The safety net preventing pupils from dropping out of their education is “stretched to capacity” and as many as one million pupils could be missing formal education to some extent.

The warning has come in a report from the Local Government Association (LGA), which blames a lack of resources and powers for schools and councils alongside gaps in legislation and poor coordination of admissions, attendance and exclusions.

A key finding in the report is that the narrow definition of what constitutes “missing education” is leading to “blind spots” and exacerbating problems. Another issue is the “paucity of any comprehensive, reliable data” for children missing education.

The statutory definition for children missing education states: “Children missing education are children of compulsory school age who are not registered pupils at a school and are not receiving suitable education otherwise than at a school.”

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