Fifteen thousand GCSE pupils were missing from school last year, according to a report about teen drop-outs. Wasted Education, by right-wing think-tank the Bow Group, found that 6,000 teenagers aged 14 in 2005 had disappeared from school within a year, and 70,000 who were enrolled for GCSEs did not turn up. Chris Skidmore, co-author of the report, blamed a “relentless focus on the academic curriculum” and grades.
