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.
Background
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 (Egger et al., 2003; Halligan & Cryer, 2022).
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 (Egger et al., 2003, Gottfried, 2014; McCune & Hynes, 2005).
Project Aims
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 experience EBSA.
Project Activity
This project will:
- Review theoretical explanations of EBSA (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).
- Develop an intervention map (to guide families, schools and government in the practical strategies needed to improve outcomes associated with EBSA).
Anticipated or actual outputs
This project will develop an intervention map to guide families, schools and government in the practical strategies needed to improve outcomes associated with EBSA.
Papers and resources
Click here to visit Attend Well website
Who is involved?
- Hayley Gains, PhD researcher, University of Cambridge
- Dr Jo Reid, Research supervisor, University of Cambridge
