| SPOTLIGHT |
The Department for Education (DfE) has announced that every state school in England will now share their daily attendance registers with the DfE, councils and trusts, in a bid to reduce pupil absence in school.
The sharing of registers will form a new attendance data set that will help schools spot and support children displaying “worrying trends” of persistent absence or those in danger of becoming missing in education, said the DfE.
The reforms, announced yesterday (29 February), are the next phase in the Government’s plan to improve attendance following the pandemic which has seen a rise in absence and persistent absence.
In September 2023, a report by the Education Committee revealed that the most recent full-year statistics (covering the 2021/22 academic year) showed an overall absence rate of 7.6%, up from around 4 - 5% pre-pandemic.
In that year, 22.5% of pupils were ‘persistently absent’, meaning they missed 10% or more of school sessions – around double the pre-pandemic rate, and 1.7% of all pupils were ‘severely absent’ compared to less than 1% pre-pandemic.
As part of the new regulations, the DfE announced that parent fines for unauthorised absences will be brought under a national framework to help tackle “inconsistencies” in their use.
A fine to parents must be considered if a child misses five days of school for unauthorised absence. Alongside this, costs for fines will go up from £60 to £80 if paid within 21 days and from £120 to £160 if paid in 28 days, said the Government.
Education Secretary Gillian Keegan said: “Our fantastic schools and teachers unlock children’s imagination, potential and social skills which is why improving attendance is my number one priority.
“Today we are taking that next step to further boost attendance and I want to thank those who are working with us including teachers and heads.
“Education standards have risen sharply across the country, with Ofsted ratings up from 68% to nearly 90% since 2010 - and pupils’ performance is ranked as some of the best globally - so it has never been more valuable to be in school.”
Lottie Winson
