The Department for Education and Skills is no closer to discovering what has happened to 10,000 children who have disappeared from the rolls. OFSTED revealed in chief inspector Mike Tomlinson’s annual report last month that it had lost track of the children. The pupils, mainly aged 15 and 16, were being failed by the system, he said.
A DFES spokesperson said: “We don’t know who they are but we are co-operating with local services.”