Report suggests ways to tackle school absence crisis

A report published by Child of the North and Anne Longfield’s Centre for Young Lives think tank puts forward new recommendations to tackle the school absence crisis.

The report highlights how vulnerable children and children from disadvantaged areas of the UK are at higher risk of not being in school, and calls on the new Government to focus its school absence strategy on earlier identification and intervention with children most at risk of persistent absence.

The report comes a few days after the most recent Department for Education data showed around 150,000 children in England are missing a half or more of their time at school. .

The report warns that the current national approach to tackling school absence is far too punitive and uniform. Many headteachers say that strategies used prior to the pandemic to tackle school absence are no longer as effective as they were before 2020.

Between 2015-2016 and 2023-24, the overall school absence rate rose in England by 57%. The report highlights how school absence in primary school is linked to greater school absence in a child’s later years. It also reveals how there are higher levels of school absence in disadvantaged areas. For example, rates of unauthorised absence were 34% higher in the North of England than the South of England.

The report argues that the reasons for children being absent from school are complex and there are often a multitude of risk factors leading to absence, including larger issues of inequality and deprivation, marginalisation, Special Educational Needs, mental health challenges, tooth decay, and family and parental factors.

The report also shows how vulnerable children are at increased risk of school absence. For the 2023-24 academic year, persistent non-attendance rates were 20.7% overall, increasing to 37% for pupils from disadvantaged backgrounds and 35.7% for those receiving free school meals.

The report recommends that central and local government should support schools to implement early identification of students at risk of persistent absence, focusing on those from disadvantaged backgrounds, children with special educational needs (SEND), and those living in high-deprivation areas. Interventions should include targeted support plans, regular attendance monitoring, and collaboration between schools, social services, and health providers to address underlying issues such as mental health and family stress.

Schools should establish early screening methods to identify at-risk pupils before attendance issues escalate. In some cases, mentoring programmes, where trained mentors provide both academic and emotional support, should be offered.

Government – via frameworks such as Ofsted – should reward schools that promote inclusive environments that emphasise relational approaches, helping pupils feel valued and safe. Ensuring that children feel connected to their school community can improve attendance rates and reduce disengagement. This should include supporting schools to provide extracurricular activities, enrichment programmes, peer support systems, and volunteer opportunities to help children feel engaged and develop a sense of identity within the school.

The report also suggests that national and local government should encourage closer collaboration between education, healthcare, and social services to provide integrated support for students facing complex challenges. Schools should serve as hubs for receiving multi-agency assistance, ensuring that health and social issues are addressed within the school setting, reducing barriers to attendance, and improving overall wellbeing. There needs to be coordinated support of multiple agencies, and building of multi-agency partnerships, involving local authorities, community organisations, and healthcare services. These partnerships can help identify the root causes of absenteeism—whether due to mental health, family circumstances, or other factors—and the networks can then work collaboratively to provide targeted, individualised support. Local Authorities should play a central role in facilitating this approach.