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In classrooms across the UK and beyond, school absence is shifting from a post-pandemic aftershock into something more entrenched. What was once viewed as a temporary disruption is increasingly understood as a long-term challenge tied to wellbeing, belonging, digital life, and inequality.

Recent reporting by the Financial Times highlighted the global dimensions of this crisis, showing that persistent absenteeism is not confined to one country or one education system. Across advanced economies, schools are grappling with students who have become physically or emotionally disconnected from education.

In England, persistent absence remains significantly above pre-pandemic levels. Government data and analysis from the Education Endowment Foundation and Department for Education have pointed to a complex mix of drivers: anxiety, unmet special educational needs, family pressures, poverty, mental health, and disengagement.

The overlooked role of social media

One factor receiving growing attention is the impact of social media.

Recent research has begun drawing connections between excessive screen use, sleep disruption, online harms, anxiety, and school avoidance. This does not mean social media “causes” absence in a simple sense, but for some young people it can intensify the vulnerabilities that lead to disengagement.

That is why it is encouraging to see growing government focus on this issue, and why emerging practitioner insight matters so much. Teachers often see these patterns before policymakers do.

The next wave of evidence, particularly on what teachers are seeing on the ground, will be vital. If attendance is about more than compliance, solutions must go beyond attendance monitoring.

Attendance is a relationships issue

This is where the conversation often shifts. Research consistently shows students are more likely to attend, engage and persist when they feel known, safe and connected at school. Belonging matters. A growing evidence base around mentoring supports this. Studies from organisations including The Brookings Institution and MENTOR show trusted adult relationships can strengthen attendance, motivation and resilience.

That matters because attendance problems are often symptoms, not root causes. A young person avoiding school may be navigating bullying, care responsibilities, trauma, low confidence or simple disconnection. Monitoring can identify absence and relationships can help address it.

What this means for One Degree Mentoring

This is where One Degree Mentoring has a vital role.

Mentoring can support attendance not through enforcement, but through connection:

  • Helping young people rebuild confidence and routine
  • Providing a trusted adult who notices when disengagement starts
  • Supporting belonging and aspiration
  • Acting as an early intervention before absence becomes entrenched

If the attendance crisis is partly a crisis of connection, mentoring is not peripheral to the solution. It is part of the infrastructure of response.

As the debate evolves, one lesson feels clear: Improving attendance is not only about getting young people back through the school gates. It is about helping them feel they belong once they are there.