As we near the end of the year, it feels like an appropriate time to reflect and consider again, the reasons for these statutory changes. Going to school regularly and being there on time isn’t just about ticking a box; it’s about giving our children the best possible start in life, nurturing their growth, and making sure they all get a fair chance to shine.

One of the biggest reasons why good school attendance is so vital is the way it opens doors to academic success. Time and again, research has shown us that there’s a strong link between how often a child is in school and how well they do. The Department for Education (DfE) reports the strong correlation between attendance and academic outcomes, on a regular basis. For example, in March this year, the DfE published a report, ‘The link between attendance and attainment in an assessment year’*, which indicates that:

• At primary school (Key Stage 2): Children who attend school nearly every day in Year 6 (95-100% attendance) are significantly more likely to reach the expected standard in reading, writing, and numeracy compared to similar pupils who attend 90-95% of the time. Missing just 10 days of Year 6 can reduce the odds of reaching the expected standard by around 25%.
• At secondary school (Key Stage 4): Year 11 pupils with near-perfect attendance are almost twice as likely to achieve grade 5 or above in English and Maths GCSE, compared to similar pupils attending 90-95% of the time. Missing just 10 extra days in Year 11 can reduce the likelihood of achieving these crucial grades by around 50%.

These findings underscore the tangible impact that consistent attendance has on a child’s educational journey and their future opportunities. To put this into perspective a little, let’s consider an attendance rate of 80%. In most aspects of school and education, a score of 80% is considered pretty high. An exam score of 80% would see a pupil achieving a grade 8 or 9 at GCSE and a grade A or A* at A Level, the top grades, pretty impressive. However, when it comes to attendance, a score of 80% is not so favourable. 

An 80% attendance score during a single week of school amounts to 4 days, or missing 1 day in that week. If this pattern continues so that a pupil misses 1 day every week on average, across the academic year she is missing a total of 34 or 35 days. In other words, 7 weeks of education. If that pattern continues further, across multiple years, in the time between starting the school in Year 7, for example, and leaving at the end of her A levels, she will have missed a grand total of 238 days, or 47 weeks, of school. To put it bluntly, she will have been absent from school for nearly an entire calendar year.

To make these figures bleaker still, if we consider that the average school year, at this school for example, is 35 weeks long, in terms of weeks spent in school, an attendance score of 80% means that the individual pupil will have missed out on more than an entire academic year of education across her time in school. Pupils in this scenario must either, spend their days in a constant state of playing catch up and desperately trying to plug the gaps in their knowledge and understanding to be able to keep up with the learning, or risk not understanding later concepts or theories within the curriculum and thus putting themselves at a significant disadvantage in their academic development. Even the most diligent of pupils would struggle to keep up against these challenges. 

When children are in school consistently, they’re more likely to really get to grips with new ideas, chip in during classroom discussions, and make the most of what their teachers are offering. They build their knowledge bit by bit, and this helps them avoid those gaps in understanding that can be so hard to fill later on. These gaps can lead to children feeling lost and discouraged, which, sadly, can make attendance even worse. In subjects like Maths and Science, where new knowledge and understanding builds on what came before, missing even a few lessons can leave a child feeling like they’re trying to climb a mountain in a storm.

To read more of this blog, please see here.

Miss Kneen
Deputy Head Pastoral