Over a third of “white working class” pupils persistently absent, new data reveals
- National progress on tackling persistent school absence not reaching white working-class and northern children
- Pupils missing half or more classes in spring term hits all-time high
- White working-class children twice as likely as their peers to miss more than a day of school every fortnight
- Calls for “attendance awareness courses” for parents of absent children
Over a third of white-working class pupils are missing more than one in ten days at school, according to new figures from the Department for Education (DfE).
Analysis by the Centre for Social Justice (CSJ) of DfE data published Thursday 15th October, which for the first time combines pupil absence figures for the autumn and spring terms, shows that the persistent absence rate fell from 18 to 17 per cent in 2025/26, compared with the same period in 2024/25.
However, 35 per cent (410,782) of White British children eligible for Free School Meals (FSM) were persistently absent during that period – an increase of over 5,000 compared to the previous year (a 1.3 per cent increase).
Persistent absence also rose last autumn and spring compared to the same period the previous year in the North East (by 499 pupils), North West (by 330 pupils) and Yorkshire and the Humber (by 661 pupils). Persistent absence rates are now 14 per cent higher in the North East than they are in London.
Meanwhile, the number of children missing more school than they attend has hit another spring term record.
164,225 pupils were severely absent in Spring 2026 – up 2 per cent, or 3,728, on last spring and a record for a spring term. It is also 188 per cent higher than before the pandemic and follows an Autumn term record last term.
The CSJ warns that failing to tackle absence is feeding the crisis of young people not in education, employment or training. Persistent absence at school is associated with a 3.9-times greater risk of being NEET between 16 and 18, and a 6.3-times greater risk of being persistently NEET.
The think tank estimates that up to 100,000 persistently absent pupils could become persistently NEET by 2029 unless absence is brought down – at a lifetime cost to the taxpayer of more than £24 billion.
Alan Milburn, author of the Government’s upcoming Review on NEETs, has previously highlighted the link between school absence and the risk of becoming NEET, with the post-pandemic increase “just building more and more risk”.
Dan Lilley, Head of Youth at the CSJ, said:
“Getting more children back in the classroom is real progress, and teachers, parents and ministers deserve credit for it. These gains have been hard won.
“But for many of the children furthest from school, things are getting worse, not better. Severe absence continues to reach record-breaking levels, and while rates are falling for much of the country, they are still rising for white working-class children and those in the North.
“The Education Secretary has the chance to make a turning point. That means restoring the expectation among parents that children should be in school every day, while giving children the enrichment they need to look forward to school. Anything less is a tragedy of wasted potential.”
Last year, the CSJ found that 44 per cent of British parents thought it was reasonable for children to miss one in every ten school days, despite studies showing persistently absent pupil being £10,000 worse off by aged 28. The think tank warned that this reflected a “breakdown of trust between home and school”.
