One in six autistic students have been absent from school since the start of this school year, a new survey has found, with mental health problems often contributing to school absenteeism.
Almost half (45%) of parents and children who responded to a UK-wide survey by Ambitious About Autism The charity said the government felt “blamed” for their absence.
Of those who missed school, 62% said it was because of mental health problems and 30% said they were physically ill enough to attend school. A fifth said that their school space is not enough.
A poll of nearly 1,000 autistic young people and their families comes as the Govt Prepares to publish long awaited plans To overhaul the Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEP) system in England.
The government is expected to introduce measures aimed at boosting provision in mainstream schools so they can better meet the needs of children they send, but admits some pupils will always need a special place.
70% of autistic students attend mainstream schools, but absenteeism rates remain high due to anxiety, sensory overload and inadequate support. Parents are worried that the new investment will not be enough and the environment will not be suitable for many students.
An analysis of ambitious survey responses about autism found that 16.2% of respondents had not been in school since September. A third (32.8%) missed one to five days, 11.3% missed six to 10 days, 12.2% missed between 11 and 20 days and 7.4% missed between 20 and 40 days.
Jolanta Lasota, chief executive of Ambitious About Autism, said: “We cannot allow another generation of young people to miss out on opportunities to learn, develop and achieve. We need to ensure that mainstream schools have the knowledge and confidence to support autistic students and that these young people can access specialist help when they need it.”
Most recent National persons Autistic children are significantly more absent than children and young people without special needs, as published by the Department for Education.
In the academic year 2024-25 Englandthose with Autism Spectrum Disorder miss around 11% of sessions in mainstream and special schools and more than 28% are classed as chronically absent by the Department for Education. In contrast, only 14% of children without special needs were persistently absent.
Statistics show that 5.5% of autistic students miss 50% or more of their time at school, five times more than those without special needs.
Among those absent was Sarah Greaves’ autistic son Sam, 13, who is now home-schooled after a move to secondary school left him with “autistic burnout”.
“He didn’t want to be here anymore, let alone go to school,” Greaves said. “Old Sam is completely gone now; he rarely leaves the house. If I hadn’t been self-employed, I would have had to quit my job to support him.
“What Sam needs at school will make life better for everyone. He needs less focus on strict rules for the little problems that autistic youths worry about and less focus on strict school uniform policies that stimulate sensory needs.”
Greaves said on the Government’s amendment: “Everyone is scared of the education health and care plans [which legally guarantee additional support tailored to an individual child’s needs] is going to be taken away.” Her message to the government: “Don’t remove our legal backstops.”
Erin, 20, from Hertfordshire, is still in her final year of school, having missed out on most of her education and is studying a BTEC. She told the Guardian: “School was really hard for me, and I missed a lot. It wasn’t that I didn’t want to be at school, I just couldn’t.
“My autism went undiagnosed and I struggled with fatigue, burnout and what I now know as autistic meltdowns. Things got so bad that I ended up in psychiatric treatment and retreated for two years.
“I hope that government reforms will create a culture change in mainstream schools that will be more accessible to autistic students. There is a lot of rigidity in the current school system, which makes things really challenging.”
A spokesman for the Department for Education said: “We are laying the foundations for an inclusive education system where children are supported at an early stage and can develop in schools that meet their individual needs close to home.
“Our reforms will end the postcode lottery of support and tackle the barriers that keep children out of school. Access to mental health support teams We are already doing this by expanding SES, investing £200m to train all teachers in SEND and spending at least £3bn to create 50,000 new specialist places.”
