The pressure to be present online at all times is leaving some pupils too tired to attend school the next day, according to new research into the attendance crisis.
A report published today also warns that, while fines and sanctions can compel pupils to attend in the short term, these measures risk alienating them and damaging their trust.
The research is based on focus groups with Year 10 pupils who have varying attendance rates across the country.
‘Emotional load’ of late-night gaming
It finds that “presenteeism” online drives absenteeism in schools. As the online world has changed, “the emotional load of being present for late-night gaming and group chats leaves many pupils too tired to attend or engage with school the next day”.
The research also shows that some pupils feel a lack of agency in school, and warns that some say that rigid timetabling and limited autonomy are pushing them to reclaim control of their lives by staying at home.
The report, was published today by Impetus and Public First. It repeats a warning made in a report by the same bodies two years ago that daily attendance is no longer a given, with many pupils making an active decision each morning about whether to attend school.
Susannah Hardyman, chief executive of Impetus, said: “Young people, right at the point where education matters most, have told us that going to school or not is now a choice made each morning and shaped by mood, circumstances or competing priorities.
“This is not because they don’t want to succeed, but because school too often feels rigid, pressured and exam-driven, and the constant pull of life online means school is no longer the only way to interact with friends.”
The report also makes a series of recommendations for schools and policymakers to address the concerns raised.
Schools are urged to separate support from sanctions so that pupils trust the adults who are there to help them.
The report adds: “In many of the schools we did research in, the same adult is responsible for encouraging attendance, delivering punishments for absence and supporting pupils to reengage. Pupils told us this set-up undermines their trust in those individuals.”
‘Enrichment activities’ beyond the classroom
Pupils told researchers that “there is less and less space in school for anything that is not about academic performance”.
The report adds that, when exam results become the only goal, “pupils who are struggling, or who do not believe they can or will achieve good grades, stop seeing a reason to go to school every day”.
It calls on schools to widen the definition of success for pupils, and for the government to support this. Enrichment activities - such as sport, music, drama, clubs, volunteering and trips - give pupils other ways to succeed, connect and enjoy school.
The report also recommends that schools must value and structure social time to support friendships and belonging. Across all groups of pupils spoken to in the research, the most commonly cited positive reason for coming to school was friendship.
The report adds: “Pupils value in-person connection - especially in a world where so much of their interaction happens through screens. They want time to talk, laugh and be with their friends, without it being policed.”
Ministers urged to assess if fines work
The report’s authors call on the government to assess whether issuing fines to parents for children failing to attend is effective.
It says that even when these measures bring pupils into the building, they do not guarantee positive reengagement with school, and can damage trust between families, pupils and schools - “especially when parents feel blamed despite believing they are doing their best”.
The report adds: “At the moment, the system is acting without clarity on this trade-off. Future policy must weigh the relational cost against effectiveness (short and long term).”
Katie Carr, associate director (education) at Public First, said: “What comes through powerfully in this research is that young people are ambitious and want to succeed, but too many feel that school is something being done to them rather than with them.
“If we want to reverse this crisis, we need to take their voices seriously. That means building in more opportunities for connection, enrichment and agency, so that school feels relevant and engaging every day.”
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