Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Andrew Gwynne and Chi Onwurah

Monday 29th January 2024 Commons Chamber

[Andrew Gwynne (Denton and Reddish) (Lab)]

3. What steps she is taking to tackle persistent pupil absence in schools.

[Chi Onwurah (Newcastle upon Tyne Central) (Lab)]

18. What steps she is taking to tackle persistent pupil absence in schools.

[The Secretary of State for Education (Gillian Keegan)]

Tackling persistent absence is my top priority, as indeed it was last year. I pay tribute to our incredible teachers and heads who have gone above and beyond to get children back to school. We are more than doubling the number of attendance hubs to support 2,000 schools, we are investing £15 million to expand one-to-one mentoring to help 10,000 children and we will be requiring all schools to share data to support earlier intervention. Our plan is starting to work, with 380,000 fewer children persistently absent or not attending last year, and numbers continue to fall.