> ## Content Index
> Fetch the complete content index at: https://www.birminghameastside.co.uk/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further.

# The number of children missing school increases
- URL: https://www.birminghameastside.co.uk/the-number-of-children-missing-school-increases/
- Published: 2024-12-12T18:10:45.000Z
- Updated: 2026-08-14T09:58:25.000Z
- Author: Daisy Bourne
- Tags: News, #Migrated-1786701253228, #wp, #wp-post, #Import 2026-08-14 09:54

[New data](https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/children-missing-education/2024-25-autumn-term?ref=birminghameastside.co.uk) reveals that 39,200 children were missing from school at the census date in the recent Autumn term in England, a 19% increase from the previous year.

This comes as the new UK government [faces pressures](https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2024/dec/07/the-observer-view-labour-must-help-disadvantaged-children-become-school-ready-before-its-too-late?ref=birminghameastside.co.uk) to better prepare disadvantaged children for school. Figures have increased continually over the past three years, with 24,700 children missing school in 2022 and 33,000 in 2023\. [The most recent student population figure](https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/data-catalogue/data-set/851dca7e-fbff-4e5f-a290-b4cc49f1d656?ref=birminghameastside.co.uk) in England is over 9 million.

Following the previous figures, children’s commissioner Dame Rachel de Souza described her shock and concern, [telling Sky News](https://news.sky.com/story/the-number-of-children-vanishing-from-school-rises-by-almost-a-quarter-new-figures-show-13083798?ref=birminghameastside.co.uk):

> ***“These statistics are an absolute scandal and we must do something about it before they get even more out of control”.***

The data describes absent children as ‘Children Missing Education’ (CME) which, [according to the Department for Education](https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/children-missing-education/2024-25-autumn-term?ref=birminghameastside.co.uk), means “children of compulsory school age who are not registered pupils at a school and are not receiving suitable education otherwise than at a school”.

The Department for Education [implemented a new National Framework](https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/66bf300da44f1c4c23e5bd1b/Working%5Ftogether%5Fto%5Fimprove%5Fschool%5Fattendance%5F-%5FAugust%5F2024.pdf?ref=birminghameastside.co.uk#page=56.07) for penalty notices this August, aiming to make national standards fairer and prevent children from missing education.