Learning from the last Labour government can help Keir Starmer reduce school absence

The last Labour government’s success in tackling complex policy problems like school absence provides a blueprint for Keir Starmer’s government, says a new report for the Institute for Government by Moira Wallace, IfG Senior Fellow and the former director of the Social Exclusion Unit set up by Tony Blair. 

Published today, Reducing school absence: Innovation lessons from the last Labour government is the first in a new series of case studies exploring how Labour can learn from its experience of tackling complex problems when it was last in government. 

The incoming Blair government in 1997 – like Starmer’s in 2024 – inherited high levels of many social problems such as school absence. But a cross-sectoral approach saw absence rates in English schools fall almost without interruption for more than a decade from 2000–01, and over the seven years from 2006-07 severe absence in secondary schools was halved and persistent absence cut by 45%. 

However, this downward trend petered out in the mid-2010s and school absence rates subsequently exploded in the wake of the pandemic:

• One in four secondary pupils now counts as persistently absent – missing at least 10% of schooling.
• Over 40% of secondary school pupils on free school meals are persistent absentees. 

Arguing that this urgent problem is well beyond what schools can tackle on their own, Wallace’s report recommends that ministers emulate the strategic approach that drove Labour’s previous success in cutting absence. This would mean:

• The prime minister setting a clear public goal for improvement, for example to halve severe absence and cut persistent absence by 45% over seven years.
• Multiple departments working together to develop a long-term strategy that tackles the root causes of absence – including adolescent health, the special needs system, school disengagement, family stress, bullying and crime.
• Bolstering what schools can do by harnessing the contribution of health services, police and crime prevention partners, and forging strong local partnerships.
• Rebuilding the relationship with parents by strengthening their ability to support their children and building trusting relationships between home and school.
• Recreating a proper government coordinating mechanism for youth policy – an approach which would improve delivery and reduce costs.

Moira Wallace, report author, said: 

“Current levels of school absence represent a huge risk to the country’s future and the achievement of the government’s missions. Absence can have multiple causes, and simplistic solutions will not work. But the tide of absence can be turned by a sustained and strategic approach that systematically tackles the drivers of absence."

Emma Norris, IfG Deputy Director said: 

“This government has a lot to learn from some of the successful approaches to tackling complex problems by the last Labour government, as illustrated by this case study.  The good news for government is that it can get to grips with seemingly intractable problems and make the system work better for disadvantaged groups”.

Notes to editors

1. The Institute for Government is an independent think tank that works to make government more effective. 
2. For more information, including data to reproduce any charts, please contact: press@instituteforgovernment.org.uk/ 07850 313 791.