12,000 youngsters 'not in education'

February 11 2011

Thousands of children are missing from the education system, new figures have revealed.

Statistics obtained by the Times Educational Supplement through a Freedom of Information request show that almost 12,000 people under the age of 16 are not in education.

The highest proportion of young people who are not attending school or being educated from home are from Leicester.

Enver Solomon, director of policy at the Children's Society, said it is important that children do not disappear from the school register.

"There's a danger this could happen to vulnerable pupils if schools just focus on attainment and their welfare is overlooked," she told the publication.

Barnardo's chief executive Martin Narey said school is somewhere that children need to be every day.

Elsewhere, education experts from Wales last month called for greater regulation of parents who choose to educate their children at home.

Figures from the Welsh Assembly Government show that 747 young people across the country are currently being home-schooled.

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