The number of children being excluded from primary school and young people missing secondary school for long periods of time in Bucks is “significantly worse” than the national average, figures reveal.

Bucks County Council’s (BCC) health and wellbeing board met to discuss the data on Thursday (May 3) – however councillors were warned that some of the figures dating back to 2015 may not be a true reflection of the current situation.

Statistics taken from 2015/16 show 14.8 per cent of pupils in Bucks were classed as “persistent absentees” – meaning their attendance record fell below 95 per cent.

The absence rate is “significantly worse” than England's average of 13.1 per cent, according to the board’s performance dashboard analysis report.

The number of primary school children facing exclusion in Bucks is also above the national average – as 1.3 per cent of young pupils were suspended in 2015/16 compared with 1.2 per cent nationally.

Head of education at BCC, Sarah Callaghan, blamed the higher number of absentees on changes to national policy - as pupils previously had to have an attendance record of below 90 per cent to be classed as "persistently absent", which has since increased to 95 per cent.

She added that council teams have been working with schools to improve attendance and and exclusion rates, as well as assess the background of children who persistently miss school.

It is also understood that some pupils that have special educational needs may be missing school for long periods of time as they wait for assessments and subsequent learning plans to be put into place.

Speaking at Thursday’s meeting Ms Callaghan said: “What we have been aiming to do is look at the profile of those young people that have long term absence.

"One of the things we have identified is sometimes [absences] are around waiting for a placement or an assessment to do with going through the education health and care plan process…

“We have developed a forum to bring our schools together with special schools and schools with additional resource provision to look at the profile of children that do have poor attendance.

"What is the profile of children that are excluded? What do we understand about them? And how we do more to effectively support schools so that we encourage children to have better attendance and avoid exclusions”.

However acting consultant in public health at BCC, Sam Williamson, pointed out there is a “significant drop” in absence rates in data taken from 2016/17 -which is not reflected in the council’s report - while Ms Callaghan added exclusion rates area already improving.

To view the dashboard report visit https://www.buckscc.gov.uk/media/4511055/hwb-dashboard-16-apr-2018.pdf