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Pupil Absence and the COVID-19 Pandemic

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Bibliographic Details
Title: Pupil Absence and the COVID-19 Pandemic
Language: English
Authors: Stephen Gibbons, Sandra McNally, Piero Montebruno, London School of Economics and Political Science (United Kingdom), Centre for Economic Performance (CEP)
Source: Centre for Economic Performance. 2025.
Availability: Centre for Economic Performance. London School of Economics and Political Science, Houghton Street, London, WC2A 2AE, UK. Tel: +44-20-7955-7673; Fax: +44-20-7404-0612; e-mail: cep.info@lse.ac.uk; Web site: http://cep.lse.ac.uk
Peer Reviewed: N
Page Count: 59
Publication Date: 2025
Sponsoring Agency: Nuffield Foundation (United Kingdom)
Document Type: Reports - Research
Education Level: Elementary Secondary Education
Descriptors: COVID-19, Pandemics, Attendance Patterns, Disadvantaged, Low Income Groups, Academic Achievement, Parent Attitudes, Student Attitudes, Disease Control, Foreign Countries, Educational Policy, Elementary Secondary Education
Geographic Terms: United Kingdom (England)
Abstract: A 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.
Abstractor: As Provided
Entry Date: 2025
Accession Number: ED674573
Database: ERIC
Description
Abstract:A 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.