Included, Engaged and Involved Part 1: Improving Attendance in Scotland's Schools
Guidance for schools and education authorities in Scotland on the national approach to promoting and managing attendance in Scottish schools
Footnotes
1 Further information is provided in the policy and legal context section.
4 Section 1(2) of Scottish Schools (Parental Involvement) Act 2006.
5 Section 5(3) of the Scottish Schools (Parental Involvement) Act 2006.
6 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.
7 Ableism assumes a non-disabled ‘norm’ rather than recognising and supporting everyone in all our diversity.
8 Connect’s survey on School Attendance: September 2025.
9 Education authorities are legally required to have their schools open for 190 days each year. However, the number of learning hours that schools must make available is not prescribed in law. A joint agreement between the Scottish Government and COSLA, published in December 2024, commits to a freeze in learning hours to support the learning experience for children and young people across Scotland.
10 An introduction to engagement in educational settings.
11 As defined by the Education (Additional Support for Learning) (Scotland) Act 2004 . Additional support may be required for any reason and may be necessary to overcome barriers arising from the learning environment; disability or health; family circumstances or social and emotional factors, including mental health difficulties.
12 The protected characteristics under the schools’ provisions are: disability, gender reassignment, pregnancy and maternity, race, religion or belief, sex, and sexual orientation.
13 As defined by Part 2, Chapter 1, section 6 of the Equality Act 2010.
14 Some pupils who have a disability may receive additional support under the 2004 Act. However, not all disabled children will have an additional support need and vice versa. Regardless, schools must consider their duty to provide reasonable adjustments under the 2010 Act, which may be in addition to any existing support.
15 Paragraph 6.13 of the EHRC’s Technical guidance for schools in Scotland.
16 Care experienced children are “looked after children” within the meaning of section 17(6) of the Children (Scotland) Act 1995.
17 As defined by section 56 and schedule 4 to the Children and Young People (Scotland) Act 2014
18 Pupil absence in schools in England, Academic year 2023/24.
19 Resources to support Gypsy Travellers in education.
20 Including from Education Scotland’s presentation on evidence and insights on the poverty-related attainment gap and Scottish Government’s school exclusion statistics.
21 Section 30 of the Education (Scotland) Act 1980 places a legal duty on parents to provide efficient education to their child until they reach school leaving age, which they may meet by ensuring that their child attends school regularly.
22 The school handbook must be reviewed annually and updated where necessary under regulation 12 of the Education (School and Placing Information) (Scotland) Regulations 2012. Further information about school handbooks can be found here: School Handbook Guidance: Information for local authorities and schools.
23 Review of personal and social education in Scotland.
24 This should be considered in cognisance of guidance on Physical intervention in schools - a relationships and rights based approach.
25 Section 2 of Standards in Scotland’s Schools etc. Act 2000.
26 Sometimes referred to as a part-time or build-up timetable.
27 This can vary by education authority, but in general tends to be 25 for primary and 27.5 for secondary.
28 Safe, Healthy, Achieving, Nurtured, Active, Respected, Responsible, Included.
30 Further guidance is provided in Schools - violent, aggressive and dangerous behaviour: risk assessment guidance.
31 Further guidance is provided in: Included, Engaged and Involved, Part 2: A Positive Approach to Preventing and Managing School Exclusions.
32 For Care-experienced children and young people these considerations should be undertaken in the context of responsibilities placed on local authorities as “corporate parents” and actions to Keep the Promise.
33 Section 15(1) of the Education (Additional Support for Learning) (Scotland) Act 2004 places a duty on education authorities to make arrangements for the provision of independent mediation services for the purposes of seeking to avoid or resolve disagreements between the authority and the parents of children and young people.
34 Including by provisions of the: Education (Scotland) Act 1980; Standards in Scotland’s Schools etc. Act 2000; Education (Additional Support for Learning) (Scotland) Act 2004; Children and Young People (Scotland) Act 2014; Equality Act 2010.
35 Or other educational setting.
36 Further guidance is provided in: Included, Engaged and Involved, Part 2: A Positive
Approach to Preventing and Managing School Exclusions.
37 Section 30 of the Education (Scotland) Act 1980.
38 Regulations 9 and schedule 1 of The Schools General (Scotland) Regulations 1975.
39 A child is referred to ‘looked after at home’ when the Children’s Hearings system imposes a supervision requirement with no condition of residence.
40 Job profiles are agreed locally by Local Negotiating Committees for Teachers.
41 The persistent absence rate refers to the percentage of individual pupils who were absent for 10% or more of the school year.
42 The Behaviour in Scottish schools: research report 2023.
43 Disengagement from learning and non-class attendance may be early warning signs of future non-attendance at school. Assessing the factors contributing to disengagement and non-attendance at the earliest stages will be vital to providing effective support (see Putting children and young people’s views at the centre: Attendance Assessment Tookit).
44 Care is needed to ensure a consequence or incentive does not further encourage the behaviour or cause further distress to children and young people.
45 Section 14(1)(b) of the Education (Scotland) Act 1980.
46 Section 14(1) of the Education (Scotland) Act 1980.
47 Section 30 and 31 of Education (Scotland) Act 1980.
48 Section 35 of Education (Scotland) Act 1980.
49 As defined in Section 199 of the Children’s Hearings (Scotland) Act 2011.
50 Protected characteristics under the schools’ provisions of the Equality Act (2010) include: disability, gender reassignment, pregnancy and maternity, race, religion or belief, sex, and sexual orientation.
51 Additional support is defined by Section 1 of the Education (Additional Support for Learning) (Scotland) Act. Section 1 1A of that Act also recognises children and young people who are looked after (Care-experienced) as having an additional support need, unless the education authority forms the view that they do not require additional support in order to benefit from school education.
52 As set out under section 1 of the Education (Scotland) Act 1980 Act and section 2(1) of the Standards in Scotland’s Schools etc Act 2000.
53 Safe, Healthy, Achieving, Nurtured, Active, Respected, Responsible, Included.
54 This plan is based on needs, circumstances and includes the supports required.
Contact
Email: incluedu@gov.scot