The ‘ghost children’: George has missed two years of school and his situation is becoming more desperate

George has not been to school for the last two years.

He is autistic, which means he has special educational needs that requires a school to give him extra support to help him learn.

And even though he as a legal document which outlines exactly the kind of support he should be receiving, his mum Rachel Stead has a pile of rejection letters from schools in their area of Essex which all say they cannot help him.

At 11 years old, George cannot read or write.

“We apply for different types of schools, but they have all said the same thing,” says Rachel, who until a few months ago was forced to teach George at home despite not having any teacher training.

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“The schools all find different reasons to reject him. Some will say they can’t cope with his social needs, others say they cannot cope with his language needs.

“But they are all aware that the longer he is out of class, the more desperate his situation becomes.”

George is one of thousands of children missing out on their education.

The scale of the problem is huge, according to the official government figures.

In the Autumn term last year, 20% of all pupils were persistently absent, meaning they missed around one day of school every fortnight.

That figure has soared by 53% since the pandemic.

And there were more than 117,100 children missing from education altogether in 2022-23 – up by nearly a quarter since the previous year.

Campaigners have fought for a long time for a national register of children missing education to bring them out of the shadows.

And in the King’s Speech today, it is expected the new Labour government will announce the creation of one.

Beth Prescott, programme lead at the Centre for Social Justice said: “It’s good to see that education is clearly towards the top of Labour’s in-tray and that’s really encouraging.

“But it’s going to need a really comprehensive response that delivers for children week after week after week.”

Sky News first reported on George’s plight a year ago.

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Since then, he has been offered a school alternative, helping to look after animals on a local community farm.

He is also getting around three hours a week home tuition paid for by the local council. But he is slipping behind, says Rachel.

“He should be heading into Year 7 this year but academically he is closer to the level of a five or six-year-old.

“It’s really worrying and I know we aren’t alone.”

Rachel said she thinks the new government’s plan to introduce a register of missing children is a positive move.

“It’s a small step. But George isn’t missing from education. Everybody knows where George is. The problem is we can’t get him an education, so there’s more to be done.”

George is due to start at a special school in September. But it is in a neighbouring county and will mean a four-hour round trip on his own, each day.