Claim: 140,000 children went missing from education during the pandemic and have not returned to school.
Fact-check: School statistics don't show 140,000 children 'never came back' after pandemic disruption - Full Fact
Verdict: the 140,000 figure is the number of children in england who missed at least half of their available sessions in the summer term of 2022—not the number who have left school completely. the number of children missing at least half of their sessions has grown significantly since before the pandemic.
Organisation: Full Fact
Author: Sarah Turnnidge
Date published: 2023-05-11T00:00:00