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

2nd Apr 2026

Disadvantaged high-achievers miss more time in secondary school
Gaps in outcomes between high-achieving pupils from disadvantaged and more affluent backgrounds emerge in secondary school, research shows
Pupil absence

Tuesday

31st Mar 2026

Most secondary teachers ‘regularly’ see mental health-related absence
More than three-quarters of teachers also routinely see their students experiencing ‘social difficulties’, according to NEU survey on mental health in schools
Most secondary teachers routinely see student absence related to mental health, research shows

Thursday

26th Mar 2026

Severe absence in schools reaches record high
Annual DfE data for pupil absence indicates overall improvement in the attendance rate, but severe absence continues to rise
Severe absence in schools reaches record high
How to help autistic children with EBSA back into school
Emotionally based school avoidance is often a particular problem for autistic students, writes educational psychologist Sue Sheppard, but there are ways for schools to offer support
Girl with pink rollerskates

Tuesday

24th Mar 2026

Parent contact is ‘unmanageable’, say nearly a fifth of teachers
Schools should not be ‘call centres’, warns teaching union as research reveals that nearly half of SLT staff spend more than 30 minutes a week calling parents
1 in 5 teachers spend up to an hour a week calling parents
Exclusive

Monday

23rd Mar 2026

Attendance target not ‘ambitious’ enough, government warned
Children’s commissioner is among those calling on ministers to restore absence to pre-Covid levels
Improvement

Thursday

19th Mar 2026

National guidance advises complete ban on vapes in Scottish schools
Schools told of legal responsibility to dispose of vapes and lithium batteries safely in new government guidance that also addresses other substances and their use in schools
National guidance advises complete ban on vapes in Scottish schools

Wednesday

11th Mar 2026

Small number of pupils fuels soaring unauthorised absence rates
The trend is most pronounced at secondary, where almost half of unauthorised absence is down to students who were missing from school without permission 15 times or more in a year
Pupil absence

Friday

6th Mar 2026

How we made enrichment part of the timetable
Want pupils to have more time for learning beyond the curriculum? Then you have to ensure it’s part of the school day, say these two trust leaders
Children in dance class

Wednesday

4th Mar 2026

How peer relationships play a role in closing attendance gaps
New data shows how, for disadvantaged students and those with SEND, in particular, friendship can be an enabler to support attendance, explains Lauren Bellaera
How peer relationships play a role in closing attendance gaps

Friday

27th Feb 2026

Schools White Paper: when will the plans be delivered?
Tes sets out the timeline for key reforms included in this week’s schools White Paper and associated plans to overhaul the SEND system
Schools White Paper: Target dates for implementation

Friday

20th Feb 2026

AI attendance targets yet to reach many schools
Findings are further proof that the government rollout of AI-generated attendance targets for individual schools has been ‘botched’, says leaders’ union
AI Attendance Reports
Exclusive