ABSTRACT
Missing school is clearly a major obstacle to achievement and is associated with most of the other indicators of social exclusion in adulthood. In one local authority known to me, only one pupil with overall attendance below 85 per cent gained 5 A*–C at GCSE in 2005.This chapter does not focus on the findings of academic research into ‘truancy’ and its causes,nor is there space to describe in detail all the possible tactics we can use to combat it.These are easily available elsewhere,especially in the many excellent publications by Ken Reid of the Swansea Institute of Higher Education and on the DfES attendance website (see Resources).
