Understanding School Avoidance: Why It Happens and How Schools Can Tackle It
29 Apr, 20251-2 minutes
In this blog, you will learn:
- What Emotionally Based School Avoidance (EBSA) is.
- About the connection between mental health and school avoidance.
- About the potential risk factors that may cause pupils to become absent from school.
- Ways to tackle the rising cases of Emotional Based School Avoidance.
- Discover more about our education recruitment services.
With the UK government recently emphasising that ‘attendance is everyone’s business’ and the importance of working together to improve school attendance, it’s vital that schools explore the causes of school avoidance and the subsequent impact on mental health.
According to GovUK, in the 2024/25 academic year, the rate of persistent absence was 18.1%, the equivalent to an estimated 1.6 million pupils in England.
School avoidance is commonly associated with mental health struggles and cases continue to increase with the rise of Social, Emotional and Mental Health (SEMH) needs amongst children and young people.
Charity Stem4 found that nearly 3 in 10 teenagers avoid going to school or college so as not to feel anxious. For young people with mental health difficulties this rises to 5 in 10.
To improve outcomes and support children and young people experiencing Emotionally Based School Avoidance (EBSA), schools must break the cycle driven by mental health challenges once and for all.
In our latest blog, we’re exploring targeted approaches that school staff can take to tackle challenges with mental health and school avoidance.
What is Emotionally Based School Avoidance (EBSA)?
Emotionally Based School Avoidance is the term used to describe when children and young people experience difficulty attending school or engaging in school-related situations.
It differs from truancy or ‘wilful’ non-attendance as there is often an underlying presence of anxiety and/or emotional upset in response to school-related situations.
Emotionally Based School Avoidance may result in a child or young person:
- Avoiding or prolonging getting dressed in the mornings.
- Refusing to leave the house and/or transport method to school.
- Showing physical and emotional signs of distress.
- Being reluctant to attend school for the whole week.
- Being unable to attend school at all.
- Experiencing behavioural changes.
- Withdrawal from social interactions both in and out of school.
What causes school avoidance?
The number of children and young people experiencing difficulties with their mental health in schools is rising and there's been a noticeable increase in school avoidance among students. School avoidance is often rooted in emotional and mental health challenges stemming from past experiences, trauma and ongoing psychological stressors.
According to the charity Mind, 1 in 5 school-age children or young people have a mental health problem, and 11% of 8-16 year olds with a mental health difficulty had missed more than 15 days of school in one term in 2023.
The common causes of Emotionally Based School Avoidance, include:
- Anxiety
- Bullying
- Trauma
- Family or at home difficulties
- Having a special educational need or disability
What are the negative impacts of Emotional Based School Avoidance?
Emotional Based School Avoidance can have a negative effect on a child’s academic progress, social development and emotional wellbeing.
Not only can children and young people miss valuable academic learning time, opportunities to grow socially and develop key life skills might also be missed. This can affect children and young people’s ability to form social connections and positive relationships, which could isolate them further and impact work and financial opportunities in the future.
If Emotional Based School Avoidance is left unaddressed and numbers continue to rise, it can lead to increased stress, low self esteem and a greater risk of mental health conditions such as anxiety and depression. This in turn, makes it even harder to prevent further school avoidance.
How to tackle the mental health and school avoidance cycle
Emotional Based School Avoidance is a growing concern and requires school staff to support pupils experiencing difficulties with attendance as part of a whole-school approach to mental health and wellbeing.
Methods to tackle the rising cases of Emotional Based School Avoidance, include:
- Intervene early
- Adopt a person-centred approach
- Work in partnership with parents
Intervene early
Teachers and Teaching Assistants are expected to recognise the signs of anxiety and other mental health challenges. More Teachers are struggling to cope with the pressure to identify changes in student behaviour and support children and young people with their mental health.
If school staff are able to identify the signs of students experiencing anxiety, trauma or poor mental health, they may be able to intervene early and prevent the situation from worsening.
The Educational Psychology Workforce Insights Report 2024 by Spencer Clarke Group found that the increase in Emotionally Based School Avoidance could be linked to increased levels of anxiety and pressures on school staff.
One Educational Psychologist said, “Teachers and school staff are increasingly trained to recognise signs of mental health challenges and to approach students with empathy and understanding. This training is essential, as Teachers are often on the front lines in observing changes in students’ behaviour.”
Schools are advised to ensure that staff have adequate training on attendance so they can approach students with empathy and understanding to help break the cycle. The same goes for students being bullied.
Teaching staff are required to intervene for the mental health and safety of the pupil and to prevent students from school avoidance.
Adopt a person-centred approach
At the core of addressing the rise in mental health challenges and cases of school avoidance is understanding each individual and providing tailored, compassionate support. Adopting a person-centred approach to Emotionally Based School Avoidance means putting the child or young person at the centre of the support process, rather than focusing solely on attendance or behaviour.
An effective way for schools to do this is by taking the time to understand the individual’s unique experiences, emotions and needs by communicating with students. Validating children and young people’s feelings and experiences can help schools build a supportive, collaborative plan that addresses the causes of their school avoidance.
Recognising that each case of Emotionally Based School Avoidance is different allows schools to provide a personalised, empathetic approach that empowers children and young people to regain confidence. Making children and young people feel safe, secure and involved in decision making can help them reconnect with school in a meaningful way and result in better attendance.
Work in partnership with parents
To tackle the growing numbers of Emotionally Based School Avoidance it’s important to find the reason for avoiding school and to take preventative measures. If children and young people are avoiding school because of problems at home or issues with their mental health, these causes need to be addressed by both parents and teaching staff.
Parents are generally considered to be better positioned to recognise their children’s mental health needs which is why it’s crucial for parents and Teachers to work collaboratively in order to intervene early and provide effective support.
Jointly identifying triggers and aligning strategies through open, empathetic communication with parents helps motivate and comfort students while strengthening their support network.
By working in collaboration with families, schools can gain insight into a child’s home life, emotional wellbeing and any underlying issues contributing to their school avoidance. Schools can also empower families to be actively involved and support the development of personalised strategies based on what motivates and reassures their child.
Aligning strategies at home and school creates a more stable environment that provides consistent and effective support. This can help children and young people feel safer, more understood and better equipped to re-engage with learning.
It’s crucial that schools and families work not only with each other, but also with other local authorities and services to deliver quicker and effective support.
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