The schools improving attendance fastest aren’t just monitoring absence — they’re understanding it

The Department for Education’s national pupil attendance statistics provide schools with a picture of attendance, authorised absence and unauthorised absence across England. Leaders can use these figures as one benchmark when reviewing their own performance.

But the real story isn’t the national percentage. It’s how schools respond.

The latest update to the DfE’s Working Together to Improve School Attendance guidance reinforces a message that has been growing stronger over recent years: improving attendance is not about chasing percentages. It is about understanding barriers, identifying patterns early and putting the right support in place before absence becomes entrenched.

Attendance tells a much bigger story

Every school leader understands that attendance influences attainment, wellbeing, behaviour and safeguarding. However, attendance data on its own rarely tells the whole story.

A school might report 92% attendance, but that single figure masks a wealth of complexity. Which pupils are driving the absence? Are particular year groups declining? Is attendance improving for vulnerable learners? Are provisions having the desired effect?

As the DfE continues to strengthen expectations around attendance, schools are expected not only to monitor absence, but to demonstrate that they understand the barriers affecting pupils and are responding effectively through early provision and targeted support.

Looking beyond today’s attendance figure

One of the challenges with traditional attendance reporting is that it focuses on where a school is today. School improvement depends on understanding where a school is heading.

Has Year 8 attendance steadily declined over the past three years? Is this year’s Year 7 cohort performing better than previous intakes? Which groups are improving, and which are beginning to show early signs of concern?

Purple’s Cohort Trends allow leaders to track attendance across multiple academic years, revealing patterns that would otherwise remain hidden without hours of manual tracking in spreadsheets. Leaders can identify emerging trends much earlier and intervene before they become persistent challenges.

Attendance is not experienced equally

The updated guidance places considerable emphasis on understanding individual circumstances and removing barriers to attendance. That requires schools to look beyond whole-school averages and ask whether different groups of pupils are experiencing school in different ways.

Purple’s Equity Gap analysis and Vulnerability Insight dashboards enable leaders to explore attendance through the lens of SEND, Pupil Premium, EAL, FSM, gender, ethnicity and other demographic groups. These insights sit alongside behaviour, achievement and provision data, allowing schools to understand where attendance gaps exist and whether their support is improving outcomes.

From monitoring absence to improving attendance

Perhaps the biggest shift in the DfE’s guidance is its emphasis on prevention. Improving attendance is no longer about responding once absence becomes persistent. It is about identifying pupils at risk earlier, understanding the reasons behind absence and coordinating timely support across schools, families and external agencies.

Purple’s risk-based attendance analysis highlights the cohorts and pupils requiring the greatest attention, enabling leaders to prioritise support where it will have the greatest impact. Combined with provision tracking, schools can monitor whether mentoring, pastoral support or wider inclusion strategies are translating into measurable improvements over time.

Preparing for the next phase of accountability

National attendance statistics invite comparisons between schools, trusts and national averages. However, the schools best placed to respond are not simply those with the highest attendance figures.

They will be the schools that understand their data in context, can identify emerging risks before they escalate, and can clearly demonstrate the impact of the strategies they have put in place. The question for school leaders is no longer simply “What is our attendance?” It is “What is our attendance telling us — and what are we doing about it?”