Question to the Department for Education:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the educational impact on children of removing them from school rolls between January 2016 and January 2017, in particular on those who (1) have special educational need or disabilities, and (2) receive free school meals.

Information on the number of pupils’ names deleted from schools’ admissions registers is not held centrally.

In 2016 the department amended the Education (Pupil Registration) (England) Regulations 2006, placing a duty on all schools to notify the local authority whenever a pupil’s name is added to or deleted from the admission register and to provide the authority with relevant information. The aim of this change was to protect vulnerable children at risk of harm, exploitation or extremism and going missing from education. Evidence of non-compliance can lead to a school inspection. In addition, local authorities should trace those children and ensure that they receive full-time education.

The department is in the process of reviewing these regulations and a report setting out the conclusions of that review will be published later this year.