Absent Ambition

There is a crisis of school absence in this country.

Absence spiked across the board after school shutdowns during the pandemic, but while less serious cases have slowly started to abate, the worst cases are continuing to grow.

Yet the rise in absence is starkly uneven, concentrated in secondary schools, more deprived areas, and among less affluent children.

It is no longer acceptable to view school absence as a post-Covid blip, though the pandemic undoubtedly made the situation worse. With original quantitative analysis, polling and extensive focus groups of school leaders, parents, local authorities and charities, we identify three root causes. And we advance solutions across each of them.

1. Mutual breakdown of home-school trust
2. Deteriorating educational ambition
3. A challenging parenting landscape

Solving this absence crisis requires us to address the root causes driving it, starting at home. It means children starting school already on the right path. It means parents and schools working in step with one another, not at loggerheads. And it means schools that are places of tangible ambition and preparation for life and work.

This report sets out the practical interventions, and long-term changes, that can achieve this vision – and end the absence crisis for good.