Unauthorised Absences (Schools)
To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to reduce the number of unauthorised absences from schools. (S6T-02302)
Unauthorised absence from school is primarily a responsibility of parents and carers, who have legal obligations to ensure their child receives an efficient education, as is set out in the Education (Scotland) Act 1980.
Local authorities also carry statutory responsibilities to provide children with an education along with any additional support that they might need to fully benefit from that education. That includes support that they might need to be able to attend school.
Nationally, a range of actions have been under way since Education Scotland published its attendance report in November 2023. Those include support for local authorities through the improving attendance quality improvement programme; professional learning events, including the strategic approaches to improving attendance event next week; the publication of resources to support schools in engaging with young people and families; and on-going exemplification of positive practice.
At council level, every education authority is focused on improving school attendance. At school level, a variety of approaches are being used to improve attendance, which we know has been a challenge for some young people and their families, particularly post-pandemic. The most recent national statistics on attendance showed a slight improvement in attendance and a reduction in persistent absence.
According to an analysis by The Sunday Times, Scottish pupils are more likely to miss school regularly than those elsewhere in the United Kingdom. Forty-one per cent of pupils here missed at least one in 10 of their classes in the year 2022-23, compared to 40.1 per cent in Wales and just 26.5 per cent in England, which is a much lower figure.
Those statistics have serious consequences for pupils, particularly those with additional needs and those from less privileged backgrounds, and they lead to a widening of the attainment gap. Why are the figures for Scotland so much worse than the figures for south of the border?
I think that the member has previously raised that question with me in the chamber, and I thank him for his interest in what I recognise as a significant challenge in our schools post-pandemic.
It is worth putting on the record that we need to be careful in making direct comparisons between Scotland and England, because the functionality that is used to measure attendance in Scotland is the SEEMiS system, and that functionality might differ between schools. I accept that the challenge in Scotland is greater, but we need to be quite careful in making those direct comparisons.
The rates of persistent absence shown in those statistics are not acceptable. I have been very clear that we need a renewed drive across all levels of government and agencies to address the issue as a priority. Absence is among the post-pandemic challenges that schools face not just in Scotland but across the UK and internationally. Education Scotland is providing support to schools directly to improve attendance and reduce absence following the publication of the report “Improving Attendance: Understanding the Issues”, which I commissioned in 2023.
If the member is interested, he can look at some of the data on year groups and see that there are gaps in the transition years from primary to secondary school and from the broad general education phase to the senior phase. At certain times during the school academic year, that challenge is greater than at other times. Also, as the member alluded, it seems to be more of a challenge in certain local authorities than in others. That is why Education Scotland is looking at targeting those local authorities to provide tailored local support.
I have also asked the chief inspector of education to ensure that persistent absence is addressed in every school inspection and to identify successful approaches that can be shared more widely.
It is interesting that the cabinet secretary referenced local authorities, because there are examples of good practice. For example, initiatives in Conservative-run South Ayrshire Council have led to rising attendance in schools, which perhaps bucks the trend elsewhere. What is the Scottish Government doing to ensure that best practice is shared more widely so that other local authorities can take similar initiatives?
The member raises an interesting point. Practice varies across the country when it comes to the approaches that have been taken. Local authorities are undertaking a number of different practices using pupil equity funding, which is direct funding that is protected by the Scottish Government. For example, Queensferry high school in Edinburgh has used its PEF to recruit two pupil support officers, who have worked with families to support attendance in that school. Lesmahagow high school in South Lanarkshire is using its PEF to support activities that include families and encourage pupils back into schools. We know that engaging with schools and headteachers has been a challenge for many families, particularly post-pandemic.
The responsibility for sharing good practice rests with Education Scotland as the national agency. As I mentioned, it has been working with local authorities and, in particular, has been targeting the local authorities where there are challenges. I am more than happy to hear from local authorities where there is good practice and to hold that good practice up as an example to others. It is hugely important, post-pandemic, that we support renewed efforts to bring young people back into school physically, because we know that their attainment will improve if they are in school, learning. We have to recognise that, for many young people, that has been a challenge, particularly post-pandemic.
Yesterday, in Glasgow, I met young people from Includem to hear from them about this issue. As the cabinet secretary will know, the issues that lead to absence from school are complex. However, what came up time and again is the lack of whole-family support and early preventative action, including through access to crucial public services such as child and adolescent mental health services. Like the cabinet secretary, I am sure that we have multiple cases of children waiting for months without any support, and often not attending school.
What conversations is the cabinet secretary having with the Cabinet Secretary for Health and Social Care and other colleagues to address the wider issues that families face that lead to absence from school?
The member raises a hugely important point. I engage regularly with the Cabinet Secretary for Health and Social Care. On CAMHS, it is worth putting on the record that we have record numbers of staff providing more varied mental health support and services to a larger number of people than ever before. Our national performance against the 18-week CAMHS standard is the best performance ever reported since the standard was introduced, in 2014.
That being said, CAMHS is at the more challenging end of the system. Pam Duncan-Glancy raises an important point about early intervention. She will also recognise the additionality of £16 million in funding that the Scottish Government provides to local authorities for mental health counselling in schools. In this year’s draft budget, there will also be £29 million of extra investment for additional support needs.
That is hugely important when we look at attendance rates and supporting the children with the greatest needs. I hope that Pam Duncan-Glancy will reconsider her party’s position on supporting the Scottish Government’s budget, which provides that additionality for some of those young people.
Unauthorised absences are a widespread problem; it is not just a small group of young people who are persistently absent. We know that some families are finding it difficult to pay for holidays in peak periods, so they are taking their children out of school at other times of the year. What message does the cabinet secretary have for them and for the holiday companies that seek to exploit peak periods?
The member raises a very topical matter in relation to parents choosing to take holidays during the school term. As a former teacher, I would not, of course, support that course of action. There are legal obligations on parents and carers to send their children to school during the school term, and that is for good reason. Attending school is hugely important for the broader picture of improving attainment post-pandemic and trying to improve children’s health and wellbeing.
That being said, families across Scotland are facing a number of different challenges. We need to be cognisant of that and support them in the best ways that we are able to. My view is that headteachers are currently doing that using a variety of methods. We have talked about PEF and how that is making a difference in our schools, and I know that headteachers are also engaged in a range of different measures. For example, across Fife—in Mr Rennie’s own area—the virtual school head teachers programme has been active online in helping some young people to come back to school post-pandemic.
I recognise that some of the challenges that Mr Rennie has alluded to are multifaceted, but the important thing is that our children are engaged in their education and are back in school. That has been difficult for young people, particularly post-pandemic, and, as I said in my response to Mr Fraser, particularly for young people who went through the transition from primary into secondary and from broad general education into the senior phase during lockdown. We need to be cognisant of that in the support that we are providing.
That concludes topical question time.
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