Raising school attendance

Adults may not think much about school attendance as they themselves went to school diligently and so do (or did) their children. However, a minority of children and young people persistently miss school, with the figure varying from about 2 to 10 per cent of the school population. Poor life outcomes are associated with this group, and the government sets ever higher attendance targets for schools to meet. This article discusses why schools can find it hard to meet these targets and argues that much more needs to be understood about attendance difficulties if the group of persistent absentees is to be helped into education.