Attend Well Study

We’ve had a lovely day in Cambridge hosting our Spanish and Scottish colleagues, sharing our work on school attendance and talking about how we can work together to improve outcomes for children and young people who struggle to attend school.

During a busy day, we managed a lovely lunch and a quick stroll along the Backs — a welcome chance to keep the conversations going.

We finished the day with two great talks from our guests and came away feeling excited about what comes next!

https://www.frontiersin.org/research-topics/65737/addressing-emotionally-based-school-avoidance-causes-consequences-and-interventions/articles

This Research Topic is a great resource for researchers, practitioners, and policymakers interested in understanding and responding to emotionally based school avoidance (EBSA). “Addressing Emotionally Based School Avoidance: Causes, Consequences, and Interventions” brings together 22 papers exploring the complex drivers of EBSA and related school attendance problems.

Across the collection, a clear message emerges: EBSA is shaped by interacting influences across young people, families, schools, and wider systems — highlighting the need for multi-level, evidence-informed responses grounded in bioecological perspectives.

It was a real pleasure to co-edit this work with Prof. Trude Havik (University of Stavanger), Prof. Carolina Gonzalvez (University of Alicante), and Dr. Sümeyye Ulaş (Erzurum Technical University), and we hope it supports ongoing research, practice, and policy development in this important area.

Frontiers | Addressing emotionally based school avoidance: causes, consequences, and interventions Chronic school absence is a growing issue in numerous countries, exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic. School absenteeism can be categorized into several typ...

📢 Join us: Research Seminar – Why Attendance Matters
Research event exploring how behaviour, motivation, and emotion shape school attendance — and how absences influence academic achievement.

🗓 Date: 26 February 2026
🕓 Time: 16:00 – 17:30
📍 Location: Wolfson College Cambridge, Gatsby Room, Chancellor’s Centre

🔎 Open to researchers, educators, and anyone interested in attendance, wellbeing, and educational outcomes.
We look forward to welcoming you!

📣 Call for Secondary School Students

Are you a secondary school student who has ever missed school because it felt too stressful to go? Share your experiences with us!

Take part in a short online survey — and if you’d like, you can also join a one-to-one interview with a researcher. Your voice can help schools become places where students feel supported and want to be.

👉 Get involved and make a difference: https://attendwell.org.uk/take-part-in-the-attend-well-study/

Please share with students, parents, and schools who may be interested.

In our half-term newsletter we update you on:

✅ Our live survey, open to parents/carers and young people who have ever had difficulties with school attendance.

💬 Our interviews with school staff, parents/carers and young people - we are so grateful to everyone who has shared their views so far!

🤝 Our partnership with Nessie, a not-for-profit mental health organisation with a strong focus on EBSNA.

As the year comes to a close, we just want to say a huge thank you to everyone who has supported the Attend Well Project.
We’re really proud of the progress made this year and the positive difference it’s already creating — and we’re excited to keep growing and improving together in the year ahead.
From everyone in the Attend Well Team, we wish you a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year 🎁✨🎄
Thank you for being part of our journey!