Understanding Attendance - Report 1
Discover the barriers to school attendance and the strategies you can put in place to improve outcomes for all your children.
Report 1 - Understanding Attendance: Findings on the drivers of pupil absence from over 30,000 young people in England
In the 2022-23 academic year, 22.3% of all pupils were persistently absent.
To address this, ImpactEd Evaluation launched Understanding Attendance, a national project helping schools and Trusts to identify the underlying drivers of pupil absence in their settings, and supporting them to assess the impact of their interventions.
Report 1 of Understanding Attendance provides insights on Phase One of the project, looking at attendance rates of over 200,000 pupils and surveys from 30,000 young people during the Autumn term 2023.
What's inside
Report 1 draws on findings from Phase One of the project in which 126 schools across England are taking part in our attendance diagnostic exercise, with pupils completing academically validated questionnaires to assess which drivers are most predictive of pupils' attendance in their settings.
The findings from this report draw out three emerging patterns:
- Sense of belonging is a key driver of attendance across all contexts.
- There is an emerging challenge of the ‘second transition’ from Year 7 to Year 8 that deserves greater attention.
- Attendance drivers are intersectional.
We are expanding the Understanding Attendance project to help more schools and Trusts analyse the drivers of attendance and access effective strategies. The more schools that participate in the project, the clearer the picture will become. To participate in the project, register your interest here.
More from the series
Impact in Practice - Report 1
Impact in Practice is a research series sharing real-time data on pupil learning and wellbeing in England, providing practical insights on how schools can make a difference.
Impact in Practice - Report 2
Impact in Practice is a research series sharing real-time data on pupil learning and wellbeing in England, providing practical insights on how schools can make a difference.
Impact in Practice - Report 3
Impact in Practice is a research series sharing real-time data on pupil learning and wellbeing in England, providing practical insights on how schools can make a difference.
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Want to hear more about ImpactEd Evaluation? Get in touch for a conversation with a member of our team.
