Strategies for managing attendance

Read about one-off and seasonal events that might impact attendance throughout the school year. Download our communications calendar to plan your strategy in advance, and find resources, templates and tips to work with parents/carers and decrease absence in your school.

Understand how to support pupils struggling with their mental health to attend school, and what to do when they feel like they can’t. Read about your next steps on a whole-school level, how to work with parents and carers, and find helpful tips for supporting individual pupils.

Support pupils to improve their attendance with our template reintegration plan. Get guidance on how to work with the pupil and their family to create an effective plan that's tailored to the individual's barriers to attendance.

Learn how 1 school has managed to improve its attendance by up to 10%, and see if any of the strategies it uses could also work for you.

Get to grips with flexi-schooling, including what to consider before accepting a request from parents/carers, and what to include in a formal agreement. Find out what Ofsted will want to know about flexi-schooling arrangements for pupils registered at your school.

Discover how to develop and implement a proactive, data-based approach to attendance, so you can lift out of the ‘day-to-day’ and make significant improvements to attendance in the long term.

Get expert advice to help you improve attendance and behaviour in the sixth form. Read a case study to find out how a sixth form improved standards of attendance and behaviour.

Understand what internal truancy is and how to address the issue at a whole-school level. Find tips on creating a welcoming classroom environment, monitoring incidents and using sanctions.

Understand how to work in partnership with parents and carers to build trusting relationships that can improve pupils’ attendance and keep it high.

Get to grips with part-time timetables, including when they and can't be used, and what you need to consider before, during and after placing a pupil on one. Be ready to discuss with Ofsted the arrangements you have for any pupils currently on a part-time timetable.

Get to grips with the DfE’s RISE attendance and behaviour hubs, and learn the difference between regional and enhanced support. Find out how to register your interest.

Use our practical tips to help tackle poor attendance in your school. While these aren't intended to be a quick fix, you can put most of them into practice without overhauling your whole strategy.

When you're concerned about a pupil's attendance, follow these steps to help you get to the bottom of the issue. Find out how to work with the pupil and their parents/carers, and then use what you’ve found to create a bespoke reintegration plan.