Skip to main content
Department of Education Department of Education

Main navigation

  • Home
  • Topics
  • Publications
  • Consultations
  • Contact

Translation help

Translate this page

Select a language

  • Arabic — عربي
  • Chinese (Simplified) — 中文简体
  • Chinese (Traditional) — 中文繁體
  • Dutch — Nederlands
  • Filipino — Filipino
  • French — Français
  • German — Deutsch
  • Hungarian — Magyar
  • Irish — Gaeilge
  • Italian — Italiano
  • Latvian — Latviešu
  • Lithuanian — Lietuvių kalba
  • Polish — Polski
  • Portuguese — Português
  • Romanian — Română
  • Russian — Русский
  • Slovak — Slovenčina
  • Spanish — Español
  • Ukrainian — Українська
  • Attendance Matters - Practical guidance to improve attendance together

    Topics:
    • Support and development, 
    • Pupil behaviour and school discipline

    Date published: 6 August 2024

    The documents on this page provide advice on a range of approaches which have proved successful in improving attendance levels at school.

    The purpose of this guidance is to provide additional support to schools to manage and improve pupil attendance at school. We want schools to have a range of helpful tools to support them in improving pupil attendance; to understand why pupils are absent and to use early intervention support so that pupil absence is addressed quickly and effectively.

    This document provides examples of strategies that have been identified through the Education Authority’s Attendance Pilot Programme (2022-2023) as having been effective in improving pupil attendance at school.

    In addition, this self-reflection guide, allows schools to assess existing attendance related policies / procedures and to identify areas for improvement along with setting challenging goals.

    It is hoped that in conjunction with utilising the Absence Tiers reports (available within C2K / SIMS) along with the Department’s monthly pupil absence data by FSME bands, that you too, will be able to improve pupil attendance which is a collective challenge for all of us – schools, families, communities and society.

    Documents

    • Attendance Matters - DE and EAAdobe PDF (11.64 MB)
    • Self-reflection guide to support planning for improving attendanceAdobe PDF (329.91 KB)
    Share this page Share on Facebook (external link opens in a new window / tab) Share on X (external link opens in a new window / tab) Share by email (external link opens in a new window / tab)

    Department footer links

    • Crown copyright
    • Terms and Conditions
    • Privacy
    • Cookies
    • Accessibility
    • The Northern Ireland Executive
    • The Executive Office
    • Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs
    • Department for Communities
    • Department for Education
    • Department for the Economy
    • Department of Finance
    • Department for Infrastructure
    • Department for Health
    • Department of Justice
    • nidirect.gov.uk — the official government website for Northern Ireland citizens