Inside the Attendance Crisis: A 3-part Podcast Series

Persistent absenteeism is defined as missing 10% or more of school time within an academic year, while severe absenteeism means missing 50% or more. According to the Department for Education, in Autumn and Spring 2024/25, 17.63% of pupils were persistently absent, and 2.26% were severely absent, an increase from the previous year's 2.14%.

Recent research shows the scale of the problem. Impetus and Public First's 2025 report on listening to young people in the attendance crisis demonstrated that persistent absence from school now affects 1 in 5 pupils in England.

Our team at Tutor Trust internally analyses attendance data for the young people who receive our tuition. We’re noticing that a greater number of the children referred to us by their school have severely low attendance, potentially affecting their attainment as well as their social and emotional well-being. We have found tutoring to be a meaningful tool to engage pupils in learning and feel a greater sense of confidence. 

What to expect from the series

The people we have heard from in this series include one of our partner school leaders, talking about the innovative ways they are supporting children to attend, including a bright green school-branded car! Additionally, we heard directly from a policy researcher who has supported Tutor Trust to gain a deeper understanding of the facts behind the figures. Our hosts also spoke with a third-sector leader, delving into the complex network of factors that contribute to school absences. 

Below, we summarise each episode. We hope that you will visit the Tutorcast page on your favourite podcast platform and listen to the episodes in full; each is just 30 minutes in length.

Part 1: Inside the Attendance Crisis: A School Leader’s Perspective

In this episode, our hosts sat down with Antonio Passarello, Deputy Head at St Matthew's Roman Catholic High School in North Manchester, a school we have worked with since 2019. Antonio shares his inspirational first-hand experience in responding to pupil absence and discusses the innovative strategies his school uses to support young people with their attendance.

The episode explored the school’s responses to absenteeism, which included boosting pastoral support and investing in a school-branded car. Antonio went into depth on the strategies behind the astonishing turnaround that St. Matthew's made on post-pandemic attendance figures from 87% to 92.7% in one year, then up to 93.3% in the following academic year. The school's attendance rates remain well above the national average, indicating continued success. 

St Matthew’s motivation for improving attendance figures led to the realisation that for every 5% of attendance a child lost, it was equivalent to losing a grade per subject. Antonio, like many educational leaders, presents that for many children, there is a close relationship between absence and educational attainment, and that there remains a clear need for intervention and support. It is encouraging to hear the extent to which schools are using their increasingly limited resources to support their young people. Prioritising investment in each young person is crucial as we work towards a fairer education system.

Part 2: Inside the Attendance Crisis: A Changemaker’s Perspective

In the second episode, our hosts got a chance to speak to Ellie Costello from Square Peg, an advocacy organisation working to better understand absence from school and find solutions to the attendance crisis. Ellie discusses why the language we use matters and explains that terms like ‘school refusal’ can often place unfair blame on families.

During the conversation, Ellie shares insights into the complex emotional hurdles that keep children away from the classroom, factors that can cause absence, like poverty, housing instability, mental health issues, and access to services, which are all preventable. From changing school start times to focusing on strong personal relationships, Ellie highlights the importance of empathy and flexibility in helping every child thrive in education.

“We really need to think about how adversity in childhood - be it through acquired illness, living in deprivation or experiencing a disrupted household - impacts children's health, their ability to attend school in childhood, and then to remain healthy and productive in adulthood."

Ellie Costello, Square Peg

Ellie also shared her thoughts on how online connectivity, socialisation and school attendance intersect, urging schools and parents not to demonise the online world, the thing that many children value the most. Diminishing online connectivity, whether social media or gaming, will only create further distance for the young person. A greater strategy would be to create the most welcoming environment possible in schools, as Antonio shared in Part 1. 

Part 3: Inside the Attendance Crisis: A Policy Expert’s Perspective

In the final episode of the series, our hosts sat down with Katie Carr, a Director at Public First, who brings a wealth of experience from her time at the Department for Education and her current role in public policy research. Katie discusses how the focus on attendance has shifted at a national level and what the research tells us about the challenges families face.

Katie shares her unique perspective as Chair of Governors and a charity trustee to explain how policy connects with practice. Katie explores how schools can navigate high-level expectations while maintaining a focus on the well-being of their pupils. By looking at the broader strategic picture, she highlights the importance of evidence-based solutions and collaborative leadership in addressing the attendance crisis.

Public First's research has taken a three-fold approach, which focuses on parents’ perspectives (2023), young people's perspectives (2025), and teachers' perspectives (forthcoming). In our conversation, Katie shared her research published in their recent 2025 report, ‘Listening to, and learning from, young people in the attendance crisis.’

The most recent research involved pupils of mixed attendance levels, exploring absence rates and the factors influencing pupils' decisions about attendance. It highlighted that there is no one cause of absence. Katie noted that there was a notable shift in pupils who no longer see attending school as mandatory. Whether or not they attend school each day is an active choice, and this decision is shaped by lots of different factors.

Working towards a solution

As we look to find effective solutions and identify best practices to work on alongside our school partners, understanding the research and the work that is already taking place in schools is vital. In order to tackle the attendance crisis, the whole system needs to come together on behalf of our young people, with the aim of providing the right support so that children can attend school. 

From our conversations with key education professionals, we are looking for opportunities to start projects that act with an understanding of a myriad of reasons behind the attendance crisis and provide a nuanced solution that works. We aim to do this through our work by:

• Supporting attendance through mentoring and coaching from our highly trained tutors.
• Increasing confidence and facilitating a sense of belonging at school by providing the opportunity to work in small groups.
• Building trust between tutors, staff and young people. Removing threats of sanctions for young people and creating an emotionally safe environment during tuition sessions.
• Broadening what success looks like within attendance, offering a variety of activities such as holiday clubs, which provide tutoring, to be there for children who need additional support the most.