Improving attendance in Scotland's schools: child rights and wellbeing impact assessment

Child Rights and Wellbeing Impact Assessment Template

1. Brief Summary

Type of proposal:

• Decision of a strategic nature relating to the rights and wellbeing of children

Name the proposal, and describe its overall aims and intended purpose.

The Scottish Government has updated national guidance on school attendance: Included, engaged and involved part 1: improving attendance in Scotland’s schools. This replaces the previous version of the guidance that was published in 2019. The refreshed guidance will support all members of school and relevant education authority staff to promote attendance and manage and reduce absence by working together to identify and respond to any barriers to attendance and engagement that may be impacting children and young people.

The refreshed guidance:

• aligns with existing policy and legislation and makes clearer links to safeguarding and child protection
• reflects up-to-date data and evidence about attendance and engagement in Scotland’s schools as well as wider societal challenges which have impacted on school attendance such as the COVID-19 pandemic and the cost-of-living crisis
• clarifies approaches and highlights supportive strategies to support attendance and engagement including for pupils at risk of low attendance
• responds to emerging issues by providing new guidance on part-time timetables, updates to existing guidance on persistent absence and strengthened guidance in response to emerging concerns about children being in school but not in class

The guidance will have a direct impact on children and young people. It seeks to support schools to address barriers to attendance and engagement, leading to improved educational outcomes and experiences for children and young people.

Start date of proposal’s development: A commitment to refresh Included, engaged and involved part 1 was made in 2024 as part of the Relationships and behaviour in schools: national action plan jointly agreed with COSLA. A working group to support the development of the guidance was established in May 2025.

Start date of CRWIA process: CRWIA considerations have been undertaken since May 2025, in parallel with the work of the school attendance working group.

2. With reference given to the requirements of the UNCRC (Incorporation) (Scotland) Act 2024, which aspects of the proposal are relevant to/impact upon children’s rights?

The guidance will directly impact all children and young people of school-age who attend public schools in Scotland. The guidance is underpinned by the principles of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) and set within the framework of early intervention and prevention, as set out within Curriculum for Excellence (CfE) and Getting it Right for Every Child (GIRFEC). The guidance highlights children and young people’s right to education and the legal duties of parents and education authorities to ensure that this right is fulfilled in a way that best meets the needs of the child or young person.

In particular, the guidance is expected to have a positive impact and promote the better realisation of the following UNCRC articles:

Article 2 (non-discrimination)

The guidance recognises that some children and young people are more vulnerable to low attendance due to protected characteristics^[1], additional support needs^[2], poverty or other factors. It promotes inclusive practices through consideration of individual circumstances and encourages staged intervention and targeted support within the framework of the Equality Act 2010, GIRFEC and the Education (Additional Support for Learning) (Scotland) Act 2004. The guidance acknowledges that some children may face complex barriers to attendance and may require additional reasonable measures to support their attendance, engagement and achievement. It provides guidance to schools on inclusive strategies that recognise and respond to children and young people’s individual needs and circumstances, helping to address barriers to attendance and promote equality of access to education for all children and young people.

Article 3 (best interests of the child)

The guidance will directly impact children and young people by supporting schools and education authorities to ensure that the best interests of the child are taken into account as a primary consideration. The guidance highlights the importance of a child-centred and rights-based approach, ensuring that barriers to attendance or engagement are identified and addressed in a way that reflects each child’s individual circumstances and wellbeing. This will support schools and education authorities to identify and respond to underlying causes of absence, helping to increase pupil participation, attendance and engagement. Improved attendance will help to support improved educational outcomes and experiences for children and young people, ensuring that decisions and actions are guided by what is in the child’s best interests. This will help to ensure that each child’s education is directed to the development of their personality, talents, and mental and physical abilities to their fullest potential^[3].

Article 5 (parental guidance and child’s evolving capacities)

Parents have a duty to provide their child with efficient and suitable education^[4]. The guidance aims to support schools and education authorities to work with parents to arrange an education which best meets the child’s needs.

Article 12 (respect for the views of the child)

The guidance will support children and young people to be involved in decisions that affect them by encouraging schools to ensure that the views of children and young people are a central consideration, with opportunities for them to contribute meaningfully to the development and review of their attendance policies and be involved in decisions that affect them.

Article 14 (freedom of thought, belief and religion)

The guidance encourages schools and education authorities to take account of the diversity, cultural identity and religion or belief of their school communities when applying attendance policies and managing absence.

Article 19 (protection from violence, abuse and neglect)

The guidance supports schools and education authorities to comply with their safeguarding duties. The guidance aligns with existing child protection guidance and includes appropriate information on child protection procedures and practical advice on action to take where there is a child protection or wellbeing concern.

Article 20 (children unable to live with their family)

The guidance will support schools to ensure that their attendance policies support care experienced children and young people^[5] to participate fully at school. It promotes multi-agency collaboration to identify and address barriers to attendance that these children and young people may face, within the context of responsibilities placed on local authorities as “corporate parents”^[6] and actions to Keep the Promise.

Article 23 (children with a disability)

The guidance recognises that some children and young people may be more vulnerable to low attendance because of a disability. It promotes inclusive practices through consideration of individual circumstances and encourages staged intervention and targeted support within the framework of the Equality Act 2010. The guidance acknowledges that some children may face complex barriers to attendance and may require reasonable adjustments to support their attendance, engagement and achievement. It provides guidance to schools on inclusive strategies that recognise and respond to children and young people’s individual needs and circumstances, helping to address barriers to attendance and promote equality of access to education for children and young people with a disability.

Article 28 (right to education)

The guidance will further support education authorities to discharge their duty to provide education to children and young people in their area by identifying the underlying causes of absence, providing examples of how to address these, and promoting improved attendance, participation and engagement. This will contribute to improved educational outcomes and experiences for children and young people.

Article 29 (goals of education)

The guidance highlights the duties of education authorities to ensure that each child’s education is directed to the development of their personality, talents and mental and physical abilities to their fullest potential. It recognises the flexibility within the curriculum to develop individual learner pathways that personalise learning, support individual needs and help achieve positive outcomes and experiences.

Article 30 (children from minority or indigenous groups)

The guidance will support schools and education authorities to take account of the diversity, cultural identity and protected characteristics of their school communities when applying attendance policies and managing absence.

Article 31 (leisure, play and culture)

By helping to increase pupil participation, attendance and engagement, the guidance will support children and young people to feel included and connected to their school community, and provide opportunities for play and socialisation with their peers.

3. Please provide a summary of the evidence gathered which will be used to inform your decision-making and the content of the proposal

Evidence from:

• existing research/reports/policy expertise
• consultation/feedback from stakeholders
• consultation/feedback directly from children and young people

A range of evidence has informed this assessment. This includes data from Summary Statistics for Schools in Scotland 2024 which details trends in school attendance, including variations by sex, ethnicity, age, disability, additional support needs, care experience and socio-economic background. The statistics also provide information on persistent absence.

The guidance was also informed by Education Scotland’s report Improving attendance: Understanding the issues which explores factors impacting attendance and how education authorities can support improved attendance and reduced absence. This report highlights that all absence can affect children and young people’s progress, attainment and achievements with evidence suggesting that attendance that falls below 90% impacts negatively on progress. The higher the absence, the greater the impact on attainment. It also found that certain groups are more vulnerable to low attendance. This includes:

• those impacted by poverty
• secondary-aged pupils
• young people from Gypsy and Traveller communities
• pupils with additional support needs including:
  • children and young people who have experienced care
  • young carers
  • children and young people who have experienced exclusion
  • anxious children and young people

The report outlines that the causes of absence are multifaceted and can overlap. Factors include individual, peer, family and school. It highlights the importance of working in partnership with families and early intervention to ensure that barriers that impact on attendance are addressed.

Further information on emerging challenges and barriers to attendance was gathered from the Behaviour in Scottish schools research 2023. This comprised quantitative survey with headteachers, teachers and support staff and a programme of qualitative research with school staff and education authority representatives to understand staff perceptions and experiences of relationships and behaviour in Scottish schools. This research highlighted emerging challenges such as children and young people being in school but not in class.

Evidence on part-time timetables and flexible learning was gathered from Who Cares Scotland’s report “Exclusion labelled as support” Care Experienced children in Scotland’s education system which analysed existing evidence including their internal database. Evidence was also gathered from children and young people, either by participating in small local participation groups across the country, or by sharing their views on a one-to-one basis with their advocacy worker. The report highlighted a range of issues that impacted on the educational experiences and outcomes of care experienced children and young people which included the use of reduced timetables and informal exclusions. Includem's Education Briefing was also considered. This gathered evidence from service teams across the country to understand the local variations in the use of part-time timetables and flexible learning.

The impact of the Covid-19 pandemic was considered through data gathered from Scotland’s COVID-19 Early Years Resilience and Impact Survey (CEYRIS), the Education, Children and Young People Committee 2022 report on the Impact of Covid-19 on children and young people and the 2024 report on the Additional Support for Learning inquiry.

In addition, evidence was gathered from YoungScot's What I need to learn survey report. This survey captured 1,035 responses from persons aged 11 to 25, in all 32 local authorities about what being ‘ready to learn’ means to them. It examined how the Covid-19 pandemic and the ongoing cost-of-living crisis have affected their readiness to learn and identified key barriers they face. Young people also shared their levels of engagement with school and how much they enjoy attending.

The Scottish Government engaged with practitioners and stakeholders, through the School Attendance Working Group and the Scottish Advisory Group on Relationships and Behaviour in Schools (SAGRABIS) to inform the development of the guidance. This included engagement with representatives from local government, teaching unions, third sector organisations and parent and carer representatives. Additional engagement work was carried out with other stakeholders including, the National Autistic Society, the STEP Network representing Gypsy and Traveller families and the ABSAIL (Addressing Barriers to School Attendance to Improve Long Term Outcomes) advisory group.

The development of the guidance was informed by evidence from parents and carers. As part of the School Attendance Working Group, Connect carried out a survey on School Attendance: Hearing from Families about Supporting Children. The survey received 350 responses from across 30 local authority areas in Scotland. Parents and carers responding to the survey represented a wide range of school‑age children, with primary‑age stages accounting for around 46% of responses, secondary‑age stages 49%, and early years 5%. A summary of responses included:

• a number of factors support attendance with parents highlighting that strong relationships with school staff, access to subjects that interest their children, friendships and feeling safe and supported are key motivators for attendance
• parents value consistent, kind and compassionate communication with schools
• support during absence is important. This could include regular contact with trusted staff and being involved in planning for their child’s return to school
• tailored approaches are key with parents highlighting the importance of individualised support that reflects their child’s needs, especially for those with disabilities and/or additional support needs. They felt that ensuring appropriate resources, providing support such as flexible timetables or access to quiet spaces and having a strong anti-bullying approach were all things that could support their child’s attendance and help them to achieve

As part of the Scottish Government action to improve school attendance, a national marketing campaign was launched in October 2025 to encourage parents to engage with schools and use Parent Club resources (where available) to help boost their children’s attendance. As part of the development of the campaign, independent research was carried out with 64 parents of children from P7 - S4 and 18 young people from S3 – S4 in 2024 to gain perspectives regarding the underlying causes and impact of school absence. Research indicated that the reasons for absence were complex and often interlinked. Five main drivers for absence were identified:

• parents wanting their children to miss school to participate in another activity seen as beneficial for them such as a term time holiday or another learning opportunity
• reluctance to attend due to seeing no value in school attendance
• social difficulties such as bullying or a feeling of not fitting in
• additional support needs not being met in school
• mental health challenges

Further engagement was undertaken directly with children and young people as part of the School Attendance Working Group. Quarriers’ REACH service engaged with young people aged 10-16 across Glasgow through one-to-one and small group discussions to explore their experiences of school attendance. Responses to this engagement included:

• feeling welcomed and supported in school makes a difference
• barriers to attendance are complex and individual
• examples of things helped when returning to school and what didn’t
• how attendance is spoken about matters to them
• young people want to be heard

The responses from children and young people during engagement work demonstrated that the language used in relation to attendance mattered to them. Some young people spoke about feeling anxious, demotivated or judged by their school’s attendance messaging. They wanted messaging to avoid ‘ableist’ assumptions. They wanted to be heard and for decision makers to spend time in schools listening to their experiences, and recognise the impact of poverty, pressure and peer dynamics on attendance. Young people also highlighted the value of being welcomed by staff, spending time with friends, being able to access nurture, or other spaces, and having supportive teachers who listen to them and understand their needs. Young people told us that barriers to attendance could include mental and physical health challenges and that there is a difference between absence due to illness or disability and absence linked to behaviour. Some young people also talked about their experiences of being judged or misunderstood, being bullied or not getting the support they needed. Young people spoke about their motivations for attending school, mentioning things like wanting to get qualifications and employment in the future. Positive and supportive relationships with teachers, flexible timetables and access to external services were seen as key supports, while pressure to return full-time and lack of safe spaces made things harder.

4. Further to the evidence described at ‘3’ have you identified any 'gaps' in evidence which may prevent determination of impact? If yes, please provide an explanation of how they will be addressed

No gaps in evidence have been identified.

5. Analysis of Evidence

Analysis of the evidence indicates that refreshed guidance on school attendance will have a positive impact on children’s rights and wellbeing.

The guidance will support schools and education authorities to work with children, young people and their families to review attendance policies to ensure that they:

• align with existing policy and legislation and make clearer links to safeguarding and child protection
• reflect up-to-date data and evidence about attendance and engagement in Scotland’s schools as well as wider societal challenges which have impacted on school attendance such as the COVID-19 pandemic and the cost-of-living crisis
• clarify approaches and highlight supportive strategies to support attendance and engagement including for pupils at risk of low attendance
• respond to emerging issues by providing new guidance on part-time timetables, updates to existing guidance on persistent absence and strengthened guidance in response to emerging concerns about children being in school but not in class

The engagement with children and young people highlighted the importance of approaches to attendance that are inclusive, relational and sensitive to individual circumstances. They emphasised that attendance incentives should distinguish between absence linked to disability, including mental health, and disengagement, and that supportive, flexible relationships are more effective than punitive approaches. Children and young people also highlighted the need for schools to be adequately resourced to build capacity around nurture and wellbeing. They highlighted concerns that national messaging on attendance can reinforce ‘ableist’ assumptions by linking attendance with personal worth, and consistently identified poverty and inequality as major, and often overlooked, drivers of non‑attendance. They emphasised that efforts to improve attendance should be accompanied by action to address poverty and wider inequalities.

Responses to engagement work with parents and carers indicate that school attendance is an area of significant stress for many families, and they often felt caught between competing pressures. They highlighted the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on their children’s attendance and mental health. Some parents and carers also spoke about attendance challenges overlapping and being compounded. Parents and carers highlighted the importance of early intervention and individualised support for their children.

The responses gathered during engagement work with children, young people and their families supported understanding of the key underlying issues related to school absence and ensured that these matters were reflected within the guidance.

Statistical evidence was considered. The Summary Statistics for Schools in Scotland 2024 data has supported understanding of the trends in school attendance over time and provided statistical information about the characteristics of pupils, including some data related to protected characteristics, who are more likely to have lower attendance or persistent absence. This statistical information has supported our policy understanding that the reasons behind absence can be complex and often interlinked and has been used to inform the guidance. The guidance makes clear that schools should work with all partners, including children, young people and their families, to understand the underlying causes of absence in order for unnecessary barriers to be removed. While this is expected to have a positive impact for all children and young people, those in groups who are more vulnerable to low attendance may be more positively impacted than other households. This will help to ensure greater equality for all children and young people regardless of their protected characteristics, additional support needs, or socio-economic status.

Recent evidence of the impact of wider societal changes, such as the Covid-19 pandemic, on school attendance was also considered through the Behaviour in Scottish schools: research report 2023, YoungScot's What I need to learn survey report, Education Scotland’s report Improving attendance: Understanding the issues, Scotland’s COVID-19 Early Years Resilience and Impact Survey (CEYRIS), the Education, Children and Young People Committee 2022 report on the Impact of Covid-19 on children and young people and the 2024 report on the Additional Support for Learning inquiry. The evidence supported our policy understanding that the Covid-19 pandemic and resulting school closures may have exacerbated existing disadvantages and vulnerabilities for some children and young people. Analysis of this evidence supported understanding of trends in attendance over time and since the previous publication of Included, engaged and involved part 1, and highlighted key issues impacting children and young people. The guidance makes clear that some children may require tailored support and flexible approaches to overcome particular challenges and highlights the importance of early intervention, a positive whole school culture and ethos and positive and trusting relationships with key staff members.

6. What changes (if any) have been made to the proposal as a result of this assessment?

The evidence set out in the previous sections of this assessment has helped to inform and shape the school attendance guidance. Engagement with children and young people and parents has supported the working group’s considerations by identifying the key factors influencing attendance for pupils, parents, carers, teachers, school staff and others, and ensuring these are reflected in the guidance.