New research focuses on challenges of persistent absence

Several new pieces of research have sought to shine a light on the various ways in which persistent absence is affecting schools and pupils.

A new report from the Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR) and education charity The Difference sets out ‘a plan to end the rapid rise in absence, exclusions and the special educational needs crisis that all drive lost learning’. New analysis for the report, Who is losing learning?, finds that children lost 6.8 million days of learning in the autumn term before the Covid pandemic (2019/20) due to suspensions and absences, but this rose sharply to 11.5 million days in the same period in 2023/24 - an increase of 67 per cent. Recent figures still show a sharp increase, with a rise of 10 per cent between the autumn terms of 2022/23 and 2023/24 alone, and with the most vulnerable and disadvantaged children impacted the most.

Among the measures which the report proposes to tackle this problem is £850 million of government investment in inclusion over five years. Modelling for the report suggests that £850 million of funding for mainstream school inclusion would provide half a million children with quicker support, reduce lost learning and improve outcomes - and pay for itself by 2030 by reducing the need for 35,000 Education, Health and Care Plans (EHCPs). The authors also call for legislation which would require monitoring whenever a child is moved out of their school, with the aim of ensuring it would always be known where (and whether) the most vulnerable children are being educated. They would also like to see changes to schools' admission policies, ensuring intakes better reflect a school’s local community. The full report is available here: https://tinyurl.com/ms4shtyt

Meanwhile a new report from the Education Policy Institute (EPI), Breaking down the gap (available here: https://tinyurl.com/2nuk228v) found that pupil absence is ‘a key, and growing, driver of the disadvantage gap’. The disadvantage gap is the relative attainment gap between disadvantaged pupils and non-disadvantaged pupils. At age 16 it has grown by 0.5 months since 2019 (to 18.6 months in 2023). The EPI report contends that this can be entirely explained by higher levels of absence for disadvantaged pupils. The attainment gap is also widening for the youngest pupils with special educational needs, with pupils on SEN support in Reception year falling 0.7 months behind their peers between 2019 and 2023. The report proposes that the government should develop a new absence strategy which addresses root causes. This should include improved SEND identification, better mental health support in and outside of schools, and fostering pupils’ sense of school belonging. 

Elsewhere, new DfE research, The link between attendance and attainment in an assessment year (available here: https://tinyurl.com/43cx6sc5) has found the likelihood of year 11 pupils achieving at least a grade 5 in English and maths is almost double if their attendance is over 95 per cent, compared to those who miss between 5 and 10 per cent of sessions. The researchers analysed both school census data and exam/test results, using a model which controlled for the effect of other factors which may affect a pupil’s attainment. (The researchers do note however that they found ‘strong evidence that other factors may affect a pupil’s attainment’, for example SEND or eligibility for free school meals.)

Speaking about the challenge of persistent absence for schools, NASUWT general secretary Patrick Roach said: ‘High levels of persistent absence are one of the biggest challenges facing teachers and one of the biggest threats to the quality of education and children’s future life chances……But schools cannot deal with the problem of persistent absence alone.’ He called on the government to do more: ‘The Government must make it a national mission to tackle absence from school and to make regular school attendance the norm, not the exception, for all children and young people.’