We asked the Department what its plans were to deal with pupil absences. It told us that attendance rates were improving as levels of illness reduced, but there was more to be done.25 The Department said that a lot of its work on attendance started from the principle of providing support, particularly for children who had other disadvantages such as vulnerable children or children with special educational needs and disabilities.26 It highlighted that attendance for children in care, which had...

We asked the Department what its plans were to deal with pupil absences. It told us that attendance rates were improving as levels of illness reduced, but there was more to be done.25 The Department said that a lot of its work on attendance started from the principle of providing support, particularly for children who had other disadvantages such as vulnerable children or children with special educational needs and disabilities.26 It highlighted that attendance for children in care, which had previously been worse than for other children, was now better because of the support they were given by social workers and virtual school heads.27 Type: conclusion | Number: 13 | Response status: partially_accepted Government response: 2.1 The government agrees with the Committee’s recommendation. Target implementation date: July 2024 2.2 Over the academic year 2023-24, the department will build on existing absence analysis and use available data to develop a better understanding of why disadvan