outcomes for children in need in England. A ‘Child in need’ is defined as a child who is unlikely to reach or maintain a satisfactory level of health or development, or a child whose health or development will be significantly impaired without the provision of children’s social care services, or a disabled child.
The statistics reveal that amongst pupils in key social care groups, persistent absences are over twice the rate of that in the overall pupil population.
On a local level, absences were highest in London areas of Kingston upon Thames (54%) and Kensington and Chelsea (53%) and lowest in Hampshire (20%) and Rutland (33.3%).
Additionally, the data also reveals that over half of children in need had special educational needs in 2023/2024, with seven local authorities showing rates higher than 60%, according to Polimapper’s visualisation.
South areas in the UK, including Brighton and Hove, Bath and North East Somerset, and Dorset saw SEN rates higher than 61% amongst a ‘children in need’ population. Conversely, this was lowest in Westminster (42%), Hartlepool (43%), and Waltham Forest (43%).
Further statistics show that pupils in key social care groups have lower attainment than the overall pupil population, that 61.6% were eligible for free school meals and that 1 in 10 pupils have been a child in need in the six years leading up to 2023/2024.
Polimapper’s visualisation reveals links between SEN, absences and other indicators on a geographical level. Explore statistics in your area below.
About this map
The map below shows children in need in education statistics for the year 2023/2024, by local authority. This includes data on school absences, special educational needs and free school meals.
To view statistics in your area double click on the map or click here to launch the full page version!
Geodata digest
The data from the Department for Education comes amidst news of long SEN assessment waiting lists. Additionally, the Education Policy Institute reports a growing disadvantaged gap in education due to unauthorised school absences.
Emily Hunt, associate director of social mobility at the Education Policy Institute: “For the first time, we have shown that high and increasing levels of absence among disadvantaged pupils are the primary reason why the disadvantage gap has grown since 2019 and that the government won’t tackle the gap unless it gets to grips with the complex root causes of absence.”