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Pandemic absenteeism then reduced attendance and achievement in subsequent years.",{"@graph":14,"@context":73},[15,34,56],{"@type":16,"itemListElement":17},"BreadcrumbList",[18,23,27,31],{"item":19,"name":20,"@type":21,"position":22},"https://docshare.wps.com","Home","ListItem",1,{"item":24,"name":25,"@type":21,"position":26},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/","Document",2,{"item":28,"name":29,"@type":21,"position":30},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/research-report/","Research & Report",3,{"item":32,"name":10,"@type":21,"position":33},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/pupil-absence-and-the-covid-19-pandemic-abstract-executive-summary/583147/",4,{"url":32,"name":10,"@type":35,"image":36,"author":41,"headline":10,"publisher":44,"fileFormat":47,"inLanguage":8,"description":12,"dateModified":48,"datePublished":49,"encodingFormat":47,"isAccessibleForFree":50,"interactionStatistic":51},"DigitalDocument",{"url":37,"@type":38,"width":39,"height":40},"https://docshare.wps.com/thumbnails/pupil-absence-and-the-covid-19-pandemic-abstract-executive-summary/583147.png","ImageObject",300,407,{"name":42,"@type":43},"\tJames","Person",{"url":19,"name":45,"@type":46},"DocShare","Organization","application/pdf","2026-10-29","2026-10-15",true,{"@type":52,"interactionType":53,"userInteractionCount":55},"InteractionCounter",{"@type":54},"ViewAction",8,{"@type":57,"mainEntity":58},"FAQPage",[59,65,69],{"name":60,"@type":61,"acceptedAnswer":62},"Which factor caused the persistent impact of pandemic absence on later attendance and achievement?","Question",{"text":63,"@type":64},"The evidence suggests persistent effects come from changes in parents’ and pupils’ attitudes to attendance, not from rules forcing students to stay home after contact with others with Covid-19.","Answer",{"name":66,"@type":61,"acceptedAnswer":67},"How did stricter local health and social regulations affect school absence during the pandemic?",{"text":68,"@type":64},"More stringent regulations led to higher rates of school absence at the time, with larger impacts in more disadvantaged areas and for lower socio-economic groups.",{"name":70,"@type":61,"acceptedAnswer":71},"What change occurred in absence rates from before the pandemic to autumn 2020 and beyond?",{"text":72,"@type":64},"Before the pandemic, absence was about 3.5% to 3.7% of sessions missed. It rose to 13.5% in autumn 2020, then fell to 9.3% in autumn 2021, with unforced absence increasing to 7.7%.","https://schema.org",{"og:url":32,"og:type":75,"og:title":10,"og:site_name":45,"og:description":12},"article",{"robots":77,"canonical":32},"index,follow",{"doc_id":79,"site_id":7},583147,1792165711,{"code":4,"msg":82,"data":83},"success",[84,88,92,96,101,106,111,114,119,122,126],{"id":22,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":85,"show_sort_weight":86,"slug":87},"Story & Novel",90,"story-novel",{"id":26,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":89,"show_sort_weight":90,"slug":91},"Literature",80,"literature",{"id":33,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":93,"show_sort_weight":94,"slug":95},"Exam",70,"exam",{"id":97,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":98,"show_sort_weight":99,"slug":100},5,"Comic",60,"comic",{"id":102,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":103,"show_sort_weight":104,"slug":105},6,"Technology",50,"technology",{"id":107,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":108,"show_sort_weight":109,"slug":110},7,"Healthcare",40,"healthcare",{"id":55,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":29,"show_sort_weight":112,"slug":113},30,"research-report",{"id":115,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":116,"show_sort_weight":117,"slug":118},9,"Religion & Spirituality",20,"religion-spirituality",{"id":117,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":120,"show_sort_weight":117,"slug":121},"World Cup","world-cup",{"id":123,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":124,"show_sort_weight":123,"slug":125},10,"Lifestyle","lifestyle",{"id":127,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":128,"show_sort_weight":97,"slug":129},19,"General","general",{"code":4,"msg":82,"data":131},{"doc_id":79,"user_id":132,"nickname":42,"user_avatar":133,"doc_module":4,"category_id":55,"category_name":29,"doc_title":10,"doc_description":12,"doc_content":134,"file_id":135,"file_url":136,"file_type":137,"file_size":138,"view_count":55,"is_deleted":4,"is_public":22,"is_downloadable":22,"audit_status":22,"page_count":139,"language":140,"language_code":8,"site_id":7,"html_lang":8,"table_of_contents":141,"faqs":142,"seo_title":143,"seo_description":12,"update_tm":144,"read_time":145,"preview_page_count":4},2336474466412,"https://ap-avatar.wpscdn.com/davatar_155a257f0dc6eb9ab79c44ca47cae57d","Pupil absence and the Covid-19 pandemic  \nStephen Gibbons, Sandra McNally and Piero Montebruno July 2025  \nPupil absence and the Covid-19 pandemic  \nStephen Gibbons 1 , Sandra McNally 2 and Piero Montebruno 3  \nApril 2025  \nAbstract  \nA high level of school absence has persisted across many countries since the Covid-19 pandemic. We use English data to investigate how local health and social regulations affected pupil absence rates during the pandemic and whether this pupil absence had a causal impact on school attendance and academic progress in future years. We find that more stringent regulations caused higher rates of school absence at that time, with bigger impacts in more disadvantaged areas and for lower socio-economic groups. Absenteeism during the pandemic caused lower attendance and rates of achievement in subsequent years. Our evidence suggests that the persistent effect is caused by changes in parents’and pupils’ attitudes to attendance and not because of rules forcing students to stay at home when they had been in contact with others who had Covid-19.  \nAcknowledgements  \nFunding provided by the Nuffield Foundation grant number FR-000022949. We are grateful to the Nuffield Foundation for funding this research and to members of the advisory group set up to support this project. Part this work was undertaken in the Office for National Statistics Secure Research Service using data from ONS and other owners and does not imply the endorsement of the ONS or other data owners.  \n1 Department of Geography and Environment & Centre for Economic Performance, London School of Economics and Political Science, Houghton Street, London WC2A 2AE, UK  \nEmail: [s.gibbons@lse.ac.uk](s.gibbons@lse.ac.uk)  \n2 School of Social Sciences, University of Surrey and Centre for Economic Performance, London School of Economics  \n3 Centre for Economic Performance, London School of Economics  \n1. Executive summary  \nGlobally, children experienced long periods of absence from school during the Covid-19 pandemic. Absence rates remain very high in many countries, with huge increases in“chronic” absenteeism where students are regularly missing from school. These high levels of absenteeism are of obvious concern, given the potential impact on educational outcomes and inequalities. Many studies worldwide have documented these higher rates of absence, alongside a drop in educational achievement and progress post-pandemic. Although it appears that school closures during the pandemic are relevant, this is only part of the story – and perhaps not the main part – with changing attitudes and an increased incidence of mental health issues such as anxiety playing a role. There has also been speculation that the tolerance of absence or enforcement of home-schooling during the pandemic has given rise to a new culture of persistent absenteeism. But these inferences are generally based on before-after comparisons of absence and achievement or qualitative surveys. Previous research has not yet investigated whether a student’s absence during the pandemic had any causal impact on their subsequent attendance and academic progress.  \nIn this project, we investigate two related questions: In what ways did health and social policies during the pandemic affect pupil absence at the time? Did higher absence during the pandemic affect students’ post-pandemic attendance and academic achievement? We find that absence induced by health and social policies that encouraged home working, closed businesses and restricted social contact during autumn 2020 caused higher rates of school absence and lower rates of achievement in subsequent years (2021/22) . The effects on future absences are large and persistent for secondary schools (less so for primary schools) . We find large effects on primary school attainment, where attendance at school is likely to be one of a number of possible mechanisms. We do not find effects on secondary school achievement, although changes to GCSE exams ov","cbCairhU48TvvQVN","https://ap.wps.com/l/cbCairhU48TvvQVN","pdf",3566005,59,"English","# Executive summary\n## What happened to absences?\n## The influence of Covid restrictions on pupil absences","[{\"question\":\"Which factor caused the persistent impact of pandemic absence on later attendance and achievement?\",\"answer\":\"The evidence suggests persistent effects come from changes in parents’ and pupils’ attitudes to attendance, not from rules forcing students to stay home after contact with others with Covid-19.\"},{\"question\":\"How did stricter local health and social regulations affect school absence during the pandemic?\",\"answer\":\"More stringent regulations led to higher rates of school absence at the time, with larger impacts in more disadvantaged areas and for lower socio-economic groups.\"},{\"question\":\"What change occurred in absence rates from before the pandemic to autumn 2020 and beyond?\",\"answer\":\"Before the pandemic, absence was about 3.5% to 3.7% of sessions missed. It rose to 13.5% in autumn 2020, then fell to 9.3% in autumn 2021, with unforced absence increasing to 7.7%.\"}]","Pupil absence and the Covid-19 pandemic - Abstract - Executive summary | PDF",1792046012,149]