UK schools are facing significant challenges related to pupil attendance, driven by complex social, economic, and health factors. Government data released in ‘Pupil Absence in Schools in England’ on 17th October, 2024 shows that persistent absenteeism (where schools have less than 90% attendance) increased substantially post-pandemic, with 19.2% of pupils missing 10% or more morning or afternoon sessions.
The overall session’s absence rate in Autumn and Spring 2023-24 was 6.9%, with just over half of absence due to illness. Other key factors include economic pressures from the cost-of-living crisis, rising mental health issues among pupils and challenges in meeting the needs of students with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND).
The government sanctions parents who fail to ensure their children attend school, with Penalty Notices (Fines), Parenting Contracts, School Attendance Orders and ultimately, prosecution. Many educators are concerned that these punitive strategies damage the relationship between parents and schools and are also ineffective.
Are classroom robots the answer?
In an interview with Sky News in October 2024, Anne Longfield, a former children’s commissioner for England, said, ‘…threatening parents with fines is not working for many families and not reducing severe absence rates’. She referred to the Centre for Young Lives which outlined the potential use of telepresence robots, called AV1, as one potential strategy. In a 12-month pilot project on the Wirral launched in February 2024, early data is encouraging; robots helped to improve attendance by 21% and increased engagement with learning by 42%. In Platt Bridge Community School in Wigan in 2022, the attendance of a pupil undergoing assessment for Autism improved significantly when a robot was introduced to support their learning. In 2023, Ladybridge High School in Bolton used AV1 for a pupil who was seriously injured in the Autumn term which required him to recover at home for the whole of the Spring term. The pupil was able to access the curriculum and ‘attend’ events such as the Christmas concert and a rewards assembly. Without AV1, the school said it would have had to ask the pupil to repeat Year 7. Feedback from the pupil and staff was nothing but positive.
How do the robots work?
‘No Isolation’, the company currently providing robots to UK and European schools, describes how their robots work in a video on their website:
- Each robot is used for a pupil absent due to physical or mental health.
- AV1 (as the robots are called) sits on the desk of the absent pupil.
- The robot is connected to the internet via Wi-Fi and streams live video and audio.
- The absent pupil connects to AV1 via an app on their phone or tablet at home, via a passcode.
- The pupil sees and hears the lesson and is able to adjust their view.
- If the pupil wants to ask a question or contribute, they can raise their hand virtually and the light on AV1’s head flashes green. Their question is heard by the teacher and their classmates.
- The pupil can change the expression in AV1’s eyes from neutral to sad, to happy, to confused.
- The live stream is encrypted and is not stored.
- The robot is portable and can be moved around the school to accommodate the pupil’s timetable.
What are the benefits of using robots to improve attendance?
- Remote learning: Pupils who are unable to attend school due to physical or mental illness can participate in lessons. This helps to maintain their engagement with school, potentially improving their attendance when they return. In addition, the learning experience can alleviate anxiety for pupils, especially those who are absent from school due to social pressures, learning difficulties or mental ill-health.
- Social interaction: Pupils are able to maintain social connections with their peers, which is crucial for emotional wellbeing and reducing isolation.
- Phased attendance: The robot can be used to encourage a gradual increase in attendance, with the pupil accessing lessons from an area within the school; for example, a teacher’s office or the library.
But robots are not without problems
- Technical issues: Robots require a stable internet Wi-Fi connection both in the school and home. If problems are frequent, the pupil may lose interest. This potentially could reinforce reluctance to attend school.
- Emotional limitations: A relationship between a teacher and pupil is built to a great extent through physical proximity. A robot used without other attendance strategies, such as mentoring and the school creating a relationship with the pupil’s parents, is unlikely to be successful in improving attendance.
- Logistical issues: There are challenges in transferring the robot from one lesson to another in secondary schools, where pupils usually move classrooms for different lessons. The use of AV1 is likely to be easier to implement in primary schools, where pupils remain with the teacher in the same room for much of their timetable.
- Unintended consequences: An unintentional consequence of using robots to improve attendance is that it may increase it. If the student enjoys learning via AV1, they may avoid attending school to continue to use it.
- Attendance data: The definition of DfE/Government school attendance is currently based on pupils’ presence at school. Learning from home via a robot is likely to be counted in the school’s absence figures.
While classroom robots present an innovative solution to improving pupil attendance, they are not a panacea. Robots can certainly offer benefits for students who are otherwise disconnected from school due to health or social barriers. Their use, however, is best seen as one tool among many. Apart from physical illness, without addressing the root causes of absenteeism, such as mental health challenges and socio-economic factors, robots alone are unlikely to drive substantial, long-term improvements in attendance. Schools need to integrate this technology alongside compassionate, holistic and strategic approaches that address the diverse needs of students and their families and take into account their social and economic challenges.
