New Attendance Targets

Last year saw the biggest improvement in overall attendance in a decade, but with 1 in 3 schools failing to improve, the Department for Education has set out a roadmap for every school to double down on its efforts to support pupils back to class.

From this month, every school will be issued with AI-powered minimum attendance improvement targets for the rest of this academic year to ensure children are in school and ready to achieve.  The attendance baseline improvement expectation (ABIE) will be based on schools’ circumstances, including location, pupil needs and deprivation. The targets will not be published or shared with Ofsted, but schools that fail to meet the new attendance expectations will be referred for support to RISE teams (Regional improvement for standards and excellence).

The government intends to open a total of 90 attendance hubs, reaching 5,000 schools and giving targeted support to 500 settings. There are already 21 hubs in place since September, with 36 more opening this month.