The rate of school absence has worsened since the COVID-19 pandemic. The aim of this PhD is to better understand why school absence is on the rise and what can be done to improve the health, wellbeing and long-term outcomes of those who find it difficult to access education.
Why is the research needed?
The rate of school absence has worsened since the COVID-19 pandemic. In 2018/2019, 11% of pupils in England were persistently absent and by 2023/2024 this had doubled to 20% (GOV UK, 2024). Many educators have seen increasing levels of emotional distress among young people and their significant difficulty engaging with the school environment. This is described as “Emotionally Based School Avoidance” (EBSA). EBSA is not a psychiatric diagnosis, but it may be thought of as a collection of behaviours that signal a young person’s distress. EBSA often co-occurs with learning difficulties, neurodivergence and clinically diagnosed emotional and behavioural disorders. Young people displaying EBSA have limited opportunity to access education and are more likely to experience negative social, psychological and physical symptoms, such as difficulties with sleep, friendships and employment prospects. It is important to deepen our understanding of EBSA, its impact on young people and families, and the most effective ways to intervene.
What are we doing?
We aim to better understand why school absence is on the rise and what can be done to improve the health, wellbeing and long-term outcomes of those who experience EBSA.
To achieve this, we will review theoretical explanations of school attendance difficulties to understand the potential influence of personality, family life, school environment and national context, speak to young people to understand their experiences in school and help future interventions and policies to meet their needs and finally develop an intervention map to guide families, schools and government in the practical strategies needed to improve outcomes associated with EBSA.
How are we working with communities, services and organisations?
This PhD is part of the Attend Well project which is overseen by a parent/professional advisory panel. This panel includes parents of children with EBSNA who also work in education and the third sector, supporting young people with attendance difficulties. The panel advises on study design and conduct, reviews participant materials, supports recruitment, and contributes to publications. Their lived experience as parents brings invaluable insight, helping ensure the research remains relevant, sensitive, and grounded in real-life experiences.
What will the impact and benefits of this research be?
This research aims to better understand why school absence is on the rise and what can be done to improve the health, wellbeing and long-term outcomes of those who experience. We hope that this will feed into best practice guidelines for education professionals, such as teachers, tutors and school based mental health professionals.
What do we have planned for knowledge mobilisation and implementation?
We will develop an intervention map to guide families, schools and government in the practical strategies needed to improve outcomes associated with EBSA. There will be a strong emphasis on generating information that is practical and useful for schools, which will be shared through our professional networks, via blogs and peer-reviewed publications.
Related papers, outputs and resources
Click here to visit Attend Well website
Who is involved?
- PhD Researcher: Hayley Gains, University of Cambridge
- Dr Jo Reid, University of Cambridge
Get in contact
Email Hayley Gains or the project team at Hg440@cam.ac.uk or attendwell@medschl.cam.ac.uk.
