Scotland - INSA Network

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We welcome colleagues in Scotland to INSA’s website. The menus below were updated in February 2023.

People, groups, and organisations

Not for profit:

Dr Markus Klein and Dr Edward Sosu (University of Strathclyde) are leading two research projects on school absenteeism funded by the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) and the Nuffield Foundation. You can contact them directly (klein@strath.ac.uk; edward.sosu@strath.ac.uk) find more information on their work here: https://schoolattendance.org/
Excluded Lives is a multi-disciplinary project across the four jurisdictions of the UK. The overarching aim of this project is to provide a comprehensive and multi-disciplinary view of the different policies, practices and costs of formal, informal and illegal school exclusions across the UK. Scotland lead is Prof Gillean McCluskey at the University of Edinburgh
The Forth Valley and West Lothian Regional Improvement Collaborative has created an Interactive Attendance Guide to support settings with their improving attendance work:
The East Lothian Council aims to provide the best education service in Scotland and has stated its ambition for improving school attendance. The East Lothian Council also devises policies on attendance and often provides the opportunity for feedback on its website.
Enquire is a Scottish advice service which provides additional support for learning. The service provides advice on multiple school-related factors including attendance and exclusion.
Children in Scotland is a national network of people working with/for children and children themselves, to provide support and advice across all areas affecting children. One of the areas noted is school absenteeism in Scotland.
CELCIS aim to improve children’s lives by supporting people and organisations to inform long-lasting changes in the relevant services. The organisation attempts to influence policy through innovative and data-driven evidence. The organisation has a blog which highlights the different challenges for children, for example, the importance of attendance.
Together Scotland is a collective of children’s charities which aim to enhance the implementation and understanding of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC). One of the rights included is the child’s Right to Education and topics related include school attendance.

Current and upcoming activities and achievements

The Australian Network for School Attendance (ANSA) is hosting its inaugural conference to be held on September 4th and 5th 2025. For further details or to register, click here. Please contact seed-mhc@deakin.edu.au with any questions.
In January 2025, the Australian Education Research Organisation (AERO) released multiple reports on school attendance. See Barriers to School Attendance and Reasons for Student Absence and Interventions to Promote School Attendance and Address Student Absence.
The Australian Government recently handed down its response to the Senate Inquiry into School Refusal and related matters. Their response was disappointing for those advocating for change with little action forthcoming.
Multi-tiered systems of support (MTSS) for school attendance problems (SAPs) in Australia. This research project is a partnership between A/Prof Lisa McKay-Brown (University of Melbourne), A/Prof Glenn Melvin (Deakin University) and A/Prof Patricia Graczyk (University of Illinois Chicago). We examined the use of MTSS for SAPs in schools particularly focusing on prevention and early intervention.

Past activities and achievements

2021

2021, January: Covid-19 and school absenteeism – Klein, M., Sosu, E. M. (2021) Socioeconomic Disparities in School Absenteeism after the First Wave of COVID-19 School Closures in Scotland.
2021, March: Podcast Spotlight: Socioeconomic Inequalities in School Absenteeism
2021, May: University of Strathclyde Engage Event “Data Can Tell Us ‘What Works’ in Education: Insights from Quantitative Education Research”.
2021, May: Discussion of attendance and offending outcomes – Henderson, G., Rogon, P., Kurlus, I., Henderson, S. And Woods, R. (2021). Educational Attendance and Offending Outcomes. Home Compulsory Supervision Orders: Effectiveness of Decision Making and Outcomes. Scottish Children’s Reporter Administration.
2021, August: Systematic review of family SES and school absenteeism – Sosu, E. M., Dare, S., Goodfellow, C., & Klein, M. (2021). Socioeconomic status and school absenteeism: A systematic review and narrative synthesis. Review of Education, 9(3), e3291. https://doi.org/10.1002/rev3.3291
2021, September: Relationship between school attendance and missed GP appointments – McQueenie, R., Ellis, D. A., Fleming, M., Wilson, P., & Williamson, A. E. (2021). Educational associations with missed GP appointments for patients under 35 years old: administrative data linkage study. BMC medicine, 19(1), 1-7. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12916-021-02100-7
2021, December: Government statistics on Scotland school attendance – Scottish Government (2021). Summary Statistics for Schools in Scotland 2021.

2020

2020, March: University of Strathclyde, School of Education Blog: School Attendance and the Poverty-related Attainment Gap.
2020, November: Socioeconomic inequalities in school absenteeism – Klein, M., Sosu, E. M., & Dare, S. (2020). Mapping inequalities in school attendance: The relationship between dimensions of socioeconomic status and forms of school absence. Children and Youth Services Review, 118, 105432. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.childyouth.2020.105432
2020, November: Report on attendance across the UK – Sibieta, L. (2020). School attendance rates across the UK since full reopening.

2019

2019, June: Government advice on school attendance – Scottish Government (2019). Included, engaged and involved part 1: A Positive Approach to the Promotion and Management of Attendance in Scottish Schools.
2019, June: Publication on exclusion – Cole, T., McCluskey, G., Daniels, H., Thompson, I., & Tawell, A. (2019). Factors associated with high and low levels of school exclusions: Comparing the English and wider UK experience. Emotional and Behavioural Difficulties, 24(4), 374-390. https://doi.org/10.1080/13632752.2019.1628340
2019, July: Exclusion across the UK – McCluskey, G., Cole, T., Daniels, H., Thompson, I., & Tawell, A. (2019). Exclusion from school in Scotland and across the UK: Contrasts and questions. British Educational Research Journal, 45(6), 1140-1159. https://doi.org/10.1002/berj.3555
2019, August: Crieff High School (2019). Attendance Strategy Report.

2018

2018, June: Publication providing data on school exclusions and attendance on attainment – Scottish Government (2018). Education outcomes for looked after children: 2016 to 2017.

2017

2017, March: Publication which discusses exclusion as a factor of the attainment gap – McCluskey, G. (2017). Closing the attainment gap in Scottish schools: Three challenges in an unequal society. Education, Citizenship and Social Justice, 12(1), 24-35. https://doi.org/10.1177/1746197916683468
2017, June: Government advice on school exclusions – Scottish Government (2017). Included, engaged and involved part 2: preventing and managing school exclusions.

2015