Tens of thousands of teenagers in England may be missing out on education without appearing in official statistics, the children’s commissioner has warned. A new report reveals that around 42,000 16- and 17-year-olds who are recorded as enrolled at college are in fact absent for at least half of their sessions — effectively “hidden” from the systems meant to track their participation and support their progress.
The scale of the problem
Dame Rachel de Souza, the children’s commissioner for England, published findings based on attendance data from 262 college groups across England. The data shows that further education and sixth form colleges have substantially lower attendance rates than schools. More than half of 16- and 17-year-olds — 52.2 per cent — are estimated to be persistently absent by the standards normally applied in schools, meaning they miss at least 10 per cent of college sessions. Around 42,000 young people, or 5.9 per cent, are severely absent, missing at least half of their classes.
The Department for Education estimates that 57,000 16- and 17-year-olds in England are not in education, employment or training — the official Neet figure. Dame Rachel’s report argues that the persistently absent teenagers should be counted alongside them as “hidden” Neets, a category that would substantially increase the number of young people falling through the gaps.
Unlike schools, further education and sixth form colleges in England are not required to collect or report attendance data. That gap in the system means the true picture of how many young people are disengaged from education has been obscured, and the support they need has not been directed to them.
Why are teenagers missing college?
Dame Rachel told the BBC that a range of factors contribute to the problem. Some teenagers are juggling part-time work alongside their studies, and the immediate financial reward of a shift can, in some cases, appear more pressing than a qualification that will be completed months or years later. Travel costs also play a role for some. Others have been largely absent from education since the Covid pandemic and have struggled to re-engage.
The commissioner was particularly concerned about the most vulnerable students — those who are severely absent — who she said were the ones most in need of support. “It’s under the radar and these kids are not getting the support that they need,” she said, adding that it was “shocking” that the Department for Education did not collect the data, because without it the issue was essentially being ignored.
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Colleges on the front line
At Bolton College, principal Liam Sloan said that while not many students missed more than half of their classes, those who were absent often had mental health challenges or were working part-time. The college had seen attendance rates improve in recent years and this year introduced full-time “positive engagement officers” to greet students each morning and contact those who did not show up.
Sloan highlighted a particular issue with English and maths GCSE classes, which students in England are required to continue studying if they do not already hold a grade 4 or above in those subjects. The requirement to keep resitting these exams can, for some students, become a barrier to engagement rather than a pathway to success — a problem the Department for Education has acknowledged by announcing a new “stepping-stone” qualification intended to reduce what it described as the “endless treadmill” of failing and resitting GCSE maths and English.
What the report recommends
Dame Rachel set out a series of recommendations for the government, including collecting and setting targets for attendance data for 16- and 17-year-olds, expediting the rollout of mental health support teams in colleges, improving work experience opportunities, and introducing free bus travel for children. Her report described the absence of data as a failure to see the scale of the problem and, by extension, a failure to respond to it.
Cath Sezen, director of education policy at the Association of Colleges, agreed with many of the report’s recommendations but warned that funding pressures were limiting colleges’ ability to provide the tailored support that absent students need. She said the sector had “called time and time again for increased investment, better integration of support services and a stronger national strategy for employer engagement.”
The wider context
The commissioner’s findings arrive at a moment of heightened concern about youth disengagement. Approximately one in eight people aged 16 to 24 are Neet, according to data published by the Office for National Statistics. In May, the first instalment of a major report by former minister Alan Milburn warned that figure could reach one in six within five years, and that the country was “at risk of a lost generation.” The final instalment of that report is expected to set out recommendations in the coming weeks.
The Department for Education responded to the report by saying that students in further education needed to be prioritised in future reforms, that the government would track attendance in colleges, and that it would accelerate the rollout of mental health support teams. The announcement of a new stepping-stone qualification represents one concrete step, though it remains to be seen whether these measures will be sufficient to reverse the trend.
Why it matters
The report draws attention to a blind spot in the English education system. Thousands of teenagers who are technically enrolled are in practice not attending, and the absence of a requirement for colleges to collect and report attendance data means there has been no reliable way to measure the scale of the problem — until now. If the commissioner’s estimates are correct, the number of young people disengaged from education, employment or training is significantly higher than official figures suggest. That has implications for policy, for funding, and for the life chances of the young people involved.
What happens next
The government has committed to tracking attendance in colleges and to accelerating the rollout of mental health support teams. The new stepping-stone qualification for maths and English is intended to reduce the burden of repeated resits. But the report’s recommendations go further — calling for free bus travel for children, better work experience provision, and a proper data framework for the further education sector. The final instalment of Alan Milburn’s report on the Neet crisis is expected to add its own recommendations shortly. The question is whether the policy response will match the scale of the problem that the commissioner has now brought into focus.
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