Poor access to dentists, nurseries and clean air prompts drop in pupil attendance, report warns

The report, prepared by academics for the Child of the North All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG), has found a raft of links between education and health inequality and poor attendance rates in schools across the North of England, based on analysis of available evidence and interviews with children’s professionals.

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It found that children living in poverty, from ethnic minorities and with special educational needs are more likely to suffer from tooth decay, which is impacting children’s quality of life and causing “disrupted routines including school attendance”.

The worst affected region in England is the North West, where 39 per cent of five years olds have had tooth decay, amid warnings from MPs that nationwide “NHS dentistry is facing a crisis of access”.

The report also details a randomised trial in Bradford looking at the impact of air cleaning measures, such as fitting air purifiers in schools, on pupil attendance during the Covid pandemic. This found that where such measures were taking place there were “significant reductions” in illness related absences.

Meanwhile, lack of access to good early years education is also hampering pupil attendance, according to the report.

It found that children who fail to reach a good level of development on the Early Years Foundation Stage Profile are three times more likely to become a persistent absentee at school.

Among those interviewed for the report is James Lauder, assistant vice principal of Bradford’s Dixons Trinity Academy. He warns of a “precipitous decline in attendance” which is “raising major safeguarding concerns and worry about the long-term education outcomes for these children and young people”.

He is critical of a lack of government funding for Covid recovery among pupils, warning “schools will spend years paying for the unintentional plan we now have instead” of “underachievement of children plagued by poorer mental health and low attendance”.

The report’s research has been carried out by academics from the Child of the North group, involving the organisations Health Equity North and N8 Research Partnership.

It also found an imbalance in funding between schools nationally, with pupils in London receiving 9.7 per cent more funding than those in the North. While in London schools receive £6,610 on average per pupil, this figure dips to £5,956 in the North West and to £5,938 in Yorkshire and The Humber.

In addition, children in the poorest families in the UK are 13 times more likely to experience poor health and educational outcomes by the time they are 17.

Today, we have published a new report which shows that northern schools are losing out on hundreds of pounds of funding per pupil compared to those in London 1/6https://t.co/vsRY6SJQSW @_HENorth @EmmaLewellBuck @Gibbo4Darlo @MaryRobinson01 pic.twitter.com/1aniYY3tTR

— Child of the North (@ChildoftheNort1) September 11, 2023

APPG members and the report’s researchers are calling for an overhaul of the school funding formula to consider health inequalities by pupils in the North of England and disadvantaged areas.

“Over the past 13 years, funding in key public services in the North have been falling behind the rest of the country, driving up poverty and creating large disparities in educational attainment and access to mental and physical health services,” said APPG vice chair Kim Johnson, Labour MP for Liverpool Riverside.

“This is depleting opportunities for children living in the region, even more so for black children and those with special educational needs who are being disproportionately impacted by structural inequalities.”

Conservative MP for Darlington Peter Gibson added: “Education is key to ensuring that every child can reach their full potential. It is hugely important that we give everyone the best start in life so that they can take advantage of the opportunities afforded to them and I am determined that every child in Darlington should have the best start in life.

“I regularly engage with and support local schools in Darlington, and I am determined to continue to work with them, alongside ministers, to ensure that no child is left behind.”

Former children’s commissioner for England Anne Longfield, who is chair of the Commission on Young Lives says that the “link between health inequalities and educational attainment is undeniable”.

“The costs of inaction during childhood are far too high for individuals, families, and society. The time to reverse the tide of growing inequality is upon us," she added.