Claim: Last year 140,000 children were completely missing from formal schooling.
Fact-check: Government figures don't show 140,000 children were 'completely missing' from formal schooling last year - Full Fact
Verdict: this is not what the published data shows. the 140,000 figure actually refers to the number of children in england who missed at least 50% of their school sessions in the 2021/22 summer term. recent government data estimates around 95,000 children were not registered at school or otherwise receiving suitable education at some point in 2021/22, while 116,300 were home-schooled.
Organisation: Full Fact
Author: Hannah Smith
Date published: 2023-07-06T00:00:00