Secondary schools should prioritise “individualised approaches” including pastoral support, one-to-one check-ins, and lesson catch-up when addressing student absence – but should still recognise that sanctions have a role to play.
A research study based on the work of nine secondary schools with good attendance records has sought to identify “work works”.
It comes after the latest Department for Education data showed that levels of school absence are slowly improving, but that key vulnerable groups continue to struggle to attend – including young carers, disadvantaged students, and those with SEND.
However, the data also shows that while persistent absence (missing 10% of school) is slowly improving, severe absence (missing 50%) is getting worse.
The new research (Moore & Walker, 2025) has been published by the National Foundation for Educational Research (NFER) and is based on interviews with 11 senior leaders, 11 senior attendance champions and 85 students across the nine secondary schools.
The schools were chosen because they had maintained above-average attendance rates both before and after the pandemic or their absence rates had improved post-pandemic.
The study – which also includes the results of surveys involving more than 600 secondary school leaders and teachers – found that the main drivers of absence were illness, mental health issues, and term-time holidays.
When returning from absence, students told researchers that they valued having trusted staff members to talk to, while staff spoke of the importance of tailoring support to individual needs – including pastoral support, one-to-one check-ins, and lesson catch-up.
The report adds: “Strong relationships matter: Building positive, trusting relationships with pupils and parents and carers was essential for improving attendance and supporting reintegration after absence.”
The schools in the study differed in their approach. Some relied primarily on sanctions with attendance an “expectation rather than something to be rewarded”, while others combined sanctions and incentives.
Students in schools that relied heavily on sanctions – such as detentions, parental fines, and phone-calls home – were more likely to perceive attendance policies as unfair.
The report states: “Those in sanctions-led schools were more likely to perceive attendance policies as punitive and unfair, particularly if they felt their absences were due to circumstances beyond their control.
“The findings are consistent with emerging research which shows that a sense of belonging is important for pupils’ learning and behaviour … there is evidence that a sense of belonging can improve pupil attendance.”
Conversely, students in schools which combined incentives with sanctions told researchers that they felt motivated. The report adds: “This approach appeared to create a more balanced system, where attendance expectations were reinforced while also providing positive reinforcement for those who met them.”
Examples of incentives included prize draws, trips, pizza parties, stamps or badges, and prom attendance in year 11. However, the report warns against systems that only reward 100% attendance as pupils may fall short due to reasons outside of their control.
The report notes that the schools did use fines but mainly for those families taking term-time holidays: “Schools generally felt that fines were unhelpful in other circumstances – especially for families facing financial hardship, where money itself was a key barrier to attendance.”
This academic year the government has raised the fines for non-attendance to £80 (from £60). Under the new approach parents will only get up to two fines for the same child in a three-year period. But if they get a second fine in three years it will be at £160.
Elsewhere, the NFER findings suggest that the longer pupils are absent, the harder it is to return to school, with missed lessons a key source of anxiety for students – especially if they do not receive support with missed work after returning.
Official statistics show slow progress
The NFER’s findings come as official figures for the academic year 2023/24, published last week by the DfE, show that schools are making headway on attendance, but that progress is slow.
The figures show that exactly 20% of students were persistently absent, an improvement from 21.2% the previous academic year.
Broken down by phase, 2023/24 saw 14.6% persistent absence in primary schools and 25.6% in secondaries (down from 16.2% and 26.5% the year previously).
However, these percentages still compare poorly to 2018/19 – pre-pandemic – when 10.9% of students were persistently absent.
And as ever, the figures are notably worse for vulnerable and other groups, including:
- Young carers (37.7%)
- Free school meals (34.8%)
- Education, Health and Care Plans (35.5%)
- Certain ethnic minority groups, most notably Traveller (70.2%) and Gypsy Roma (62.7%)
- Older students including year 9 (27.5%), year 10 (28.3%), year 11 (29.2%)
When it comes to severe absence, the situation has worsened. Severe absence in 2023/24 stood at 2.3% – roughly 171,000 children and young people. This is up from 2% the year previously.
For these severely absent children, it means that the de facto end of the school year is February 4.
Overall in 2023/24, school absence stood at 7.1% – down from 7.4% the previous year, but again the figures compare poorly to 2018/19, when overall absence stood at 4.7%.
A second DfE statistical bulletin last week offered a snapshot of school attendance so far this academic year and reveals further slow yet steady progress. Persistent absence has improved again to 18.4%, while overall absence is also down again to 6.6%.
These figures show that persistent absence for the autumn term 2024 stood at 15.8% in primary schools and 22.6% in secondaries. Overall absence so far this academic year, meanwhile, stands at 5.2% in primary schools (1.4% unauthorised) and 8.1% in secondaries schools (3% unauthorised).
Recommendations for schools
The NFER study urges schools to strengthen pastoral support and mental health provision while also ensuring they provide lesson catch-up support, such as online lesson materials, teacher guidance, and structured sessions to help students reintegrate academically after an absence. This might include homework clubs or small-group support.
Strengthening parent and carer engagement should also be a priority, the report recommends: “Working closely with pupils and their parents or carers to understand the barriers to attendance was felt to be one of the most effective ways of supporting pupils back to school.”
This could include regular meetings, workshops, and home visits, the study suggests, while other support might include financial help with things like school uniform or transport, employing in-house social workers to offer family liaison and support, running parenting groups, and carrying out home visits.
The report adds: “These wraparound support strategies were seen as vital in addressing both practical and emotional barriers to attendance, ensuring that pupils felt supported, and families were engaged in their child’s education.”
NFER senior research manager and co-author of the report, Matt Walker, said: “Attendance is strongly linked to educational outcomes, so it’s concerning that absence rates remain high. The study responses suggest schools should consider prioritising encouraging and individualised approaches in addition to punitive sanctions.
“As part of the Curriculum and Assessment Review, it may be valuable to explore how wellbeing content can be effectively integrated into a diverse curriculum, and how, when delivered alongside extra-curricular activities, it can support attendance while maintaining high academic standards.
“This is particularly important for socio-economically disadvantaged young people, who may face additional barriers to engagement and attendance. Teachers want to support their pupils to achieve the best outcomes, but heavy workloads and limited resources can be significant barriers.”
Commenting this week on the latest attendance figures, Pepe Di’Iasio, general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders, welcomed “signs of improvement in some areas” but acknowledged that persistent absence remained “a real concern”.
He continued: “It’s vital that we return to the basic expectation of every child attending every day of school wherever possible. This is so important in developing good habits and establishing vital rhythms and routines for all young people.
“We need to accept that schools cannot solve this issue on their own and must set out clear expectations and plans for parents, government, schools and other agencies to work together in the best interests of young people. This must be backed with funding to ensure there is sufficient capacity in the system for all children to get any additional support they require to be able to attend school on a regular basis. Without investing in a strategic response to this issue, it is difficult to see how attendance rates are going to change at the scale required.”
Commenting on the stark attendance figures for young carers, the Carers Trust pointed out that young carers are missing 23 days of education every school year on average, compared to 13 for a student without a caring role. It also points out that unauthorised absences continue to be twice as high for young carers (5% vs 2.5%).
Andy McGowan, Carers Trust policy and practice manager, said: “The only way to tackle this is to vastly improve identification and support for carers across our education system. We are calling on the DfE to urgently set out their plan for improving identification and support for young carers. Introducing a Young Carers Lead in every school, who can coordinate identification and support for young carers, would be a vital step.”
- DfE: Week 10 2025: Pupil attendance in schools, March 2025: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/pupil-attendance-in-schools/2025-week-10
- DfE: Academic year 2023/24: Pupil absence in schools in England, March 2025: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/pupil-absence-in-schools-in-england/2023-24
- Moore & Walker: Voices from the classroom: Understanding how secondary schools support pupils returning from absence, NFER, March 2025: