Asked by: Earl of Effingham (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many children in England have or have had an Education, Health and Care Plan, for each year since 2015.
Answered by Baroness Smith of Malvern - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The department publishes figures on the number of education, health and care (EHC) plans. This is available on GOV.UK and the table below.
Number of EHC plans | Number of statements of special educational need | |
2014/15 | 4,203 | 235,980 |
2015/16 | 74,209 | 182,106 |
2016/17 | 175,233 | 112,057 |
2017/18 | 285,722 | 34,097 |
2018/19 | 353,995 | 0 |
2019/20 | 390,109 | 0 |
2020/21 | 430,697 | 0 |
2021/22 | 473,255 | 0 |
2022/23 | 517,048 | 0 |
2023/24 | 576,474 | 0 |
2024/25 | 638,745 | 0 |
2025/26 | 718,838 | 0 |
EHC plans were introduced in 2014, with all statements of special educational need either converted to EHC plans, or ceasing, by the 2018/19 academic year.
Asked by: Earl of Effingham (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many pupils were persistently absent from school in England for each academic year from 2018–19 to date.
Answered by Baroness Smith of Malvern - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The department publishes figures from the school census on pupil absence in England. The latest data covers the academic year 2024/25 and is available on GOV.UK.
Published data for the percentage of pupils classified as persistent absentees (defined as missing 10% or more of possible sessions) since the 2018/19 academic year is shown below.
| Persistent absence rate | Number of persistent absentees |
2018/19 | 10.86% | 771,863 |
2019/20 | - | - |
2020/21 | 12.08% | 872,438 |
2021/22 | 22.51% | 1,643,876 |
2022/23 | 21.22% | 1,569,303 |
2023/24 | 19.95% | 1,487,022 |
2024/25 | 18.14% | 1,340,437 |
Source: School Census
Full-year absence statistics for 2019/20 were not published due to the disruption caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Asked by: Earl of Effingham (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the principal causes of persistent absence from schools in England since the COVID-19 pandemic.
Answered by Baroness Smith of Malvern - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Tackling absence is at the heart of the government’s mission to break down barriers to opportunity. The pandemic had a significant impact on attendance across the country, with persistent absence rates roughly doubling. Attendance has been improving year on year, though persistent absence remains above pre-pandemic levels.
The causes of persistent absence are complex and often overlapping. They include physical and mental ill health, special educational needs and disabilities, disadvantage, insecure housing, transport difficulties and other practical barriers.
Persistent absence is substantially higher among disadvantaged pupils. In the 2024/25 academic year, 32.35% of pupils eligible for free school meals were persistently absent, compared with 12.10% for pupils who are not eligible.
Absence also has a significant effect on attainment. Departmental analysis found that pupils who miss just 10 days in Year 11 have around half the odds of achieving grade 5 in English and mathematics compared with otherwise similar pupils. However, measures taken by the government and the sector are having an effect. In 2024/25 pupils attended over 5 million more days than in the previous year, and around 150,000 fewer children were persistently absent.
Asked by: Earl of Effingham (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the effectiveness of measures introduced to reduce persistent absence from schools in England.
Answered by Baroness Smith of Malvern - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Tackling absence is at the heart of the government’s mission to break down barriers to opportunity. The pandemic had a significant impact on attendance across the country, with persistent absence rates roughly doubling. Attendance has been improving year on year, though persistent absence remains above pre-pandemic levels.
The causes of persistent absence are complex and often overlapping. They include physical and mental ill health, special educational needs and disabilities, disadvantage, insecure housing, transport difficulties and other practical barriers.
Persistent absence is substantially higher among disadvantaged pupils. In the 2024/25 academic year, 32.35% of pupils eligible for free school meals were persistently absent, compared with 12.10% for pupils who are not eligible.
Absence also has a significant effect on attainment. Departmental analysis found that pupils who miss just 10 days in Year 11 have around half the odds of achieving grade 5 in English and mathematics compared with otherwise similar pupils. However, measures taken by the government and the sector are having an effect. In 2024/25 pupils attended over 5 million more days than in the previous year, and around 150,000 fewer children were persistently absent.
Asked by: Earl of Effingham (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the difference in persistent absence rates between disadvantaged pupils and other pupils in England.
Answered by Baroness Smith of Malvern - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Tackling absence is at the heart of the government’s mission to break down barriers to opportunity. The pandemic had a significant impact on attendance across the country, with persistent absence rates roughly doubling. Attendance has been improving year on year, though persistent absence remains above pre-pandemic levels.
The causes of persistent absence are complex and often overlapping. They include physical and mental ill health, special educational needs and disabilities, disadvantage, insecure housing, transport difficulties and other practical barriers.
Persistent absence is substantially higher among disadvantaged pupils. In the 2024/25 academic year, 32.35% of pupils eligible for free school meals were persistently absent, compared with 12.10% for pupils who are not eligible.
Absence also has a significant effect on attainment. Departmental analysis found that pupils who miss just 10 days in Year 11 have around half the odds of achieving grade 5 in English and mathematics compared with otherwise similar pupils. However, measures taken by the government and the sector are having an effect. In 2024/25 pupils attended over 5 million more days than in the previous year, and around 150,000 fewer children were persistently absent.
Asked by: Earl of Effingham (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the effect of persistent absence from school on GCSE attainment in England.
Answered by Baroness Smith of Malvern - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Tackling absence is at the heart of the government’s mission to break down barriers to opportunity. The pandemic had a significant impact on attendance across the country, with persistent absence rates roughly doubling. Attendance has been improving year on year, though persistent absence remains above pre-pandemic levels.
The causes of persistent absence are complex and often overlapping. They include physical and mental ill health, special educational needs and disabilities, disadvantage, insecure housing, transport difficulties and other practical barriers.
Persistent absence is substantially higher among disadvantaged pupils. In the 2024/25 academic year, 32.35% of pupils eligible for free school meals were persistently absent, compared with 12.10% for pupils who are not eligible.
Absence also has a significant effect on attainment. Departmental analysis found that pupils who miss just 10 days in Year 11 have around half the odds of achieving grade 5 in English and mathematics compared with otherwise similar pupils. However, measures taken by the government and the sector are having an effect. In 2024/25 pupils attended over 5 million more days than in the previous year, and around 150,000 fewer children were persistently absent.
Asked by: Earl of Effingham (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the remarks by Baroness Blake of Leeds on 16 October (HL Deb col 81GC–84GC) and the Written Answer by Baroness Smith of Malvern on 5 November (HL11244), what steps they will take to continue to provide funding to the eight specialist music and dance schools through the Music and Dance Scheme beyond this academic year.
Answered by Baroness Smith of Malvern - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
As Baroness Blake of Leeds set out in the Question for Short Debate on 16 October (HL Deb col 81GC 84GC), the Music and Dance Scheme is a long-term commitment and future funding for the scheme beyond this academic year will be announced in due course.
Asked by: Earl of Effingham (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of Sport England’s latest Active Lives Children and Young People Survey, published in December 2023, which estimated that around 47 percent of children and young people were meeting the Chief Medical Officers’ guidelines of taking part in sport and physical activity for an average of 60 minutes or more every day, and what steps they are taking to prioritise physical education in the national curriculum.
Answered by Baroness Barran
The government wants all pupils to be healthy and active. A positive experience of sport and physical activity at a young age can create a lifelong habit of participation.
Physical education (PE) is a foundation subject at all four key stages, and it is a vital part of a broad and balanced curriculum for all pupils to access. The PE national curriculum is designed to ensure that all pupils develop competence to excel in a broad range of physical activities, are physically active for sustained periods of time, and lead healthy and active lives.
The government published the School Sport and Activity Action Plan update in July 2023. The action plan is attached. This sets out the next steps and provides further detail for school leaders and teachers on how the government will support them to improve the quality of PE and school sport, and to deliver two hours of PE a week. This will help all pupils to engage in physical activity and meet the Chief Medical Officers’ recommendations of 60 active minutes a day.
The government’s Get Active strategy, published in August 2023, also provides a blueprint for a system wide approach to support schools in getting one million more children to meet the Chief Medical Officers’ daily recommended amount of moderate to vigorous physical activity.
The department will publish non-statutory guidance for schools this spring, which will illustrate the practical steps taken by schools to provide two hours of PE, as well as ensuring equal access for girls and boys.
Asked by: Earl of Effingham (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to their response to the House of Lords National Plan for Sport and Recreation Committee's report, A national plan for sport, health, and wellbeing, where they note the average time teaching PE in primary schools was 90 minutes per week in 2016, what plans they have to increase the average time spent teaching PE in (1) primary schools, and (2) secondary schools.
Answered by Baroness Barran
The government is prohibited by law in prescribing the exact time a school should allocate to individual subjects in the curriculum. On 8 March, the government made an announcement on physical education (PE) and school sport which included an expectation for both primary and secondary schools to strive for a minimum of two hours of PE and sport in the curriculum time every week.