Attendance

The latest news and professional advice on school attendance, including analysis of attendance data and shared practice on tackling pupil absence and internal truancy

Thursday

19th Sep 2024

5 practical steps our school took to boost attendance
From data analysis to minibus pickups, a principal explains how her school boosted attendance to over 90%
5 practical steps our school took to boost attendance

Wednesday

11th Sep 2024

Why you can’t separate attendance from mental health and SEND
To improve attendance, schools need to understand how it interacts with mental health and SEND and build systems of support accordingly, argues Professor Tamsin Ford
Attendance, SEND and mental health: a complex interplay

Monday

9th Sep 2024

Scotland’s primary school attendance crisis - and what to do about it
Falling attendance in primary schools has serious implications for the education sector as a whole, warns primary principal teacher Tom Mackenzie-Chalmers
Scottish absence

Friday

6th Sep 2024

Higher absence ‘will remain until Covid generation leaves school’
The ‘shock’ caused by restrictions introduced during the pandemic in 2020 could take ‘seven years to erode’, researchers warn
Covid generation attendance

Thursday

5th Sep 2024

Absence during school transition ‘is especially harmful’
New research warns against focusing only on chronic or persistent pupil absence, saying that moderate absences ‘accumulate over time and significantly impact achievement’
Absence during transition to secondary ‘especially harmful’, finds new research
SEND: New attendance rules are unfair on vulnerable students
The government’s focus on improving attendance is understandable, but the blunt approach risks alienating those most in need, warns Margaret Mulholland
SEND: The new attendance rules are unfair on vulnerable students
Most schools worried about internal truancy
Analysis shows rise in suspensions and exclusions compared with the same time in the previous year
child peeping out from behind chair

Friday

30th Aug 2024

Pupil absence: new regulations on fines
A lawyer explains the updated government regulations relating to unauthorised pupil absences
Parking fine

Wednesday

28th Aug 2024

Attainment and school attendance down for looked-after children
Rate of exclusions among looked-after pupils has also increased for the first time in 12 years, and is almost six times the overall rate
Lone pupil in playground

Friday

23rd Aug 2024

GCSEs 2024: Teachers’ efforts hindered by anxiety and absence
Schools continue to face long-lasting impacts of the pandemic, including worsening mental health and high absence, leaders warn
Bike in mud

Tuesday

20th Aug 2024

EPI: Schools need guidance for pupils with multiple suspensions
Impact of suspensions called into question as students removed from the classroom are more than twice as likely to fail to achieve a level 3 qualification, research finds
Outside headmaster's office

Thursday

15th Aug 2024

New Scottish behaviour plan advises ‘high warmth and high standards’
‘Culture shift’ in behaviour management has made teachers feel ‘disempowered’, says plan, which backs ‘relationships-based approaches’ and barely mentions exclusions
Comforting little girl pupil