North East has highest rates of overall school absence in country
Ofsted's released its annual report today
The North East, Yorkshire and the Humber continue to have the highest rates of overall school absence, persistence absence and suspensions in the country.
Ofsted's released its annual report which highlights how disadvantage and vulnerability affect children's experiences as they move each stage of life.
It said: "In education, we see disadvantaged and vulnerable children underperforming, with poorer attendance records. We know that brilliant teachers can transform lives, but we need to tackle the epidemic of absenteeism among disadvantaged children.
"Overall absence and persistence absence rates in the North East, Yorkshire and Humber are the highest in the country. The region also has the highest suspension rate in the country at 17.1% compared to 11.31% nationally."
The report overall flagged that 19% more children are missing education entirely compared with last year.
"How can that be right?" Sir Martyn said to reporters.
"How can children missing entirely from education have risen by a fifth in one year? If that's not a scandal of attendance, I don't know what is."
The suspension rate in schools fell slightly in autumn term 2024/25 compared with the record level of the previous year, but still remains significantly higher than pre-pandemic. Six in 10 suspensions that autumn were down to persistent disruptive behaviour.
"So why then the disruptive behaviour?" Sir Martyn said in the report. "The influence of social media, whether by chipping away at attention spans and eroding the necessary patience for learning, or by promoting disrespectful attitudes and behaviours, clearly plays a part."
The chief inspector said he would like, under Ofsted's new framework - which came into effect in November - to look at how attendance and behaviour policies are working for different groups of children.
In November, teenager Flossie McShea and mother-of-three Katie Moore joined two fathers seeking to legally challenge government guidance on phones in schools. Their claim for a judicial review hopes to have smartphones completely banned from schools.
In addition, Esther Ghey, mother of murdered teenager Brianna Ghey, launched a campaign this autumn for a statutory ban on phones, saying such a ban "would have really helped Brianna".
Ms Ghey has advocated for the Government to fund lockable pouches so students cannot access phones during the day.
Analysis from the Centre for Social Justice (CSJ) on Monday suggested more than 800,000 UK children are already engaging with social media even before they start school.
The analysis applied the latest population data to previous research by internet and communications watchdog Ofcom which found that almost four in 10 parents of a three to five year-old reported that their child uses at least one social media app or site.
Former education minister Lord Nash described that research as "deeply alarming", adding that hundreds of thousands of pre-school children are "being fed content and algorithms designed to hook adults".
Under the former Conservative government, schools were issued with non-statutory guidance intended to stop the use of phones during the school day.
A survey by the Children's Commissioner earlier this year found the majority of secondary schools (79%) surveyed allowed pupils to bring phones in, but said they must stay out of sight and not be used. Some 3.5% said pupils were not allowed to bring phones to school.
More recently, the Department for Education's national behaviour survey found fewer than one in 10 (9%) secondary school leaders say their students have to hand in their mobile phones or leave them somewhere they cannot access them.
The Government maintains that schools already have the power to ban phones, and that it supports headteachers to take the steps needed to prevent disruption.
Pepe Di'iasio, general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders, welcomed the focus on challenging behaviour and absence, and said schools need the funding and specialist support to address this.
Ofsted's annual report - education
This year’s Annual Report also finds disparities in outcomes for disadvantaged and vulnerable children across the education system. This begins with a lack of access to good quality early education and care in more deprived areas, which has a lasting impact on entire communities. In schools, the attainment gap between disadvantaged and non-disadvantaged children remains stubborn, with poorer pupils lagging months behind their peers.
Absence also remains an endemic problem across the school system. Severe absence – when children miss half or more of their schooling – is almost three times higher than before the pandemic. In the latest data, some 166,000 pupils were severely absent, with vulnerable and disadvantaged children over-represented among them.
Linked to attendance is the problem of poor behaviour. Today’s report says that too many children are spending too long out of school and falling out of step with the expectations of school life - which makes them more likely to challenge teachers and disrupt the learning of others. The influence of social media and smartphones is also partly responsible for poor behaviour, through its effect on pupils’ attention spans and by promoting disrespectful attitudes.
Increasingly, commentary suggests the impact of poor behaviour is playing a part in driving teachers out of the profession.
Even where schools take all the right steps to tackle poor behaviour, including making use of suspensions and - as a last resort - permanent exclusions, the prevalence of low-level disruption remains a significant issue. In 2023/24, permanent exclusion rates were the highest on record, and suspensions were up by a fifth – approaching one million. Four out of 10 permanent exclusions and five out of 10 suspensions resulted from persistent disruptive behaviour. Disadvantaged pupils are five times more likely to be permanently excluded.
Under Ofsted’s renewed education inspection framework, which came into effect in November this year, inspectors will use the new focus on inclusion to look at how all of a provider’s policies and practices are working for different groups of children, particularly those who face the greatest barriers to success – such as economically disadvantaged children, those with SEND and those known to children’s social care.
In his Annual Report, Sir Martyn Oliver concludes:
“Inclusion matters. It matters because addressing the needs of the most vulnerable and disadvantaged children demands a rigour and attention to detail that ultimately benefits all the children, pupils or learners in that setting – from those facing the greatest barriers, to those whose path to adulthood is more straightforward.
“As a country, we should measure our successes in education, children’s services and skills, both by how well we support the most economically disadvantaged and vulnerable, and by how much further we can push forward the boundaries of knowledge through higher learning. We have a duty to improve the lives and life chances of every child and every learner.
“The dedicated staff working in education and children’s social care are helping children and older learners achieve their potential – day by day and week by week. I would like to thank them all.”
Ofsted's annual report - children's homes
This year’s Ofsted Annual Report looks across the early years, schools, children’s social care and further education and skills sectors and sees fantastic, transformative work being done by committed professionals up and down the country. But while most children experience a relatively smooth path to adulthood, for those with a less fortunate start in life that path can be strewn with obstacles. This is particularly true for children growing up in care.
Many children known to social care are able to succeed and thrive because of the great support they receive. But today’s report points to a lack of coordinated support across education, care and wider services, which sees outcomes for young people growing up in care remain far poorer than those of their peers. Much more needs to be done to help these children.
The most intractable issue in children’s social care is the supply of children’s homes. In the last year, there has been a 15% increase in registrations with Ofsted, meaning the total number of children’s homes in England now tops 4,000 - up more than 500 from the previous year and the highest number on record. However, this rapid growth masks very significant problems with the location, affordability and suitability of homes available.
Today’s report also raises concerns that the proliferation of children’s homes in areas where housing is cheaper suggests some operators are being motivated by profit, rather than the needs of children, which is bending the entire system out of shape.
His Majesty’s Chief Inspector, Sir Martyn Oliver said: “The most vulnerable children in our society deserve loving and stable homes. Instead, profit motive is increasingly dictating the location and ownership of children’s homes. As a society, we are failing these children. We can and must do better.”
Despite the growing number of new children’s homes, local authorities continue to find it hard to place children in registered homes – particularly children with complex needs. This challenge is exacerbating the problem of unregistered children’s homes. This year alone, Ofsted started nearly 900 investigations into potential unregistered homes, which often charge exorbitant fees to local authorities that have run out of options. This shadow market exists because there aren’t enough of the right kinds of places in legitimate, registered homes to take children who most need specialist support.
Government response
A Department for Education spokesperson said:
“Through our Plan for Change, we are doing everything we can to tackle the baked-in inequalities in our education system, so that every child, no matter their background, gets the best start in life.
“We have already made progress with 140,000 more children back in the classroom regularly, and the biggest year-on-year decreases in autumn term suspension and permanent exclusion rates since the pandemic ensuring that many more children are in school achieving and thriving.
“Our landmark Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill and forthcoming Schools White Paper will put children at the centre of education and social care alongside thousands new free breakfast clubs and reform of the SEND system, so that their background doesn’t dictate what young people go on to achieve.”