Key Facts

• Education standards in England rank 11th globally for maths and 13th for reading.
• More than one in five pupils in England are missing half a day or more of lessons weekly, affecting over 1 million children.
• Detailed guidance on school attendance was published by the Department for Education in May 2022 and will become statutory from August 19.
• The Bill includes two main clauses: placing a general duty on local authorities to promote regular attendance and requiring schools to have detailed attendance policies.
• School attendance is crucial for safeguarding and reducing risks of gang involvement and violence.
• Students are aware of a school’s attendance policy before choosing their secondary school.
• Children attending between 95% and 100% of the time had an 82% chance of achieving five good GCSEs, compared to 68% for those attending 90%-95% of the time.
• Poor school attendance rates are at a crisis point, with some areas seeing increases of up to 282% in recent years.
• The Bill introduces a general duty on local authorities to promote regular attendance and reduce the number of absences.
• Schools must have and publicize an attendance policy under the new legislation.
• The Government aims to build on existing systems to improve attendance levels back to pre-pandemic levels and better.
• 440,000 fewer pupils were persistently absent or not attending in the past academic year compared to the previous one.
• The guidance 'Working together to improve school attendance' was published in May 2022.
• Attendance hubs have reached around 2,000 schools with 1 million pupils.
• A new attendance data tool helps identify children at risk of persistent absence.
• 15,000 state-funded schools have taken up the offer to train a senior mental health lead.
• The Government has allocated £10.7 billion, a 60% increase, to special educational needs.
• More children are reporting mental health issues.
• There is concern about girls' happiness levels and online behavior.
• Vickers plans to introduce a Bill on children's phones next month.
• Schools face challenges due to the pandemic, particularly regarding reopening and staff safety.
• The School Attendance (Duties of Local Authorities and Proprietors of Schools) Bill is under consideration.
• The bill will be reported by the committee without any amendments.