All schools in England will be assigned specific pupil attendance targets, and these will be monitored for the first time, the Department for Education (DfE) announced Thursday.
Last year, a trial involving specific attendance targets was conducted in many mainstream schools. While there will be no immediate penalties for schools that miss their targets, the DfE will contact those off-track to ensure they are aware and taking action. Schools identified as struggling may be directed to best practice guidance or encouraged to participate in local behavior and attendance hubs.
The education regulator, Ofsted, already incorporates overall attendance rates into its inspections.
In an opinion piece published in The Independent, newly appointed education minister Paul Waugh stated that recent attendance statistics indicate "progress has slowed over the past year," necessitating a "broader, smarter and more ambitious" government response. Waugh also mentioned that schools will gain access to enhanced data tools in the coming year to help them analyze individual pupil attendance records. This is intended to facilitate earlier identification of concerns and quicker interventions when students begin to disengage from regular attendance.
Waugh highlighted Fridays as a "particular weak spot for attendance," adding that he plans to investigate why absences due to illness are consistently higher at the end of each week. He urged schools to offer engaging clubs and enrichment activities on Fridays to maintain student engagement throughout the entire week.
Paul Whiteman, general secretary of the NAHT school leaders' union, commented that the latest attendance data illustrates "just how hard it is to drive absence rates back down to pre-pandemic levels." He stated that schools are already making significant efforts to encourage attendance, but it is not a problem they can resolve alone, nor will government targets be a definitive solution.
"The issue often has roots beyond the classroom, from illness and mental health challenges to poverty and unmet special educational needs," Whiteman added. He emphasized the importance of the government's forthcoming reforms to the SEND system in England in addressing these underlying issues.
Recent data also revealed that nearly 12% of pupils missed school during the week of June 22, coinciding with an exceptional heatwave in parts of England, which resulted in the highest absence rate of the year.