The drivers behind attendance: What we are learning about the importance of belonging, engagement, sanctions and support

You can listen to an audio version of this article above. Ciara Sims, School Partnerships Officer, ImpactEd Group, UK Discussions around improving attendance continue to dominate the education sector. Persistent absenteeism rates in the autumn term of 22/23 were at a record high of 24.2 per cent (Long and Danechi, 2023). There are few school leaders who don’t have attendance near the top of their priorities. The difficulty with tackling attendance is that it is context-dependent. Initiatives that work well for one pupil or one school may not in another. In the last issue of Impact, we shared what our evidence review on attendance shows about the importance of parental involvement. In this piece, we share what live research from over 200 schools across England is telling us about other key drivers of pupil absence. Understanding attendance: The context At ImpactEd Evaluation, we work with schools to help them to understand what’s working well in their context, and to ensure t