Education Endowment Foundation:Research Agenda theme: Attendance and Exclusions

Persistent absence and exclusion disproportionately affect the pupils we most want to support: those experiencing disadvantage, including pupils eligible for FSM and those with SEND, where needs and risks often overlap. These pupils are more likely to face barriers linked to behaviour, mental health, and socio-economic pressure. They are also more likely to be excluded or persistently absent. This compounds educational inequality and increases exposure to harm, including violence.

Post-pandemic policy priorities, heightened concern about youth violence and exclusions, and the findings from the Timpson Review all point to the need for stronger, more integrated support for vulnerable children, rather than reliance on exclusion alone.

Strong interest from the Department for Education and international partners, alongside the ongoing YEF – EEF partnership, reinforces both the urgency and the opportunity. Investing in scalable, school-led approaches to improve attendance and reduce absence – including exclusions – is a critical lever for improving attainment, wellbeing, and long-term outcomes for disadvantaged pupils.

Synthesis

We carried out substantial review and scoping work to strengthen our understanding of attendance and exclusions and to inform future investment in this area. This culminated in A Safe, Positive Place to Learn, a joint initiative with YEF, underpinned by a comprehensive evidence-gathering phase.

The scoping phase to inform the round involved:

• an internal Attendance Interventions Rapid Evidence Assessment, led by the EEF;
• a toolkit technical report on interventions to reduce exclusions, led by YEF; and
• a set of stakeholder engagement workshops, respectively with teachers (or other school staff), young people, and policy or academic representatives.

This body of work highlighted a wide range of potential levers, from targeted, needs-led and family-based approaches to whole-school strategies such as behaviour management, anti-bullying and social and emotional learning. It also surfaced significant gaps in the evidence, particularly the limited availability of high-quality UK-based research, the lack of robust evaluation of multi-component or whole-system approaches, and the scarcity of long-term outcome data.

Mobilisation

We’ve also focused on supporting schools to apply the evidence in practice. We developed an online resource, Supporting School Attendance, to help schools reflect on their current approaches and plan effective attendance strategies.

Alongside this, the Research Schools Network worked closely with the Department for Education, contributing to regional attendance conferences in Spring 2025 and sharing practical guidance on effective implementation. Many Research Schools have also produced additional resources and hosted events focused on improving attendance, behaviour and pupils’ sense of belonging.

Our funding rounds

A Safe, Positive Place to Learn was a joint EEF – YEF funding round in Spring 2022 to build the evidence on how best to support children and young people aged 5 – 18-years-old who are at highest risk of absenteeism and exclusion, particularly those from disadvantaged or vulnerable backgrounds. We funded school-wide and targeted approaches to improving attendance, engagement and school inclusion, with the aim of improving attainment and reducing the risk of involvement in violence.

The priorities identified as part of the round were:

• Anti-bullying programmes: prevent or reduce bullying by supporting both potential perpetrators and victims, often using whole-school and targeted approaches.
• Classroom behaviour management: embed strategies to maintain discipline, foster a supportive environment, and promote positive student behaviour.
• Internal alternative provision: help at-risk children stay in school through on-site nurture units and teacher support for behavioural needs.
• Needs-led attendance interventions: address individual reasons for low attendance through targeted, often multi-agency, support.
• Parent/​carer communication interventions: provide personalised information and tools to improve parent – child communication and support regular attendance.
• Social and emotional learning: improve behaviour, decision-making and interactions, with targeted focus on pupils at risk of absenteeism or exclusion.
• Targeted family engagement: collaboratively work with families to identify attendance barriers and provide intensive, tailored support.

A series of pilots and efficacy trials are testing approaches focused on:

• anti-bullying;
• classroom and peer behaviour;
• parental communication; and
• targeted social and emotional learning, and trauma-informed provision designed to reduce exclusions.
  

In addition, School Choices projects are examining the impact of Attendance and Family Liaison Officers, Internal Alternative Provision in secondary schools, and school behaviour policies that contribute to an authoritative school climate.

Prior to this joint funding round, the EEF had also supported programmes where attendance featured as a secondary outcome, most notably Learning Together (Inclusive), which showed promising impacts on school belonging and reductions in truancy and disciplinary involvement. An efficacy trial of Learning Together Mental Health, an enhanced whole-school mental health approach, is now being set up and is expected to further explore impacts on attendance and engagement.