Covid may no longer be forcing schools to close or requiring pupils to self-isolate at home but there are still a worrying number of empty desks in schools.

Both government datasets and independent sources have confirmed that there has been a dramatic increase in pupil absences over the past year. In fact, the situation has got so bad that it is being described as the ‘new epidemic for schools’.

So what exactly is happening here? Is COVID still causing widespread illness? Is something affecting pupils at home that could in turn be affecting their attendance at school? Why have pupil absences risen in some schools but not others? And what can schools, parents and government do to reduce the rates of pupil absence in the near future?

Our guests today are Margaret Mulholland, the Special Needs & Inclusion specialist at the Association of School and College Leaders, and Ellie Costello, the director of Square Peg, a parent-led group that focuses on the barriers to school attendance.

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