School attendance improving but remains below pre-pandemic levels
A new report on attendance by HM Inspectors highlights that the most effective schools make attendance everyone's responsibility. Strong leadership, positive relationships, early intervention and close work with families help children and young people feel connected to school and support improvements in attendance.
Inspectors found that overall attendance increased to 91.0% in academic year 2024 to 2025. This is up from the previous year, but still below the 93.0% recorded for 2018 to 2019.
Relationships, early support and stronger evaluation of interventions are key to improving attendance, according to findings from school inspections across Scotland.
While authorised absence and persistent absence have reduced, attendance continues to be lower among children and young people living in the most deprived communities and those with additional support needs.
Ruth Binks, His Majesty’s Chief Inspector of Education in Scotland, said:
“Schools are working hard with families and partners to help learners overcome barriers to attendance and ensure they feel connected, supported and included in school. Continuing to build on this positive practice will be important in sustaining improvements and helping all children and young people achieve their full potential."
The main findings of the report are:
- attendance has improved slightly but remains below pre-pandemic levels
- low attendance remains strongly linked to disadvantage and additional support needs
- most schools monitor attendance, but consistency and coding need to improve
- effective improvement relies on relationships, shared responsibility and early support
- targeted interventions are helpful, but their impact is variable and needs stronger evaluation