When digital wellbeing becomes a school attendance issue

As pupils return to classrooms for a new school year, persistent absence remains one of the most pressing challenges facing secondary schools in England.

New research from the National Foundation for Educational Research (NFER), funded by the Nuffield Foundation, adds an important dimension to the conversation: the relationship between pupil wellbeing, attendance and young people’s increasingly digital lives.

Nearly a quarter of secondary school pupils in England, 23.4%, were persistently absent in 2024/25. This remains significantly higher than before the pandemic, when the figure stood at 13.7% in 2018/19.

NFER’s research explored why, through case studies in 10 mainstream secondary schools alongside a survey of parents and carers.

Wellbeing and attendance are closely connected

More than half (51%) of parents and carers surveyed identified poor wellbeing as a key factor behind rising absence.

The research suggests the relationship can become cyclical. For some pupils, time away from school may initially provide relief from difficulties they are experiencing. But prolonged absence can itself negatively affect wellbeing and make returning to school increasingly difficult.

There is no single explanation for persistent absence. NFER found that attendance is often influenced by a combination of pupil, school, family and local circumstances.

But one finding is particularly relevant to the growing conversation around children’s digital health.

66% linked declining wellbeing to increased mobile phone and social media use

When parents and carers were asked about factors contributing to declining pupil wellbeing, 66% identified increased mobile phone and social media use.

This was considerably higher than the proportion identifying greater awareness of mental health symptoms (41%), difficulties accessing support services (37%) or bullying (35%).

Pupils themselves also highlighted online bullying as a factor affecting both their wellbeing and their attendance.

These findings do not demonstrate that smartphones or social media are causing persistent absence. But they do suggest that children’s digital lives form part of the wider environment in which difficulties with wellbeing and school attendance are developing.

For health professionals, educators and policymakers, that distinction matters.

Digital wellbeing cannot sit in isolation

Much of the debate around persistent absence understandably focuses on what schools can do to bring pupils back into the classroom.

The NFER research suggests the picture is considerably more complex.

Schools described investing substantial time and resources in pastoral support, timetable and curriculum adjustments, family support and specialist provision. Pupils and families particularly valued supportive relationships, good communication and approaches tailored to the individual child.

But many of the factors influencing attendance extend well beyond the school gates.

Children do not have separate “online” and “offline” lives. Experiences on social media can follow a child into school, while difficulties with friendships, bullying, sleep, mental health and other aspects of wellbeing can move between their digital and physical environments.

Understanding a child’s digital life should therefore increasingly form part of understanding their health and wellbeing as a whole.

What happens next?

Significantly, NFER recommends that the Government monitor the impact of proposed social media restrictions for under-16s on school attendance.

It also recommends that schools address the impact of bullying, including online bullying, on pupil wellbeing and attendance.

For HPFSS, this is an important development.

It does not mean that restricting social media alone will solve England’s attendance crisis – and the research certainly does not suggest that it will.

It does mean that children’s use of smartphones and social media should no longer be treated as peripheral to conversations about their health, wellbeing and education.

As pupils begin another school year, tackling persistent absence will require schools, families, health professionals and wider services to understand the many factors affecting individual children.

Their digital environment needs to be part of that picture.

Read the full NFER report here.