School absence has grown since the pandemic and shows little sign of improvement

New research, published by the ESRI and produced in partnership with Tusla Education Support Service (TESS), uses administrative data to look at patterns of non-attendance by type of school for 2022/23 and 2023/24. Two measures are used: the average number of days lost per student over the school year, and the proportion of students who have chronic levels of absenteeism (that is, who miss 20 or more days in the school year). Both measures have increased since the pandemic and show little sign of improvement between 2022/23 and 2023/24. 

Key findings:

How prevalent is absence in primary schools? 
•    The findings show that school absence is more prevalent in primary schools serving disadvantaged communities. Schools in the DEIS programme, particularly Urban Band 1 schools (with the most disadvantaged profile), have higher rates of absenteeism than non-DEIS schools. In 2023/24, 35 per cent of students in Urban Band 1 schools missed 20 or more days of school compared with 17 per cent in non-DEIS schools. 
•    The location of the school also makes a difference, with schools in areas with higher levels of socioeconomic deprivation having worse attendance. Using the HP Pobal Index of area-level deprivation, schools in affluent areas have the lowest level of chronic absence, at 16 per cent, with schools in disadvantaged areas having the highest rates, at 27 per cent. 
•    Special schools also have very high rates of school absence, with 31 per cent of students missing 20 or more days of school. In 2023/24, special schools reported a 16 percentage point higher proportion of chronic absence than mainstream non-DEIS schools.
•    No significant difference is found between single-sex and coeducational primary schools in their levels of absence.
•    Higher levels of absence are found in multi-denominational schools than in Catholic or minority faith schools. 
•    Irish-medium schools have lower levels of absence than English-medium schools.
•    It is not clear from the available data whether these patterns reflect differences between these school types in their student profile or whether they relate to differences in school practices and processes.
•    Small primary schools are found to have better attendance levels on average. 

 

How prevalent is absence in post-primary schools? 
•    Similar to primary level, school absence is greater in DEIS post-primary schools and schools located in more disadvantaged areas. In 2023/24, over a quarter (28%) of students in DEIS schools missed 20 or more days, compared to 19 per cent for non-DEIS schools. Absence levels are much lower in schools in more affluent areas, at 15 per cent, compared with school in disadvantaged areas, at 26 per cent. 
•    Boys’ schools are found to have lower rates of chronic absence than coeducational schools, but do not differ in the average number of days lost. 
•    Minority faith schools have better attendance levels than schools with a Catholic or multi-denominational ethos, which may reflect differences in their student profile. 
•    Attendance levels do not vary markedly by school size at post-primary level. 

Have patterns of school absence changed over time? 
•    Both primary and post-primary schools saw a modest reduction in the proportion of chronically absent students and in the average number of days lost between 2022/23 and 2023/24. 
•    In primary schools, after taking into account other school characteristics, the average chronic absenteeism rate fell by 2.8 percentage points, with a decrease of 1.1 days lost per student. In post-primary schools, the chronic absenteeism rate declined by just under 1 percentage point, with an average reduction of 0.1 days lost per student.
•    DEIS schools at both primary and post-primary levels experienced smaller improvements in attendance than their non-DEIS counterparts.
•    Looking at averages conceals some important differences between schools. Thirty per cent of primary schools experienced a rise in chronic absence between 2022/23 and 2023/24, while over a quarter (27%) recorded an increase in days lost per student. Among post-primary schools, 42 per cent saw an increase in chronic absence, and 48 per cent reported an increase in days lost per student. 

Anna Moya, co-author of the report, said: "Greater absence among schools serving socio-economically disadvantaged children and young people is concerning, as it is likely to contribute to inequality in later life. It is particularly worrying that attendance in primary and post-primary DEIS schools is not recovering as well as non-DEIS schools in the post-COVID period. This points to the need for further support for these schools, potentially through the proposed “DEIS plus” model."
 

Emer Smyth, co-author of the report, said: "The findings provide an important evidence base for targeting support to schools with high levels of absence. However, we lack information on the detailed student profile within these schools. Matching data on the background of individual students to the school-level information would yield greater insights into the factors driving absenteeism, thus helping to address these issues."