Almost 1.8 million children missed at least 10% of school in the autumn term in England, according to new estimates.
The number of children missing at least half of school is also higher than previously thought, at 122,000.
The figures are based on information collected from 145 councils for the Children’s Commissioner.
Dame Rachel de Souza said urgent action was needed to identify children most at risk and the reasons why they are missing school.
The investigation follows concerns that some pupils never fully returned to lessons after national lockdowns during the Covid pandemic.
It also found no reliable figures for children who never go to school, raising the prospects for a small but vulnerable group of children who are completely out of sight and therefore impossible for authorities to keep safe.
Dame Rachel said, “I am extremely worried, I am shocked at the size.
“I am concerned about children missing out on education, but also about safeguarding and helping those who most need to go back to school.”
She said that reflection should be made on how to ensure that children under the age of 18 do not fall into the gaps between school and social services.
“I’m very interested in us starting to work with a unique identifier for children, which could be the NHS number or one of the other numbers that already exist.”
The most recent estimates suggest that persistent school absenteeism (missing more than 10%) is nearly double what it was before the pandemic.
The Education Department said it had launched a pilot program to improve the quality of school attendance data.
Blake, now 15, started skipping school when he was 8 years old.
“I started saying ‘I’m going to school’ and going somewhere else for a few hours. Then when the lockdown came I didn’t work and I fell even further behind than I already was.
“I had huge gaps in my knowledge and that was very difficult to fill.”
Blake lost confidence and found it increasingly difficult to return to lessons.
Her school arranged for her to join a program for low-attendance pupils at The Hive youth area in Wirral, where she now has one-on-one tutoring.
As a result, Blake will take a few GCSEs this summer and hopes to pass Maths and English, which will enable him to accept the job and training offer at a restaurant.
Steve Fogg, who runs the course working with small groups of teenagers, fears more will fall through the gaps in the system that arise from the pandemic.
“It has gotten much worse, young people have gotten used to not going to school, and if they were having a bad experience before the pandemic, their anxiety is increased by being forced to go back to school.”
The reasons more teens are not attending are varied, but the loss of social and academic confidence is visible after the disruption of recent years.
Even schools that have previously had very good attendance are seeing an increase in persistent absenteeism.
That is the case at St Margaret’s Church of England Academy in Liverpool, where Stephen Brierley is the director.
They have a dedicated family liaison officer who gets to know the parents or caregivers and works with them to find out what the barriers are to teens coming back.
“There are some who have lost the habit of coming to school, and some have additional social needs, so it has been difficult for them to make that leap back to school.”
Mr. Brierley is not surprised that there are some children who have never been to school.
She has dealt with isolated cases of parents asking if she can find a place for a teenager who has not received any formal education, at school or at home.
Such cases are reported to the council because they raise potential concerns about the welfare of the child.
“If they’re not in school, they’re at risk of criminal exploitation or danger; it’s safer for them to be in school.”
Meanwhile, schools and parents are challenged by teens who have become disengaged during the pandemic.
Blake says her experience shows it’s worth persisting: “If you’ve tried school and you know you can’t do it, try to find an alternative.
“You’re going to need your GCSEs, and you can do it now or later.”
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