Attendance scheme reaches only half of target

A scheme to improve student attendance has reached just half of its target.

Launched in 2022, the Department for Education (DfE) said its mentoring pilot would support 500 to 1,000 pupils in its first year across Middlesbrough to reduce absences.

However, an evaluation of the first year of the Watchtower Project pilot by York Consulting found that only half of the young people reached by the scheme saw attendance improve.

Children's charity Barnardo's was given the contract, and a £15 million expansion is planned to reach up to ten times more pupils.

Attendance mentors were employed to work with pupils who were identified by schools as persistently or severely absent from school.

Mentors met with pupils on a weekly basis to provide "bespoke support" to them and their families over a period of up to 20 weeks.

The report found that only 339 pupils were referred by schools and early help services.

It concluded that outcomes from the support “included increased attendance, improved mental health, better routines and attitudes to learning, engagement in positive activities and financial barriers addressed.

“For some pupils, the attendance improvements achieved would likely be sustained after the intervention, Equally, in other cases attendance had declined or the improvements observed were unlikely to be sustained.”

They suggested recommendations such as saying schools and mentors should share their experiences amid the wider rollout.

Expectations for mentors and schools should also be set out “more explicitly”, including around planning for when pupils lose their support.