Nearly 100,000 children leave education without basic qualifications amid shameful rise, children’s commissioner says

The number of teenagers leaving education without basic qualifications has risen to nearly 100,000, the children’s commissioner warned as she called for urgent action over the “shameful” surge.

Tens of thousands of students left education at 18 without the qualifications needed to begin apprenticeships or technical or academic courses last year – and pupils from the poorest areas and children with special educational needs are most likely to miss out, a study found.

Nearly one in five (18 per cent) teenagers in England, which amounts to 98,799 children, left education without achieving five A*-C GCSEs or the equivalent last year – a 24 per cent rise since 2015, the analysis from the children’s commissioner reveals.

The rise is being driven by a surge in the number of pupils eligible for free school meals (FSM) who have failed to achieve these targets in recent years, the research shows. 

Since 2015, the number of FSM children who have left education without the basic benchmark qualifications has risen from 28 per cent to 37 per cent.

The children’s commissioner is calling on the government to take urgent action after the research found that the attainment gap between disadvantaged children and their peers is widening.

“It is shameful that last year almost 100,000 children in England left education at 18 without proper qualifications. It is particularly unacceptable that children growing up in the poorest areas of the country and children with special educational needs are most likely to leave school without reaching basic levels of attainment,” Anne Longfield, the children’s commissioner for England, said.

The commissioner has written to the Department for Education and asked it to commit to halving the number of children failing to gain a Level 2 qualification by the age of 19 over the next five years.

Last year, of the total 554,938 education leavers, 98,779 did not achieve this qualification by age 19.

“The government must urgently investigate why the progress that has been made over recent years in closing the attainment gap has stalled and now going backwards,” Ms Longfield added.

Headteachers’ unions say school funding cuts and government reforms to make GCSEs tougher have made it harder for children, often from disadvantaged backgrounds, to achieve these qualifications.  

Julie McCulloch, the director of policy at the Association of School and College Leaders, said it was a “pernicious problem” that so many pupils fall short of the GCSE grades needed for jobs and courses.

“Many of these young people are not helped by new GCSEs which have been made deliberately more rigorous and the fact that the government has prioritised a suite of academic subjects which are not necessarily the best option for everyone,” she said.

“Too many students are finishing their education feeling demoralised and without the qualifications they need for future courses and careers.”

Paul Whiteman, general secretary of school leaders’ union NAHT, said: “Children from disadvantaged backgrounds are the victims of a decade of austerity.

“They have disproportionately suffered from funding cuts not just to education, but to all the wider services that should be there to help them.

“Successive governments have failed to invest in those who need it the most, and now we see the result.”

Angela Rayner, the shadow education secretary, said: “It is shocking that the number of children leaving education without [basic qualifications] has risen by nearly a quarter in the last three years.

“It is clear that this sudden rise has happened since the Tories came to power and imposed brutal cuts on education and support for families and children.

“The figures are particularly stark for children from the most disadvantaged backgrounds and with special educational needs and disabilities, yet more evidence that those who most need our support are those losing out.”

The Department for Education has been approached for comment.