One In Six Autistic Pupils In Uk Have Not Attended School At All Since September

One successful six autistic pupils person not been to schoolhouse astatine each since nan commencement of this world year, according to a caller study which recovered that intelligence wellness issues were often down precocious levels of schoolhouse absence.

Nearly half (45%) of nan parents and children who responded to nan UK-wide study by nan Ambitious About Autism kindness said they felt “blamed” by nan authorities for nan absences.

Of those who missed school, 62% said it was owed to intelligence wellness issues and 30% said they were excessively physically unwell to spell to school. A 5th said their schoolhouse spot was not suitable.

The canvass of astir 1,000 autistic young group and their families comes arsenic nan authorities prepares to people long-awaited plans to overhaul nan typical acquisition needs and disabilities (Send) strategy successful England.

The authorities is expected to present measures it claims are aimed astatine boosting proviso successful mainstream schools truthful they are amended capable to meet nan needs of children pinch Send, though it accepts immoderate pupils will ever require a master place.

About 70% of autistic pupils are knowledgeable successful mainstream schools, but absence rates are precocious owed to anxiety, sensory overload and inadequate support. Parents are concerned that caller finance will not beryllium capable and nan situation will proceed to beryllium unsuitable for galore pupils.

Analysis of study responses by Ambitious About Autism recovered that 16.2% of those who responded had not been successful schoolhouse astatine each since September. A 3rd (32.8%) had missed 1 to 5 days, 11.3% missed six to 10 days, 12.2% had missed betwixt 11 and 20 days and 7.4% had missed betwixt 20 and 40 days.

Jolanta Lasota, nan main executive of Ambitious About Autism, said: “We cannot let different procreation of young group to miss retired connected opportunities to learn, thrive and achieve. We must guarantee mainstream schools person nan knowledge and assurance to support autistic pupils and these young group stay capable to entree master support erstwhile they request it.”

The astir caller national figures published by nan Department for Education showed that autistic children had acold higher rates of absence than children and young group without typical needs.

In nan 2024-25 schoolhouse twelvemonth successful England, those pinch autism spectrum upset missed astir 11% of sessions successful mainstream and typical schools, and much than 28% were classed arsenic persistently absent by nan Department for Education. In contrast, only 14% of children without typical needs were persistently absent.

The figures besides show that 5.5% of autistic pupils missed 50% aliases much of their clip successful school, 5 times much than those without typical needs.

Among nan absentees is Sarah Greaves’s autistic boy Sam, 13, who is now being knowledgeable astatine location aft his modulation to secondary schoolhouse near him pinch “autistic burnout”.

“He nary longer wanted to beryllium here, fto unsocial spell to school,” said Greaves. “The aged Sam is now wholly gone; he seldom leaves nan house. If I wasn’t self-employed, I would person had to discontinue my occupation to support him.

“What Sam needed astatine schoolhouse would make life amended for everybody. He needed little attraction connected strict rules for insignificant issues which trigger worry successful autistic young group and little attraction connected rigid schoolhouse azygous policies which trigger sensory needs.”

On nan government’s overhaul, Greaves said: “Everyone’s terrified that acquisition wellness and attraction plans [which legally guarantee further support tailored to an individual child’s needs] are going to beryllium taken away.” She said her connection to nan authorities was: “Don’t return distant our ineligible backstops.”

Erin, 20, from Hertfordshire, is still successful her last twelvemonth of schooling, studying for a BTEC aft missing truthful overmuch of her education. She told nan Guardian: “School was really reliable for me, and I missed retired connected a batch of it. It wasn’t that I didn’t want to beryllium successful school, it’s that I couldn’t.

“My autism was undiagnosed and I struggled pinch exhaustion, burnout, and what I now cognize was autistic meltdowns. Things sewage truthful bad that I ended up having psychiatric curen and was held backmost by 2 years.

“I dream nan government’s reforms will create a civilization alteration successful mainstream schools that makes them much accessible to autistic pupils. There is truthful overmuch rigidity successful nan existent schoolhouse strategy that makes things really challenging.”

A Department for Education spokesperson said: “We are laying nan groundwork for an inclusive acquisition strategy wherever children are supported astatine nan earliest shape and tin thrive successful schools that meet their individual needs, adjacent to home.

“Our reforms will extremity nan postcode lottery of support and tackle nan barriers that support children pinch Send retired of school. We are already making this hap by expanding entree to intelligence wellness support teams, investing £200m to train each teachers successful Send and committing astatine slightest £3bn to create 50,000 caller master places.”