One in 20 children in the Borough of Hackney are missing from education, new Department for Education figures show.
Hackney has the worst rate of children missing education (CME) in the entire country and that number is 500% higher than the next worst-affected London borough.
More 1,500 children in the borough were reported missing from education on a census day during the 2024-25 autumn term.
The government defines CME as 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 of Education’s (DoE) data, released on 12 December 2024, revealed that 4.8% of Hackney’s school age population were missing education during the autumn term.
The national average for autumn term 2024-25 was only 0.5%, which represented 39,200 children unaccounted for across England.
Hackney’s rate of absent children dwarfs the numbers reported by all other London boroughs.
Redbridge recorded the second-highest number of CME at 0.8%, or 390 children.
Only five boroughs in London had a greater proportion of unrecorded children than the national average, with Ealing (0.7%), Haringey (0.7%) and Hounslow (0.6%) the others most affected.
Hackney’s figure for autumn term 2024-25 was also the highest for any local authority in the entire country.
Nottingham, with 4.5% absences, and Southampton, with 3.8%, were close behind Hackney in the DoE’s figures.
Local authorities only began recording the number of CME cases in autumn 2022, however the reporting became mandatory for all local authorities in autumn 2024.
Children missing education in Hackney are almost exclusively boys.
A staggering 97% of the borough’s absentee pupils are male, whereas boys only account for 54% of the national average.
It is older year groups in Hackney’s schools, rather than primary school ages, which are driving the numbers.
According to the figures, 30% of the children missing education in Hackney are in Year Nine and 45% are in Key Stage Four (Years 10 and 11).
In total, secondary school ages accounts for a 98% of Hackney’s missing pupils, while that figure rests at only 59% nationally.
Close to half of the 1,500-plus children missing in Hackney last term had been absent for over a year.
Of those, 42% were unaccounted for for over 52 weeks, while 30% has been missing for six to 12 months.
A further 25% of the reported CME cases had been missing for between three and six months, and fewer than 5%, had been missing for less than that.
Again, Hackney’s figures for autumn 2024-25 were considerably worse than the national average, which saw only 28% out for six months or longer, compared to 72% in the borough.
This figures cover children who are currently awaiting a school place and those local authorities are supporting to place into suitable education.
However, the data does not include pupils who are receiving suitable home education, nor those who are registered at a school but are persistently absent.
A Department of Education spokesperson said: “Children missing education are at significant risk of underachieving, being victims of harm, exploitation or radicalisation, and becoming NEET (not in education, employment or training) later in life.
“Local authorities have a legal duty to make arrangements to identify, as far as it is possible to do so, the identities of children in their area who are not registered pupils at a school and are not receiving suitable education. ”
Hackney has a dedicated Children Missing Education Team, which help track children missing from education.
The team aim to identify, make and maintain contact with children living in the borough who are missing education and re-engage them into appropriate setting at the earliest opportunity.
Pepe Di’Iasio, general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders, expressed concern over the number of children out of education.
He said: “We also need to provide better support for disadvantaged pupils and other groups of children most at risk of missing education.
“This will require investment to tackle child poverty and build up the capacity of mental health services.
“All children deserve access to a good education and we cannot allow so many to continue missing out on the benefits this brings.”
A Hackney Council spokesperson said: “The majority of Hackney children who are recorded as missing from education are believed to be attending unregistered educational settings.
“These are not classed as schools, they can be difficult to regulate and the law around their use needs to change.
“We therefore work closely with the Department for Education and Ofsted to ensure, as far as possible, children receive a good education in a safe and secure setting.
“We welcome the new Government’s proposals to enhance the powers available to regulate unregistered educational settings.”
Featured Image: Sam Balye via Unsplash
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