More Suffolk pupils attending school, but most vulnerable falling further away

Why it matters: The figures reveal a troubling paradox where more pupils are attending school more often, but the most disengaged children are slipping further away. School unions warn that fining parents will not address the root causes driving families away from mainstream education, calling instead for investment in attendance services and specialist support.

The details: Severely absent pupils in Suffolk accounted for 2.4% of students in the 2024-25 autumn term, up from 2.3% the year before and the highest since comparable records began in 2016-17. Meanwhile, 18.2% of pupils in the area were persistently absent, missing 10% or more of sessions.

• In Suffolk, the county council's Q2 2024/25 dashboard shows persistent absence fell to 16.1%, down from 18.2% the year before. The direction is positive, but national watchdogs warn the trend remains entrenched, with risks for attainment and wellbeing.
• Suffolk's SEND system faces measurable pressure. According to Suffolk County Council's Q2 2024/25 dashboard, the county received 604 EHCP requests in the quarter, a 38% rise year-on-year. There are now 2,049 open needs assessments, up 63% from the same period last year.
• Only 31.6% of EHCPs in Suffolk were issued within the statutory 20-week timeframe, though this marks an improvement on 15% the previous year. The average wait is 41 weeks. Nationally, only around half of plans meet the 20-week deadline.
• The number of children with an EHCP has grown to 9,186 in Suffolk, a 19% increase in 12 months. Meanwhile, 129 children with EHCPs are now electively home educated in the county, a 42% increase year-on-year.

The big picture: Across England, the proportion of severely absent pupils also reached a record high at 2% of students, though the rate of persistently absent pupils fell from 19.4% in autumn 2023-24 to 17.8% last year.

England's latest figures tell two stories at once. Overall absence in autumn 2024/25 stood at 6.38%, with persistent absence falling to 17.79%. But severe absence climbed to 2.04%, a record for an autumn term.

What the experts say: Margaret Mulholland, SEND and inclusion specialist at the Association of School and College Leaders, said: "It is troubling that, even as absence rates are coming down overall, the percentage of pupils missing at least 50% of their education is rising. We need to focus on helping these pupils overcome the barriers preventing them from being in school on a regular basis."

She added: "This means investing in attendance services, liaising directly with families to identify the issues at play and then ensuring specialist support is available as soon as required."

Paul Whiteman, general secretary at school leaders' union NAHT, said the figures are a "small step in the right direction" but warned there is "a long way to go" to improve attendance.

He added: "Schools work tirelessly to ensure children are in the classroom, but they alone are not equipped to address all the deep-seated reasons for absence which can range from routine sickness to mental ill-health and social challenges facing children and families, including poverty. Fining parents is a crude tool which does not address many of the root causes, what is needed is better support for families and schools."

Beth Prescott, education lead at the Centre for Social Justice, said: "Five years on from school closures, classroom absences can no longer be viewed as a post-pandemic blip. The material risk now is that this issue is becoming deeply entrenched."

She added: "Ministers must now build on the progress they have made and work with local charities and families to provide more absent pupils with the mentorship they need to return to school. But with the crisis deepening we need to attack the root causes of school absence, including softening parental attitudes to attendance and an education system that fails to engage thousands of young people."

The government response: Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson said: "Getting children back in classrooms, where they belong, is non-negotiable if we are to break the unfair link between background and success so we can build a fairer country, a cornerstone of our plan for change."

A Department for Education spokesperson said: "We inherited a broken school system so we are taking decisive action through our plan for change to tackle the attendance crisis – and the latest data shows positive green shoots with the biggest year-on-year improvement in attendance in a decade. We are making huge progress with over five million more days in school this year and 140,000 fewer pupils persistently absent, which research shows in time is likely to improve severe absence."

The bottom line: While Suffolk's overall attendance figures show improvement, the growing number of severely absent pupils highlights a deepening crisis among the most vulnerable students. Experts argue that addressing the root causes through specialist support and attendance services will prove more effective than fining struggling families.

Read how some local families are turning to home schooling