By GB News (World News) | Created at 2026-09-20 12:49:13 | Updated at 2026-09-20 13:44:23
1 hour ago
More than 2,000 small robots costing £3,500 each are now stationed in classrooms across England, serving as stand-ins for children whose anxiety prevents them from physically attending school.
The devices, known as AV1 and manufactured by Norwegian company No Isolation, enable pupils to participate in lessons remotely from their homes
A significant proportion of the children using them suffer from what is termed "emotionally based school avoidance" (EBSA) — a persistent inability to attend school rooted in anxiety.
At least 80 local authorities have adopted the technology since the Department for Education first commissioned it in 2019.
According to No Isolation, 76 per cent of pupils using the robots have successfully transitioned back into the classroom this year.
The AV1 is equipped with a camera, microphone and speaker, all controlled by the pupil through an app on their device at home.
Teachers position the robot at the child's regular desk and interact with them as if they were physically present, directing questions to the device just as they would to any other student.
From home, the child can respond verbally and swipe their screen to rotate the robot's head a full 360 degrees.
Robots made by No Isolation are being used by UK councils to allow anxious children to join lessons from home
NO ISOLATION
A "whisper mode" feature allows the absent pupil to speak privately to a neighbouring classmate without the rest of the room hearing.
Crucially, the camera operates in one direction only — the child at home can observe and listen to the lesson, but their own image is never broadcast to the classroom.
The technology was originally designed to keep hospitalised children connected to their classrooms before being adopted more broadly by English schools.
Devon County Council purchased 16 units last year for pupils struggling with "worry, anxiety and overwhelm," while councils in Somerset, Dorset, Haringey and Islington have also deployed the robots for EBSA cases, according to council documents seen by The Mail on Sunday.
The technology was originally designed to keep hospitalised children connected to classrooms
NO ISOLATION
Among the most enthusiastic adopters is Moulsham High School in Chelmsford, Essex, which now has 20 AV1 devices in use.
In a promotional video produced by No Isolation, students at the school praised the impact the robots had on their education and wellbeing. The school's experience reflects a wider pattern of growing institutional confidence in the technology across the country.
One Year 11 pupil featured in the video said: "I wasn't accessing school for a few months due to anxiety. Without the AV1, I don't think I'd be at the level I am at the moment."
The student described initial nervousness but explained the device helped them recognise that "lessons weren't actually that bad" and aided their reintegration into the classroom. "I'm attending every day, due to the AV1," they added.
Mark Blenkin, deputy headteacher at Moulsham High School, offered a similarly positive assessment. "It's a tried and tested method now. It's part and parcel of school," he said, suggesting the robots have become a routine element of the school's approach to tackling persistent absence driven by anxiety.
The robots are being deployed against a backdrop of deepening attendance problems in English schools. A record 151,000 pupils were absent for at least half of the academic year last year, up sharply from a pre-pandemic low of 60,247. Overall attendance rates, which consistently exceeded 95 per cent before Covid, have slipped to 93 per cent in 2025-26.
The number of severely absent children with social, emotional and mental health needs has more than tripled over six years, rising from 8,453 to 27,442. Labour responded last month by announcing individualised attendance targets for every school in England, alongside encouragement for "Friday clubs" to boost end-of-week turnout.
Morten Jorgensen, head of No Isolation, described school absence as "one of the biggest challenges for the education system," attributing much of it to the rise in emotionally based non-attendance.
