Ahead of the Department for Education’s forthcoming Enrichment Framework, the Youth Sport Trust explores the link between cocurricular participation, engagement, and attendance, with practical examples from schools and trusts.
Across the country, school leaders are facing a growing challenge around pupil attendance. Government data shared today for the autumn and spring terms of 2024/25 show a small improvement in overall attendance compared with the same period last year, yet absence levels remain higher than before the pandemic, when they consistently stayed below 5%. Worryingly, the number of pupils who are severely absent (missing 50% or more of their lessons) continues to rise. Furthermore, pupils eligible for free school meals are still almost twice as likely to be absent as their peers, and the attendance gap between pupils with Special Educational Needs (SEN) and those without has widened further.
Source – Youth Sport Trust