Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what estimate her Department has made of the number of children missing from education in England and Wales.

The Department for Education does not collect data relating to children missing from education.

Under section 436A of the Education Act 1996 local authorities in England have a legal duty to identify, as far as it is possible to do so, children in their area of compulsory school age who are not registered pupils at a school and are not receiving suitable education otherwise than at school. The Department’s statutory guidance[1] says that local authorities should have robust procedures and policies in place to enable them to do so.

The Welsh Government is responsible for polices and legislation regarding children missing from education in Wales.

[1] www.gov.uk/government/publications/children-missing-education