New report aims to find solutions to the school engagement crisis

A major new report from the Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR) and The Difference, sets out a plan to end the rapid rise in absence, exclusions and the special educational needs ‘crisis’. Five years on from schools going into lockdown, the report brings together more than 100 teachers, leaders, students, parent groups and charities to pinpoint the root causes of lost learning, and to find solutions.  

The report, entitled Who is losing learning? Finding solutions to the school engagement crisis,  finds that children lost 6.8 million days of learning in the autumn term before the Covid pandemic (2019/20) due to suspensions and absences, but this rose sharply to 11.5 million days in the same period in 2023/24 - an increase of 67 per cent. Each year, more children lose out on more days of school: there was a rise of 10 per cent between the autumn terms of 2022/23 and 2023/24 alone. The most vulnerable and disadvantaged children are impacted the most. 

For every child that is permanently excluded, 10 other children experience an “invisible” move that isn’t recorded in national data or overseen by local authorities or trusts. This includes “managed moves” - which are informal agreements between schools - as well as the illegal practice of off-rolling. One third of children who experience one of these hidden moves goes to an “unknown destination” - meaning the Department for Education has no idea where or whether they are still being schooled. 

The report finds that the challenges of attendance, exclusion and the current special educational needs crisis are deeply related – and are all increasing. Exclusions are up by over a third in a single year, home education has increased by over 20 per cent between 2022/23 and 2023/24, and there has been a 140 percent increase in the highest level of special educational needs support plans since 2015. 

The 10-point plan to end the crisis of lost learning includes: 

• Investing £850 million for inclusion over five years, which the report says would support half a million children, reduce their lost learning and improve outcomes – saving as much as it costs 
• Introducing legislation to monitor whenever a child is moved out of their school, to make sure we know where – and whether - our most vulnerable children are being educated   
• Changing schools' admission policies so that school intakes better reflect their local community to offer children from disadvantaged backgrounds the best chance of success in education 

Exclusive new modelling for the report reveals that £850 million of funding for mainstream school inclusion would provide half a million children with quicker support - and pay for itself by 2030 by reducing the need for 35,000 costly Education, Health and Care Plans (EHCP). 

The report also sets out a definition of inclusion – which the Public Accounts Committee called for back in January – that, accompanied by funding and accountability changes, could transform outcomes for a generation of children.