Nearly 1.8 million children are regularly missing school with some pupils failing to come back after Covid lockdowns, the Children's Commissioner for England has warned.
Dame Rachel de Souza said an audit of local authorities (LAs) revealed a "striking" lack of up-to-date data on the numbers of children in each area.
In a new report, she warned that this means vulnerable pupils could fall through the cracks and miss out on crucial support.
