School attendance among children with neurodevelopmental conditions a year after the COVID-19 pandemic

Education changed dramatically due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Schools closed in 2019/20. There was compulsory return to school in September 2020 with measures in place to control infection and new regulations about COVID-19-related absences.

School attendance in the first term of 2020-21 was lower compared to other years. Many children were de-registered from school. In early 2020-21, there was a second prolonged period of national school closures. The pandemic has caused many disruptions to children's education.

Children with neurodevelopmental conditions (NDCs), in particular intellectual disability and autism, are the most vulnerable of vulnerable groups. Among children with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND), children with intellectual disability and/or autism consistently struggle to meet the required standards in education. Our study will focus on these two groups of children.

Before the pandemic, many children with NDCs missed school. Then the pandemic disrupted everyone's education. Approximately one year after the pandemic started, we will investigate the educational experiences of children with NDCs. Our project will investigate: - School absence and reasons for absence among children with intellectual disability and/or autism

- Child, family, and school factors associated with school absence - Barriers and facilitators of school attendance - Parents' experiences of home schooling

An online survey will collect data from approximately 1,500 parents of 5 to 17-year-old children with NDCs across all 4 UK countries. We will recruit parents of: (i) children registered with a school in spring/summer 2021; (ii) children not registered with a school in spring/summer 2021 but who were registered with a school at the start of the pandemic in March 2020; and (iii) children not registered with a school on either date.

We will collect data on school attendance for those registered with a school, and data on home learning experiences for those not registered with a school. For all children, we will collect data on their mental health.

The first analysis will investigate school absence with a focus on children registered with a school. We will summarise school absence data as well as reasons for absence as reported by the parents. The second analysis will investigate school attendance: attending school or home schooling.

We will describe the children currently registered to attend school (group 1), those not currently registered who were registered in March 2020 at the start of the pandemic (group 2), and those not registered on either point (group 3). We will summarise the reasons parents give for de-registering their child from school. Our final analysis will focus on home learning support during home schooling.

We will describe the types of support schools offer to school-registered students during remote learning (when students are self-isolating/shielding, or schools are closed because of lockdown). We will describe the home learning experiences of school de-registered children and parents' satisfaction with these arrangements.

We will work closely with parents of children with NDCs, seeking their advice on the study. Our team includes the Council for Disabled Children, the largest umbrella organization in the UK bringing together many charities supporting disabled children and their families. We will share the study findings widely, including key messages for policies related to the education of children with special educational needs and disabilities.