Headteachers need more support if they are to persuade reluctant pupils to come back
Pretty much everyone with a stake in schools is worried about the current high rate of absenteeism: politicians, school leaders, academic researchers and many parents. The pattern has been clear for a while. The proportion of pupils classified as persistently absent (missing more than one in 10 lessons) has more than doubled in England since the pandemic. From 10.9% in 2018-19, it rose to 22.3% in 2022-23. Data in Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales is collected separately because education is devolved, but indicates a similar trend. This week’s report from the research agency Public First, probing attitudes through discussions with focus groups, called the situation a “full-blown national crisis”.
The concern is justified. As the teacher and writer Lola Okolosie observed recently, school is “an anchor to society”. As well as providing lessons, school is where children learn to be with other people. Since the pupils most likely to be absent include those on free school meals and with special educational needs, low attendance is a form of social exclusion.
