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

Friday

17th Jan 2025

Is a HALO the key to improving attendance?
One MAT has created a new staff role, the home-academy liaison officer, to target persistent absence. Ellen Peirson-Hagger hears what it involves and what impact it is having
Illustration of people holding hands

Tuesday

14th Jan 2025

Ofsted to investigate why pupils with SEND are leaving education
Reviews will focus on pupils not in school, those receiving a part-time education and those who are severely absent
Ofsted to investigate why SEND pupils are leaving full-time education

Thursday

9th Jan 2025

Small drop in absence ‘but still a long way to go’
Pupil absence fell slightly last term, government data shows, but headteachers’ leaders warn investment in support services is needed
Empty egg carton

Wednesday

8th Jan 2025

Why the social role of schools has never been more important
Schools must be lighthouses in their community, piercing the darkness and helping all to see what is possible, says Star Academies CEO Sir Hamid Patel
People walking up to lighthouse in dark

Friday

20th Dec 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
New inquiry will seek solutions to SEND crisis
MPs will look at inclusion in mainstream schools, funding and alternatives to the EHCP system ‘without reducing support’
Inquiry set up to find solutions to the SEND crisis

Thursday

12th Dec 2024

Big rise in children missing education, DfE data shows
Meanwhile, separate DfE statistics show a sharp increase in children who are in elective home education
Big rise in children missing education, DfE data shows

Tuesday

10th Dec 2024

High rates of persistent pupil absence in Scottish schools
School attendance data shows slight improvement in persistent absence rates, but they remain at high levels compared with pre-Covid years
High rates of persistent pupil absence in Scottish schools

Wednesday

4th Dec 2024

Attendance: How England compares with the rest of the world
The latest Timss report includes data on school absence from 65 nations globally. Ellen Peirson-Hagger looks at where England ranks
Different chairs of the world
More than 300,000 children ‘missing from education’
The government should expand its plan for a not-in-school register to ensure that vulnerable children don’t ‘fall through the cracks’, says EPI report
More than 300,000 children missing from education system, experts warn

Wednesday

27th Nov 2024

Breakfast clubs: DfE urged not to repeat mistakes of NTP
The government needs to provide protected funding for breakfast clubs, ensure high-quality food standards and measure programme outcomes, says report
Labour has been urged to not to repeat mistakes of predecessors with breakfast club roll out.

Tuesday

26th Nov 2024

Absence fines regime ‘strengthens protections’ for SEND, says minister
Stephen Morgan also highlights schools moving to more flexible term times in debate on fines for unauthorised absence
Absence fines SEND