The absence gap between disadvantaged pupils and their peers widens during the primary to secondary transition, new analysis has shown today.
Research by FFT Education Datalab looking at absence data for the last two academic years showed that the difference in absence between disadvantaged pupils and their peers grew to 4.8 percentage points in Year 7, compared with a 3 percentage point gap in Year 6.
The findings come after recent government data revealed that overall pupil absence has increased, with disadvantaged students’ rates at almost double that of their peers.
It also follows comments made earlier this year by Department of Education school system minister Baroness Barran, who said that she was seeing “green shoots” of progress in tackling attendance problems as pupils moved from primary to secondary schools.
Higher frequency of absence among poorer pupils
Absence among non-disadvantaged pupils increased by 0.2 percentage points between the two year groups, according to FFT’s sample of around 200,000 attendance records for pupils who moved from primary to secondary between 2022-23 and 2023-24.
However, for disadvantaged pupils - which was measured in this data set by free school meal (FSM) eligibility in the past six years - the increase rose to 2 percentage points.
FFT has estimated that around two-thirds of the gap between disadvantaged and non-disadvantaged pupils in Year 7 was related to pupils having different patterns of absence in Year 6.
Disadvantaged pupils tended to have a higher frequency of absence than other pupils in Year 6, which continued into Year 7, the blog has outlined.
While around 40 per cent of non-disadvantaged pupils were off six times or more, this increased to 60 per cent of disadvantaged pupils.
“This emphasises the importance of Year 7 teams having really good data and sharing practices with their feeder primary schools so that they know the pupils who have a history of problems with attendance,” FFT statistician Katie Beynon said.
However, around a third of the absence gap between disadvantaged pupils and their peers can’t be explained by looking at data, researchers said.
“It could be something unique to the transition - for instance, disadvantaged pupils may be more susceptible to the disruption that occurs around that change point,” Ms Beynon explained.
“Or it could be something that is underlying the whole time that we just can’t measure, such as parental support,” she continued.
Transition teams’ personal touch is important
The fact that part of the absence gap can not be explained with data “shows the importance of that kind of personal touch that so many transition teams do so well”, Ms Beynon said.
This includes “meeting parents, meeting children, making sure that the children visit the school, giving them a tour and looking out for them,” she continued, adding that these are things that many transition teams are already doing.
The findings come after schools minister Damian Hinds admitted last month that “faster progress” is needed to fix the absence problem.
Mr Hinds was speaking to Tes as the government unveiled a new data “tool” for schools to help them spot pupil absence trends, following commitments to roll out 18 more school attendance hubs and a £15 million expansion of its mentor programme for persistently absent children.
Paul Whiteman, general secretary of the NAHT school leaders’ union, said: “Schools alone cannot directly address the root causes of pupil absence.
“We also need to see more government investment in vital community services like mental health and social care - where funding simply hasn’t kept pace with demand - alongside a determined focus on tackling alarming levels of child poverty.”
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