Can a child miss school for mental health reasons?

Seventy-five per cent of 2,000 parents surveyed by Perspectus, on behalf of education event Bett, have said they do not mind letting pupils have a duvet day.

A debate sparked on LBC’s Tom Swarbrick at Drive on Thursday about mental health within the education system, and if students are taking too many days off, or if protections are necessary.

The study comes after news that pupils will be taught the value of “grit” to tackle a growing mental health crisis, while Reform’s Richard Tice said this week that children wearing headphones in school was “insane,” - comments that the autism community took against.

Perspectus said in the report: “Parents increasingly prioritise their children’s emotional wellbeing and are willing to allow absence when they believe it serves their child’s best interests.

“This shift challenges traditional assumptions about the non-negotiable nature of school attendance. The path forward requires acknowledging these changing attitudes while helping families understand the long-term consequences of missing education.”

Despite this, however, the Department for Education has said that attendance is at a decade high, and that 140,000 fewer children were persistently absent with five million more days in class in the last academic year.

A spokesperson offered: “Through our Plan for Change, we are taking action to get more young people back in the classroom, with the biggest improvement in attendance in a decade last academic year.”

Here is what the government says about the issue.

Can a child miss school for mental health reasons?

While it is possible for a student to take a sick day for mental health reasons, government guidance to schools and parents is that they are expected to make every effort to attend.

In events of a prolonged mental health illness, it is advised that students and families work with schools and a medical practitioner to work on a solution to allow them to attend as soon as possible.

The government says that schools should strive for high attendance from its students and that “a prolonged period of absence may heighten their anxiety about attending in future”.

Department for Education guidance states: “Many children will experience normal but difficult emotions that make them nervous about attending school, such as worries about friendships, schoolwork, exams or variable moods.

“It is important to note that these pupils are still expected to attend school regularly.”