Attendance policy · 2024

Working Together to Improve School Attendance

Attendance expectations became more formalised in statutory guidance.

Attendance policy became sharper, while many families were still asking why children could not attend.

Simple version

Recent attendance guidance in England set out expectations for schools, local authorities and families around improving school attendance.

Why it matters

This matters because attendance pressure sits directly inside the SEND crisis. Some children are absent because education is inaccessible, unsafe, overwhelming or unsupported.

Awareverse lens

Awareverse asks the missing question: is this an attendance problem, or an access problem showing up as absence?

Common mistake

A common mistake is treating attendance as a number before understanding the child's reality.

Question to ask

Who had power here, who was left outside, and what would have changed if the human being was seen first?

Connected topics

These deep dives open out from this part of the timeline.