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

25th Sep 2025

How the system forgot about white working-class girls
While the underachievement of white working-class boys has attracted political attention, the struggles of disadvantaged white girls continue to be overlooked. School leaders tell 91¶¶Òõ why this needs to change
Girls in classroom

Friday

12th Sep 2025

The hidden problem inside the attendance crisis
Internal truancy is a drain on teachers’ time and resources, harms pupils’ life chances – and could be about to get worse, a 91¶¶Òõ investigation reveals
Boy sitting on the ground using his phone
Exclusive

Monday

8th Sep 2025

Introduce attendance awareness classes for parents, says report
Report calls for action to reestablish the importance of school attendance amid concerns that almost half of parents think it is ‘reasonable’ for a child to be persistently absent
Parents could be made to take part in school attendance awareness classes, according to a new think-tank report.

Friday

5th Sep 2025

Tom Bennett: strict rules ‘dovetail perfectly’ with inclusion
The DfE attendance and behaviour ambassador defends his record and tells 91¶¶Òõ why he wants to check on teacher-training providers
Tom Bennett
Exclusive

Thursday

4th Sep 2025

Pressure to be online causes pupils to miss school, report finds
Fines and sanctions can improve attendance in the short term, but risk alienating pupils and damaging trust in staff
Young girl in bed on phone

Tuesday

2nd Sep 2025

Could ‘school bonding’ be the key to fixing attendance?
As the DfE urges schools to ‘double down’ on attendance, US researcher Carolyn Gentle-Genitty explains how a focus on ‘school bonding’ could help
Three chairs together

Sunday

31st Aug 2025

Behaviour and attendance ambassadors appointed
Tom Bennett and Jayne Lowe have been announced as the government’s national attendance and behaviour ambassadors
Tom Bennett and Jayne Lowe

Wednesday

27th Aug 2025

School anxiety ‘a big factor’ in ASN pupils’ absence
Children with additional support needs who are not attending school often lack ‘appropriate support and positive relationships with trusted adults’, says report
School anxiety is a major factor in ASN pupils' absence, research shows

Wednesday

20th Aug 2025

Disadvantaged white pupils have ‘particularly poor’ outcomes
Educational inequality has become ‘more pronounced’ since Covid, warns report highlighting the low attainment of disadvantaged white pupils
Disadvantaged white pupils have 'particularly poor' education outcomes, says research

Tuesday

12th Aug 2025

School absence ‘most damaging’ in transition period
Pupil absence because of illness is just as detrimental to academic achievement as unauthorised absence, according to new research
Wellbeing absence child sitting on bench

Monday

11th Aug 2025

How to help struggling pupils back to school
Two projects in Scotland demonstrate the power of counselling in the community to address emotionally based school avoidance, says Fiona McFarlane
Girl at school fence

Thursday

7th Aug 2025

School attendance improves but ‘still a long way to go’
Official figures show a year-on-year rise in pupil attendance, but severe absence remains on an ‘alarmingly upward trajectory’, warns the Centre for Social Justice
Stacks of chairs