Responding to a new report from the Children’s Commissioner which found that more than 10,000 children left the state education system in a single year to destinations unknown to their local authorities, Paul Whiteman, general secretary at school leaders’ union NAHT, said:

“It is extremely concerning that the whereabouts of so many children are unknown to local authorities, both for their education, but also potentially their safety.

“This highlights why it is so important for the government to get its act together and introduce it’s long-promised register of children who are not in school, something NAHT has long called for.

“There are many factors contributing to issues with school attendance, which may be a legacy of not just the pandemic and cost of living crisis, but a decade of government austerity and increasing disadvantage.