Evidence, Impact and Actions for Consideration 2024-26 report: Local authority evidence

Based on responses from local authority engagement, evidence has been collated into five overarching questions, focussing on strategic approaches, trends and impact.

How are policies and strategic plans being used to improve attendance?

Across local authorities, attendance policies have undergone a significant refresh in the last two years, reflecting a clear focus on improving attendance and aligning with local authority stretch aims. Most updates to policies have taken place during 2024–2025 and for some, further revisions are planned for 2026. A clear pattern is evident where policies increasingly align with national guidance and Getting it Right for Every Child (GIRFEC) principles. They also include guidance on the application of SEEMiSSEEMiS coding and greater consistency in definitions and processes. There is some evidence of a collaborative and consultative approach, with policies co designed with school leaders, partners and stakeholders, often launched through seminars or summit events.

Almost all local authorities have a strategic plan, either in place or in development, to improve attendance. The majority of these plans are part of wider whole local authority education plans, indicating the important interconnections between attendance and improving attainment, achievement and health and wellbeing.

Almost all local authorities have communication approaches in place to target parents and/or learners. These approaches include:

school/area specific approaches where data has identified the need for targeted messaging around improving attendance
standard approaches to communication such as letters and text messages
use of the support materials published by Scottish Government for the National Attendance Campaign
local authority level campaigns including social media, radio and posters

Due to the range of improvement work taking place in relation to attendance, it has been difficult to attribute any impact directly to communication and campaigns at a local level. However, there is strong evidence that attendance data is being used to both inform and review communication approaches. Moving forward, local authorities should consider further targeting of any campaigns and communication towards the greatest need, including S3 girls, term time holidays in primary schools, and any other factors that are exposed through an understanding of local data.

In addition to communication strategies and campaigns, almost all local authorities have developed strategic approaches to support families and communities to improve attendance. There is a clear emphasis on the importance of strong multi-agency partnerships; bringing together education, social work, health, community learning and development (CLD) and third-sector organisations, to provide coordinated, early support for families. There is recognition of the importance of professional learning for staff, including educational psychologist led training and authority wide programmes, to build confidence in addressing barriers to attendance. As a next step, there is scope to widen professional learning programmes, ensuring that wider partners are included. This will further strengthen partnership working and planning.

Strategies to support families and communities are most effective where local authorities know their own context well and adapt their plans accordingly. Some examples include dedicated family support roles, clear attendance frameworks, and data driven tools such as dashboards and attendance forums. This would suggest that strengthening systems around consistent policy, real-time data and specialist knowledge enables earlier, more precise support for families. Likewise, using central referral pathways, family hubs and staged intervention processes demonstrate the value of simple, yet coordinated structures that can ensure timely, joined-up support for families.

Most local authorities have strong partnership approaches in place to support shared aims around attendance and engagement, with schools often working routinely alongside CLD teams, youth work services and a range of third-sector organisations to address barriers for learners and families. Where evidence highlighted multi‑agency collaboration, success depended on a shared contribution to planning, early intervention and coordinated support pathways.

Evidence indicates that partnership input increasingly informs policy development, transition support, and targeted interventions for specific cohorts, such as those affected by poverty, care experience, anxiety or disengagement. Strategic frameworks such as local Children’s Services plans or community planning structures are further aligning partners around shared attendance aims. However, challenges remain, including variable youth‑work capacity, difficulties engaging specific partners (often due to workload pressures), or the need to reduce duplication and strengthen consistency across agencies.

How is attendance data monitored, and what systems support this?

Almost all authorities have established systems in place, typically dashboards, SEEMiS linked trackers, and regular data driven reporting cycles, that provide timely, detailed attendance information. These systems are resulting in early identification, targeted intervention, and more consistent data practices, contributing to more responsive planning and improved or stabilised attendance trends.

Example A - Data driving targeted action

The local authority uses a live Power BI dashboard integrated with SEEMiS, giving schools and central teams immediate access to attendance trends and risk profiles. This visibility helps them to pinpoint individuals and small cohorts (e.g., care experienced, Free School Meals (FSM) eligible, Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation (SIMD) groups) and to direct targeted support and Quality Assurance visits, leading to clearer decision making and improved attendance over the past three years, particularly for priority groups.

Example B - Systematic monitoring to improve attendance

The local authority monitors attendance through a weekly‑updated Power BI dashboard accessed by all headteachers. Regular analysis informs intervention planning, allowing timely discussion of trends and follow‑up actions. Leaders report that this systematic, shared approach has played a key role in stopping a declining attendance trend and supporting improvements across sectors.

As well as central systems, most local authorities have established systems available at school level. These support monitoring of live attendance data, with SEEMiS and Power BI dashboards forming the core tools for daily, weekly and termly tracking. There is evidence of clearer SEEMiS coding guidance, structured reporting cycles and explicit expectations for routine analysis, although there is scope to ensure further consistency in both systems and processes across all schools.

Several authorities have invested in professional learning to strengthen staff data literacy so they can interpret patterns and trends with greater confidence. A number have introduced additional tools to support tracking, the earlier identification of attendance trends and more holistic analysis across cohorts. Across almost all, the use of live dashboards combined with regular review processes is enabling schools to spot emerging patterns, to identify small cohorts requiring support, and to plan timely, evidence‑based interventions, supported through quality assurance visits and challenge from central officers.

Guidance for schools in the use and application of SEEMiS coding has been a priority in most local authorities. As a result, there is increased confidence that attendance and absence is recorded consistently within schools. Where there is the strongest impact, there is recognition that while consistent coding improves the quality of the data, processes need to be in place which inform improvement. Examples of these include professional learning to understand the data, self-evaluation toolkits to support deeper understanding of barriers to attendance, and cross-sector working groups. Effective recording of attendance and absence continues to be an ongoing, iterative process for most local authorities.

What targeted support is in place, and what trends are emerging?

Local authorities continue to use local systems to identify the groups or cohorts where attendance is a particular concern. Those identified are broadly in line with those recognised through national data analysis, although data analysis at local level highlights some additional groups. These include, but are not limited to:

learners affected by poverty (measured differently in some authorities) and/or domestic circumstances
learners who have experienced care
learners in transition from primary seven into S1
learners with additional support needs, particularly those who attend special provision
specific cohorts in secondary schools (S2, S3, S4, S5 leavers)
learners with attendance related anxiety, Emotional Based School Avoidance (EBSA) and mental health issues
those taking family holidays during term time, including extended holidays to visit family abroad
learners in rural locations
specific cohorts in primary schools (P5, P6)
white Scottish males, particularly in areas of socio-economic disadvantage
gypsy travellers
young carers

Learners who have multiple intersecting characteristics are often at compounded risk of low attendance. Moving forward, it is important for local authorities to continue to interpret their own data and to recognise their context, to inform planning for improvement.

Most local authorities have observed an increase in parental requests to have ‘flexible’ arrangements put in place for their child/young person. This includes adapted timetables, ‘flexi-schooling’ and home education. Often these requests are to support either an identified additional support need or wellbeing need. Arrangements to deal with these requests vary across all local authorities. Consideration should be given to updating local level advice and guidance in line withwhen the refreshed ‘Included, Engaged and Involved 1’. is published in March 2026.

What strategic approaches are having an impact, and what challenges remain?

There is no single intervention identified as universally impactful, reflecting the multi-faceted challenges in improving attendance. However consistent high-level themes are clear:

Strategic focus and leadership

a relentless strategic focus on attendance, driven by senior leaders, headteacher forums and central teams
consistent messaging and making attendance a standing agenda item at leadership meetings, ensuring strengthened collective responsibility

Improved access to data and increased data literacy

better access to data, such as Power BI dashboards, pupil tracking tools, and more accurate SEEMiS coding, to support improved early identification and targeted intervention
improved data literacy across schools to enable more sophisticated professional discussions and evidence-informed decisions

Clearer policies and consistent systems

revision or introduction of attendance policies, guidance, and operational procedures to improve consistency and expectations across schools
attendance forums, updated coding guidance, and structured monitoring approaches to strengthen practice

Targeted family support and relational, wellbeing-focused approaches

targeted support roles (e.g., engagement officers, family support workers), relational approaches and flexible pathways for learners who experience barriers to attendance
trauma‑informed or nurturing approaches to improve engagement for specific cohorts
specific practical interventions such as walking buses or curriculum redesigns

Collaboration, networks, and multi-agency support

partnership working, both multi-agency and through regional/national programmes to strengthened consistency and provided valuable challenge and support

There is a clear focus on using attendance data to demonstrate the impact of local interventions, highlighting year‑on‑year improvements, gains for targeted groups and individuals, or reductions in unauthorised absence. Qualitative feedback from learners, families and staff reinforce positive change in attendance, improved engagement or wellbeing. As a result, local authorities note system‑level improvements, including more consistent practice across schools and an increase in confident, data‑informed professional dialogue.

While the root causes of absence are wide ranging, there is strong evidence that increased numbers of learners with an additional support need continues to be the most persistent and difficult challenges in improving attendance. There is a widespread perception that parental attitudes have shifted post-pandemic, with increased parental caution about illness and/or greater acceptance of keeping their child at home. It is important that there is a continued focus on working with parents to ensure understanding of the barriers faced in getting their child to school, while also conveying messages about the positive benefits of attendance.

Strategically, there are concerns about capacity, partly due to increasing levels of needs, in particular parents and/or learners with mental health concerns or anxiety. As a result, making multi agency work and sustained relational support more difficult. Challenges are also identified with accurate SEEMiS coding, inconsistent use of part time timetables, and the time required to build staff data literacy.

Stronger multi‑agency collaboration, more holistic community‑based family support, and clearer, consistent messaging to parents and learners are viewed as essential to further improving attendance. Concerns persist about term‑time holidays and absence coding, though consistent coding alone will not improve attendance. Secure staffing, particularly permanent family support roles and dedicated attendance officers, is highlighted as critical for early, relational, and sustained intervention, but is challenging in the current financial climate. Universal access to data systems with real‑time or advanced functionality remains an ongoing issue. Strengthening curricular relevance, flexible pathways, and smoother transitions, especially into secondary, are also seen as important. It will be important to incorporate such considerations into the development of the Curriculum Improvement Cycle.

What external support and funding are being used to strengthen attendance?

Almost all local authorities use Scottish Attainment Challenge funding to support attendance through a variety of interventions, such as family‑facing support, wellbeing and nurture, re‑engagement/alternative learning offers, enhancing data capacity, breakfast clubs and the development of professional learning.

These interventions are most effective where they wrap family support, targeted interventions, and data‑led decision‑making around identified cohorts, with clear tracking of outcomes and a plan for long‑term sustainability beyond short‑term funding cycles.

There is strong evidence of engagement with Education Scotland professional learning, support and the published resources for improving attendance. In many instances, attainment advisors have provided challenge, coaching and regular data‑focused dialogue. This support has led to strengthened local approaches. Where authorities have participated in the ‘Improving Attendance National Quality Improvement Programme’, helping schools apply improvement methodology and small tests of change, this has resulted in improved attendance for identified groups. Central officers who have attended the National Attendance Network, facilitated by Education Scotland, highlighted valuable opportunities for wider collaboration and sharing of practice.

Local authorities stress that sustained funding, stronger data capability (systems and data-literacy), Education Scotland support, and consistent strategic leadership are key to maintaining momentum. This needs to be underpinned by inclusive, wellbeing‑led practice and clearer national guidance, especially on Emotionally Based School Avoidance (EBSA).