A new inquiry by the Education Select Committee is investigating the causes and possible solutions of persistent absence.

Persistent absence is an immediate issue facing schools across the country. According to the most recent data, almost one in four pupils missed more than 10 per cent of sessions in the autumn term of 2021, and 1.4 per cent of pupils missed at least 50 per cent of sessions.

We know these pupils are disproportionately more like to come from socio-economically disadvantaged backgrounds. So tackling persistent absence is an important part of improving education outcomes for this group.

In our submission, we set out what we know from existing research into improving attendance, drawing on a rapid evidence review we published last year. We also dig deeper into the evidence on specific approaches, such as mentoring and parental engagement.

Here are three key takeaways:

1) Schools in England use a large variety of strategies to improve pupil attendance.

2) Overall, the evidence on how effective different approaches are is weak, with very few high quality studies taking place in English schools.

3) There is some evidence of promise for parental engagement approaches and responsive interventions that meet the individual needs of the pupils.

Read our full submission below.

We’ve partnered with the Youth Endowment Fund to address these evidence gaps and find out more about what works to improve attendance and reduce exclusions. Together, we’ve launched five new research projects to add to the evidence base, including two randomised controlled trials.

Secondary schools in England can sign up to take part in:

• Grassroots, which aims to improve attendance by empowering well-connected pupils to positively impact their peers’ attitudes and behaviours.
• BITUP, which aims to improve attendance by sending personalised text messages to parents and carers updating them on the number of days of school their child has missed.
  

More trials and research projects will be launched later this year.