Education welfare professionals work with vulnerable children and their families to improve school attendance and help prevent pupils becoming excluded from education.
But the report, compiled by the three professional associations that represent staff in the field, found that education welfare services have been cut "significantly" over the past year.
"In some local authorities the education welfare service has been completely disestablished," the report said. "In others staffing numbers have cut by half, which means that many schools now have little or no regular contact with an education welfare officer."
According to the report "not all head teachers adhere to the regulations" designed to keep pupils in full-time education. For example, some schools illegally exclude children with attendance and behaviour problems, or pressurise parents to educate their children at home.
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