What can schools do about record absences? - a podcast by BBC Radio 4

The pandemic disrupted schooling everywhere. But since then record numbers of children have not returned to regular schooling. Data from the Department for Education show that persistent absence - missing roughly seven days a term - is now at a record high. So is this a blip affecting a Covid cohort or a worrying trend toward a breakdown in the social contract between society and school?

David Aaronovitch talks to:

Branwen Jeffreys, BBC’s Education Editor
Katie Beynon, Statistician at FFT Education Datalab
Sam Freedman, Senior fellow at the Institute for Government
Emily Hunt, Associate Director Social Mobility and Vulnerable Learners at the Education Institute Policy

Produced by: Kirsteen Knight, Sam Haque and Claire Bowes
Edited by: Richard Vadon
Sound engineer: Rod Farquhar
Production co-ordinator: Debbie Richford and Sophie Hill.

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