Source · Select Committees · Public Accounts Committee
Recommendation 2
2
Accepted in Part
Develop understanding of reasons for higher absence rates among disadvantaged pupils and take action
Recommendation
Effective recovery relies on pupils being at school but absence is higher than it was before the COVID-19 pandemic, particularly among disadvantaged pupils. In the autumn and spring terms of 2021/22, the average absence rate for all pupils was 7.4%, compared with 4.5% for the same terms before the pandemic in 2018/19. For disadvantaged pupils, the rate was 10.4% in 2021/22, compared with 7.2% in 2018/19. The Department says that attendance rates are improving as levels of illness reduce. It is trying to tackle pupil absence in several ways, with leadership being provided by the Attendance Action Alliance which brings together stakeholders from across the school system. The Department believes it has set strong expectations and made clear that responsibility for attendance is shared between parents, schools and local authorities. It is collecting better data, drawn directly from schools’ own systems, which it can look at in detail in real time. It also provides data back to schools to allow them to benchmark themselves against other schools. Recommendation 2: The Department should develop a better understanding of why disadvantaged pupils have higher rates of absence than others and, in addition to its ongoing work on attendance, take targeted action to reduce absence rates among disadvantaged pupils.
Government Response Summary
The government accepts the recommendation to develop a better understanding of why disadvantaged pupils have higher absence rates, committing to build on existing analysis by July 2024. However, it disagrees with the need for *new* targeted action, stating that comprehensive measures and existing programmes (like HAF and Pupil Premium) already address this.
Government Response
Accepted in Part
HM Government
Accepted in Part
2.1 The government agrees with the Committee’s recommendation. Target implementation date: July 2024 2.2 Over the academic year 2023-24, the department will build on existing absence analysis and use available data to develop a better understanding of why disadvantaged pupils have higher rates of absence than others, including in identifying any new post-pandemic trends. 2.3 The government disagrees with the Committee's recommendation. 2.4 The department is strongly committed to reducing absence among disadvantaged pupils. The current approach includes comprehensive measures and a system-wide strategy that is already supplemented by targeted action to address the underlying causes of absence rates among disadvantaged pupils. New guidance places an expectation on schools to use data to identify at-risk pupils, then work with families to support absent students, while local authorities are required to establish an attendance support team and hold termly meetings with every school to plan interventions for children at risk of persistent or severe absence. 2.5 These expectations provide a framework for identifying children who need additional support. They are supplemented via targeted programmes that will particularly benefit disadvantaged pupils. These include the Holiday Activities and Food (HAF) programme (£200 million annually), the National School Breakfast Programme (£30 million) and - to address wider multiple challenges - the Supporting Families programme (an additional £200 million). The government has also committed to investing £2.6 billion via the Special Educational Needs and Disability (SEND) and Alternative Provision (AP) improvement plan, and £2.9 billion annually in pupil premium funding, the latter of which can be used to address non-academic barriers such as attendance difficulties.