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  4. Emotionally based school avoidance (EBSA) toolkit
  5. EBSA toolkit

EBSA toolkit

1. Overview

This toolkit helps explain the feelings that make it easier for children and young people to go to school. It also shows how families and school or colleges can help when addressing Emotionally Based School Avoidance (EBSA).

You can share parts of this guide online or print them to give to parents, teachers, and kids.

The guide will be updated as we learn more from research and experience.

The toolkit suggests a simple "Assess, Plan, Do, Review" method to help students who feel like they can't go to school. It also explains how to embed Whole School or College Approaches (WSCA) to spot and prevent mental health and emotional wellbeing problems early.

Summary Toolkit

Emotionally Based School Avoidance (EBSA) or Emotionally Based Non-Attendance (EBNA) refers to young people who have trouble attending school because of emotional difficulties. Early signs can include avoiding certain classes, people, places, or often being late

In East Sussex, EBSA is a concern, and to help with it, the council recommends using the "Assess, Plan, Do, Review" method. This approach helps understand the child’s feelings and creates a plan to help them attend school more regularly.

The toolkit uses a system with different levels to understand EBSA:

  • Tier 1: 93%+ attendance, might include in-school EBSA or frequent lateness

  • Tier 2: 80-92% attendance, possible EBSA, lateness, suspensions, or being sent out of class

  • Tier 3: 51-79% attendance, possible EBSA, lateness, suspensions, or being sent out of class

  • Tier 4: 0-50% attendance, possible EBSA, lateness, suspensions, or being sent out of class

Schools, colleges, and local services have different roles in supporting children and young people with EBSA.

Further information about understanding EBSA and the following topics are available:

What children and young people say about why they experienced EBSA

  • "Had difficulties fitting in and felt socially isolated"
  • "School was too noisy"
  • "I didn't fit in, and it was easier to avoid going in, rather than ask for help"
  • "No-one noticed the warning signs"
  • "Didn't feel safe in school and lacked safe spaces"
  • "I hated speaking in class and everyone looking at me"

Emotionally Based School Avoidance (EBSA) Checklist

This checklist helps you figure out if a child might have EBSA and how to help. Since every child’s situation is different, it’s important to talk with other professionals, the child, and their family when making a plan.

Use this checklist with the EBSA Toolkit, which gives more tips on how to prevent and handle attendance problems when EBSA is a concern.  

Emotionally Based School Avoidance (EBSA) Checklist  [18.1 KB] [docx]

General principles for supporting children and young people experiencing EBSA are:

  • Prevention and early intervention
  • Assessing and building an understanding of EBSA
  • Work with the child/young person and the family throughout
  • Develop a holistic action plan
  • Review plans regularly
  • Whole school prevention and intervention

Assessing and Understanding EBSA

  • Start by using the EBSA Screening tool to find out if a child might be at risk of EBSA. It's important to look into what makes it hard for them to attend school so you can help them before the problems get worse.

  • If you find a risk of EBSA, use the EBSA profile tool [229.1 KB] [docx] to look at all the factors that might be affecting the child. Do this along with the "Involving Children and Young People" section.

  • It's easier to help a child who is going to school or college than one who is not attending at all. Schools and colleges with good policies for supporting attendance, well-being, and key transitions can spot those at risk of EBSA earlier.

  • The push and pull model can help understand what makes children want to go to school or stay away.

Involving Children and Young People/ Parents and Carers/ Professionals

The EBSA formulation form [227.8 KB] [docx]helps bring together information from the child, school, and family to understand the situation better.

Parents and Carers 

Talking with parents and carers helps you understand the child’s situation better. They can help figure out if the child’s absence is due to EBSA or other reasons, like not being able to afford the bus fare or work commitments.

  • When you notice absenteeism or lateness, a staff member should contact the parents or carers right away. This helps everyone work together to understand the child’s needs and address any issues.

  • Send the parent and carer information booklet to explain EBSA, how they can join meetings, and how they can help their child.

  • Building a good partnership with parents/carers is important. Children may not always be able to explain their difficulties, so parents and carers can help understand their needs and find solutions.

  • Keep a regular, two-way conversation with a staff member to share updates and concerns. Agree on how often and in what format to communicate (like daily emails or weekly calls).  Example of questions [228.1 KB] [docx] that you can ask can be found here. 

Children and Young People Voice 

  • It’s important to ask children and young people about their worries and what makes school difficult for them. Choose someone they feel comfortable talking to.

  • Involve them in creating support plans so they feel more engaged. Prepare them for meetings and let them share their thoughts in ways they are comfortable with.

  • If they miss important meetings, make sure they get the key points afterward.

  • Share concerns with them in a way that suits their age and focus on finding solutions.

Activities to gather information

Suggested activities and tools to gather information include:

Professionals/Setting Staff 

Work together with everyone involved—parents, school staff, and other professionals—to create a consistent approach for the child. A united effort is best.

  • Use the school staff information form to gather input from those who know the child well.

  • Consult with the school’s SENCo or pastoral team and follow the Vulnerable Learners Protocol (VLP), to ensure proper planning from year 9 onwards.

  • Other services or professionals working with the child might offer valuable insights and additional support.

Action Planning and Intervention

Planning 

  • To help kids go to school or college more often, make a plan that focuses on what they’re good at and addresses the problems found during the assessment. You can use the Return to Educational Setting Action Support Plan Template [229.6 KB] [docx] to help with this.

  • Set SMART goals (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, Time-bound) with the child, their family, and the school.

  • Make sure the plan takes into account the school or college setting, the family’s situation, and why the child feels anxious.

The plan should:  

  • be realistic and achievable with the eventual aim of reintegrating the child or young person back into the educational setting. 
  • focus on small steps of progress and what is needed to achieve those small steps. 
  • explicitly outline what steps parents and carers, staff and young people will take. If appropriate, a separate version of the support plan should be created for the child or young person. 
  • Once actions on a support plan are agreed with the young person, stick to what has been agreed for that week, even if things seem to be going well. Pushing things further than agreed can heighten anxiety, reduce trust and backfire overall. You may wish to look at the strategies sections of this guidance for ideas about what to include in the plan. 
  • Schedule times to review the plan and celebrate any successes, however small! 

Intervention

Low risk strategies

Beginning to have concerns. Early intervention could prevent escalation of need. Child/Young person can still attend with support in place

Attendance monitored closely - Parents/carers to notify school staff the first day the child/young person can’t attend due to either physical or mental health. School should record these as authorised. School attendance officer reports anomalies or patterns in attendance as soon as identified to pastoral/SENCo teams.  

Meeting with parent/carers at home or at school  - Build positive relationships with families. Listen to their story, plan strategies together and review them within a 6-week period. Gain permission to coordinate further support from other services. Support if parents feel the child needs to visit a specialist.  

Detailed Pupil Voice - Should be completed with a staff member or adult they know. What would make a difference? Are there other issues beyond health e.g. friendship issues?  

School Health Team - This team can provide health advice or information and can sign post to other services 

Assessing Risk of EBSA -Working with the family and key professionals to identify the triggers that may lead to anxiety in school to anticipate and avoid these. Circulate with key staff. Regularly review this. 

Peer Mentoring - Consider whether a peer mentor would be appropriate to support sense of school belonging.

Time out systems and use of a safe space - Agreed in advance by student and staff. Location of safe space identified. Enabling the pupil to access the space whenever required.

Robust transition support - Identify where transition may be difficult. This may be large transitions, such as change of year or change of buildings, or daily transitions. Provide support through methods such as social stories/pictures of new spaces/introductions to new key adults. 

Staff training/awareness - Raising awareness and understanding of the causes and support for EBSA will lead to better support. Information and strategies to be used in classrooms are clearly displayed in staffrooms. Senior leaders to complete the whole school audit to appreciate where next steps could improve school approach. 

Adjustments and flexibility in the classroom - Seating and classroom layout planned to meet needs of individual student (medical, social, emotional). Young person has been part of the planning for this. Use of adjusted methods of learning, such as IT equipment. Modified plan for PE and outdoor play.

Stability in staffing and peer grouping - Can you reduce the number of staff working with the student? Choose staff and students who work well with the young person. 

Arrangements for work completed out of school - Discuss with young person and family whether it would be appropriate to send meaningful work home and provide feedback from subject teachers during absence. This will vary depending on the situation and should be carefully monitored so it does not increase anxiety. 

Adaptation of whole school behaviour policy to meet personal needs of a student - E.g. Uniform adjustments for student with sensory needs, any adjustments communicated to all staff. Use of a Therapeutic Thinking approach. 

Assessment of other learning needs - Check that the need isn’t an unmet learning difficulty.

Medium risk strategies

Triangulating attendance data, family and young person’s views has indicated that EBSA is the key attendance difficulty. Green level strategies are not improving the situation and concern from all parties has heightened. 

Key Adult - A named adult who is in every day that the student can check-in with, or who has scheduled times that they check in with the young person. Ideally a member of staff in the school who the child has identified as having a positive relationship with, not necessarily one of their teachers.  

Use of a safe place for learning Agreed in collaboration with young person and key adult. Can the young person complete their work outside of the classroom when needed? Is there an office or meeting room where they feel safe?  

Adjusted Timetable Planned carefully and tailored to match young person’s needs at that time and in agreement with the family. Young person could attend lessons they like best; start later; go home for lunch or at unstructured times; reduce option subjects; arrange other provisions (e.g. work experience, Albion in the Community, Plumpton College, Duke of Edinburgh). Be creative. Ensure this plan is regularly reviewed with parents and young person.  

Intervention programs - Think carefully about the type of need and the appropriate intervention to support the student:

  • Anxiety and resilience building programs such as Worry busters
  • Exam stress intervention groups
  • Social skills intervention groups
  • Use of SEAL materials Nurture groups.
  • Thrive program.
  • Interventions to support learning needs.

Record any interventions through the ‘Assess, Plan, Do, Review’ process.

Advice from specialists, multi-agency collaboration, may need to make a referral - 

  • CAMHS (Child and Adolescent Mental Health service)
  • CITES (Children’s Integrated Therapy Service for physical
  • Occupational or speech and language difficulties)
  • CLASS (Communication, Learning and Autism Support Service)
  • Early Years Service
  • Early Help Key Worker Services (Emotional well-being Team),
  • EBSA network meeting – school staff can schedule to attend for troubleshooting and support
  • Educational Psychology Service
  • Attendance or Behaviour Advisors MHST (Mental Health Support Teams)

Counselling Services - In school or supporting family to find outside of school services.   

Exam Access Arrangements - E.g. Safe room, rest breaks, specialist equipment, extra time

High risk strategies

Following Tier 1-3 strategies, there has been no progress. Young person is not accessing education and has been out of school for 15 days or more (consecutive or cumulative). There is robust evidence of need.

Speak to your Education Division link/refer to Early Help Attendance Service - Investigate alternative learning provisions for the young person through the Local Offer Directory. Liaise with Education Division contacts, parents and young person throughout this process and consider making a front door referral if further support is required. 

Other suggestions for interventions aligned to the function of EBSA

  • Create and use whole school approaches (WSA) to support mental health and emotional wellbeing (MHEW). Use an auditing tool to make sure that parents, teachers, support staff, and other key people know the early signs of EBSA, how to help, and what steps the school or college will take.

  • Schools with strong policies for attendance, well-being, and key transitions can spot those at risk of EBSA earlier.

  • Involve children and young people in making decisions when you can. Consider setting up a school council or ambassadors to help with this.

Signposting and Referral Options

For information about Signposting and Referral Options, please see the Signposting page. 

What is EBSA?

Emotionally Based School Avoidance (EBSA) means some young people have trouble going to school because of emotional issues. It’s sometimes called Emotionally Based Non-Attendance (EBNA), especially for older students. In East Sussex, we use EBSA to describe kids who can’t attend school, not just those who choose not to.

EBSA doesn’t just mean missing school. It can also mean avoiding certain classes, places, or people.

The COVID-19 pandemic made EBSA worse because many kids missed important times in school and social activities.

EBSA is different for everyone, so there’s no single fix. But spotting the signs early and getting help can help young people manage changes, stay in school, and work towards their goals.

Why does EBSA happen?

While EBSA can occur at any time, there are some common times when attending school or college can become more difficult for some children and young people. The Profile of Risk of EBSA tool [229.1 KB] [docx] lists a range of common factors, which includes:

  • Loss and Change
  • Family Dynamic
  • Curriculum and Learning
  • Social, Emotional and Mental Health
  • Death of family, friend, or pet
  • Birth of a new child
  • Low levels of literacy
  • Bullying
  • Traumatic and Adverse Childhood Experiences
  • Parental conflict
  • General Learning Difficulties or SEN
  • English as an Additional Language (EAL)
  • Life changes like moving house
  • Complex family support needs
  • Difficult relationships with staff
  • Difficulty relating to peers, social isolation
  • Family illness
  • Poor Parental Mental Health
  • Transitions
  • Adverse Childhood Experiences
  • Changes to home environment (parental separation)
  • Being a young carer
  • Demanding, pressurise academic environment
  • Difficulties with managing and regulating emotions

Key Times to Watch for EBSA

  • Ages 4 to 7: When children start school, they need to adjust to being away from their parents.

  • Ages 11 to 13: When young people move from primary to secondary school, they may face new challenges.

  • Ages 13+: Teenagers might start dealing with emotional or mental health issues like depression or anxiety. They might also face problems with bullying, friendships, self-esteem, or fear of not doing well.

  • Age 16+: Transitioning to post-16 education can be a big change. Some students may struggle with the new routines, expectations, and environments. Existing issues might continue, and new challenges may appear.

Sometimes, EBSA seems to appear suddenly, but it often builds up over time. A specific event might trigger a young person’s feelings of being overwhelmed.

Research by Kearney shows that EBSA can happen for several reasons:

  1. To avoid uncomfortable feelings like anxiety or low mood from school.
  2. To avoid stressful situations, such as academic pressure or social issues.
  3. To get attention from parents or family.
  4. To do something more enjoyable or motivating outside of school.

EBSA often increases when kids move from primary to secondary school.

For more information on EBSA and transitions, please see our EBSA and transitions Czone page.

What children and young people Say About why they experienced EBSA

  • Had difficulties fitting in and felt socially isolated
  • School was too noisy
  • No-one notices the warning signs
  • I did not feel safe in school and lacked a safe space

How common is EBSA?

In autumn 2023, 20.1% of children and young people missed a lot of school (Children’s Commissioner, 2024). It’s hard to say how many of these missed school because of EBSA, since some cases vary and reporting can be delayed.

EBSA affects boys and girls equally and isn’t strongly linked to how much money their family has (Ingles et al, 2015; Kearney, 2008; King & Bernstein, 2001).

Young people who have trouble going to school often also have emotional problems like anxiety and depression (Ek & Eriksson, 2013; Finning et al., 2019). A recent NHS report (2022) shows that 11 to 16-year-olds with mental health issues often feel unsafe at school and don’t enjoy learning.

Assessing

When a child or young person is at risk of EBSA, a school staff member (like a SENCO, DSL, or Mental Health Lead) should follow these steps:

  1. Assess: Learn about the child’s situation, including their home life and school environment.

  2. Plan: Work with the child and their family to create a plan based on what you’ve learned.

  3. Do: Set up the needed support and keep in touch with the family.

  4. Review: Check how the plan is working and make changes if needed.

Use the resources provided as a guide, but also adapt them to fit what already works in your school.

Gather information quickly from the child, their family, school staff, and other professionals. This helps prevent EBSA from getting worse.

You don’t always need standard tools to assess the situation. There are free tools online that can help, like those from Anna Freud.

When talking with the child and their family, always highlight their successes to keep them motivated. Use good listening skills to understand their needs better.

Resources for assessing:

Assessing Risk and Resilience

Just as with poor mental health there have been factors identified that place children and young people at greater risk of EBSA. It is usually a combination of predisposing factors (e.g., educational setting, family, the child or young person) interacting with a change in circumstances which leads to the pattern of behaviour described as EBSA.

The exact nature of the predisposing vulnerability and the precipitating events will vary according to an individual child or young person’s unique set of characteristics, circumstances, and experiences, but it is still possible to identify factors associated with that vulnerability and the potential triggers leading to EBSA. Being alert to these factors in relation to an absence from education can act as an early warning sign enabling preventative action to be taken .

Example EBSA risk factors are in the What is EBSA section and the Profile of Risk of EBSA [229.1 KB] [docx] can be used to capture early indicators of risk during the assess, plan, do, review cycle.

Educational setting Factors

  • Bullying (the most common educational setting factor)
  • Difficulties in specific subject
  • Transition to secondary educational setting, key stage or change of educational setting 
  • Structure of the educational setting day
  • Academic demands/high levels of pressure and performance orientated classrooms
  • Transport or journey to educational setting 
  • Exams
  • Peer or staff relationship difficulties

Family Factors

  • Separation and divorce or change in family dynamic
  • Parents/carers physical and mental health problems
  • Overprotective parenting style
  • Dysfunctional family interactions
  • Being the youngest child in the family
  • Loss and Bereavement
  • High levels of family stress
  • Family history of EBSA
  • Young carer
  • Diverse cultural backgrounds
  • Financial difficulties

Young Person Factors

  • Temperamental style reluctance to interact and withdrawal from unfamiliar settings, people or objects
  • Fear of failure and poor self confidence
  • Physical illness
  • Age (5-6, 11-12 & 13-14 years)
  • Learning Difficulties, developmental problems or Autism Spectrum Condition if unidentified or unsupported
  • Separation Anxiety from parent/carer
  • Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs)
  • Developmental Stages

Resilience

When working with individuals it is important to also identify and build areas of strength or resilience of the child, family and the educational setting which may help to ‘protect’ the child and promote attendance. This may include:

  • Developing ambition, aspiration, and motivation
  • Increasing confidence, self-esteem, self-efficacy, and value in themselves
  • Developing feelings of safety, security, and a sense of belonging (particularly at the start of term) and evaluating this termly
  • Having positive experiences where they can succeed e.g. work experience
  • Holding positive relationships with peers or staff
  • Feeling listened to and understood e.g. pupil voice
  • Understanding the relationship between thoughts, feelings, and behaviour e.g. through PSHE curriculum
  • Identifying age related tools and strategies to promote resilience/self-management
  • Willingness to work in partnership between educational setting, family, and external professionals
  • Developing parenting skills and understanding e.g. through parent/carer coffee mornings/events
  • Flexibility of approaches within educational setting, person centred listening to the voice of the child/young person

Early Identification

Education settings play a key role in the identification of children and young people who are currently experiencing or are at risk of EBSA. It is important for education settings to develop effective whole school systems to support children and young people, be vigilant to early indicators and employ a thorough assess, plan, do and review cycle placing the child or young person at the heart of the interventions . This includes sharing information appropriately during key transition points so that other staff or settings can continue the assess, plan, do, review cycle.

A Profile of Risk of EBSA [229.1 KB] [docx] can help practitioners identify areas of risk.

Possible indicators of EBSA include: 

  • Difficulty attending school with periods of prolonged absence
  • Child/young person reluctant to leave home and stays away from the setting with the knowledge of the parent/carer
  • Children/young people consistently marked as late
  • reluctance to leave parents or get out of the car 
  • Regular absence without indication of anti-social behaviours         
  • Frequent absences for minor illnesses
  • Patterns in absences or lateness, for example, particular days and/or subjects, after weekends and holidays
  • Reluctance to attend educational setting trips/residentials
  • The child/young person expresses a desire to attend classes but is unable to do so
  • Avoidance of activities – breaktimes, lunchtime/dinner hall
  • Anxiety on separation and inappropriate dependence on family members e.g., worry expressed about the safety of those at home
  • Avoidance of attending the classroom full-time
  • Evidence of under-achievement or problems accessing the curriculum
  • Social isolation and avoidance of classmates or peer group
  • Behaviour that gives cause for concern
  • Concerns about emotional wellbeing: anxiety, anger or low mood and depression
  • Physical symptoms that occur on school days i.e., sweating, sickness, aching limbs, headaches, panic attacks, abdominal pain
  • Low self-esteem and lack of confidence
  • Difficulties concentrating and being ready to learn

Push and Pull Factors

School avoidance occurs when stress exceeds support, when risks are greater than resilience and when ‘pull’ factors that promote School non-attendance overcome the ‘push’ factors that encourage attendance.

The steps below illustrate how negative experiences become pull factors overtaking the push factors that encourage attendance:

School

Home

Push factors (towards attending school):

• Friendships at school

• Academically able and achieving

• Enjoys certain subjects/learning

• Good self-esteem & self-worth

• Key and trusted adult relationship(s)

Pull factors (away from attending school):

• Separation anxiety

• Change in family dynamics

• Family member unwell

• Bereavement & loss

• Difficulties sleeping

Pull factors (away from attending school):

• Prolonged absence from school

• Difficult relationship with peers and/or school adults

• Concerns regarding schoolwork & difficulties with learning

• Anxieties related to certain subjects • Difficulties with learning

• Exam pressures

• Worried about getting into trouble & consequences

• Overwhelming sensory processing need

Push factors (towards staying at home):

• Avoidance of challenging interactions

• Reduced anxiety when at home

• Avoidance of schoolwork

(Taken from Somerset Information and Guidance for Schools and educational Settings.)

What do children and young people who have experienced EBSA say?

Within East Sussex several young people in the Teaching and Learning Provision (TLP) have experienced EBSA in their local schools and this section shares their experiences and views.

What made attendance challenging?

Peer relationships

  • Difficulties fitting it
  • Felt socially isolated

Environment

  • Didn't feel safe in school
  • Too noisy
  • A lack of safe spaces - then sent elsewhere which was often noisier

Teacher relationships and attitude

  • Teachers didn't always know how to talk to you
  • Didn't feel listened to
  • Didn't feel believed
  • Sometimes felt prejudice, injustice and a lack of sensitivity
  • No-one noticed the warning signs

Skills I needed

  • I was left alone to work things out, but didn't know what to do
  • I was given a strategy but no-one showed me what to do
  • Activities that were meant to be enjoyable were often anxiety provoking (e.g. creative activities)
  • I needed specific teaching to reduce stress
  • Didn't get up early enough

What could have helped?

  • Staff to look out for warning signs
  • To have an assessment  so we can understand why we are having difficulties
  • Support for me as an individual
  • Give us strategies to manage educational setting  life
  • Provide spaces where we work and be more comfortable
  • Teach us skills to manage stress and anxiety better
  • Make sure the safe space is quiet and staffed
  • Have a proper safe space to go to
  • Having a member of staff to talk to when you feel overwhelmed
  • Pastoral team being more available - they are very helpful
  • Take care not to ignore the quiet students
  • Greater flexibility around uniform
  • Better awareness of other issues like transgender
  • Refer onto specialist support earlier

The young people chose to discuss and draw ideas for awareness posters

EBSA Poster 1

Young people talked about ‘safe spaces’ in school, one of which was the school toilet, which they felt was one of the few places they could go to, to feel less stressed.

EBSA Poster 2

Young people said they did not always feel listened to and wanted adults in school  to take their concerns seriously.

EBSA Poster 3

Young people asked that there was more support for schools to help spot the warning signs of a student with EBSA much earlier.

Gathering the views of children and young people

When gathering the view of the young person, it is important to consider who is best placed to do this. Consideration needs to be given to who the child or young person has a good relationship with, which member of staff will make them feel most comfortable and where this should take place.

Any child or young person currently avoiding education may become anxious when asked to discuss returning. They may be currently managing feelings of anxiety by employing the avoidant behaviour of not going to the school/college, so any talk about going back to the educational setting is going to raise their anxiety as it is proposing to take away their way of coping with their fears.

A good place to start any assessment with a child or young person is to acknowledge that it may be difficult, but you would like to know what they think and feel. It is important that the adult does not dismiss anxieties or worries the child has. The adult needs to empathise with them while not colluding or promoting the EBSA.

The approaches taken will depend on the child or young person’s age, level of understanding and language skills. They may find it difficult to verbalise what they are thinking and feeling and may prefer to draw what they are feeling or have visual prompts.

Explore the young person's experiences of anxiety.

Help the child/ young person to externalise their feelings of anxiety by asking questions such as:

  • What name would you give the feeling that you experience when you think about going to school/college?
  • If it was a thing, what would it look like? What would it say?
  • How does the…get in the way of you attending school/college? When is…in charge and when are you in charge?
  • Ask them to draw how their body feels when they are worried.
  • A life graph or path can help them to tell you their ‘story so far’ and what they would want in the future.
  • What would your perfect school college look/feel/sound like?

Explore school/college -based factors and experiences.

  • Think about your thoughts and feelings about school/college and what would these look like if they could be drawn?
  • Use an anxiety thermometer or a scale to ask the child/young person what aspects of the setting they find difficult. Some areas to consider include:
  • The sensory environment (e.g., toilets, corridors, assembly hall, social space)
  • Times of the day or social interactions (e.g., arriving at the setting, play and breaktimes, lining up to go into school or classroom, lunchtimes, going home, changing for PE)
  • Particular lessons or activities within lessons (e.g., writing, working as part of a group, reading aloud, verbally answering a question).

A range of tools are available to help settings and professionals access pupils' views regarding educational setting. Some example tools are listed below.

Information booklets for parents/carers, young people and young people, which can support these conversations are also available as part of this guidance.

Suggested activities and tools include to gather information from the child or young persons perspective include:

Gathering the views of parents and carers

What do parents/carers say they need from educational settings ?

  • Empathy
  • Communication
  • Trust
  • Hope
  • Understanding
  • Support
  • To be listened to
  • To be involved throughout the process
  • Validation

Some parents and carers find it hard to talk about the struggles they face when trying to get their child to school. They may also be dealing with stress from work, family, their own mental health, or their own past school experiences. Parents managing children with school anxiety (EBSA) are often tired, stressed, and anxious themselves.

For school staff to help, it's important they build trust with parents and carers. If they don’t listen and understand, they won’t gain trust, and the child may not feel safe enough to come to school.

Parents and carers have shared their feelings when EBSA isn't supported:

  • "It’s a lonely and stressful journey. You feel misunderstood and unsupported by friends, family, and school staff who don’t get why your child won’t go to school."
  • "Telling us about legal consequences for not sending our child to school made things worse. That’s something we, as parents, have to deal with, not the child."
  • "You grieve for what life used to be like—taking your child to school, seeing them happy, having friends. When your child withdraws from the world because of EBSA, it’s heartbreaking and the future can feel uncertain."

To help children with EBSA, school staff need to work closely with parents and carers. Often, children can’t explain why school is hard, but parents can help understand the issues and find solutions.

When meeting with parents and carers, it's important to ask about their situation, listen carefully, and show empathy. Schools should also assign a key person to keep in touch with the family.

Supporting parents is just as important as helping the child. Schools should connect parents with support services and make sure all information is clear and easy to understand.

Gathering the views of setting staff

It is essential that representatives from educational setting s seek information from members of staff who work most closely with the child or young person. We all respond differently according to the environment, situation, or task and with different people. Each member of staff may have valuable information to help identify triggers for anxiety and strategies the young person responds positively to. It is important to seek out the views of any members of staff the young person speaks positively about and any member of staff where relationships may be more difficult. In a secondary school and college, this may involve seeking information from every subject teacher as well as other staff.

Key information to gather:

  • Strengths and difficulties
  • What is going well?
  • Relationships with peers
  • Response to academic tasks
  • Relationships with adults
  • Emotional response
  • What support has been put in place?
  • How have they responded to support?
  • Any other ideas?

An example of a ‘School staff Information gathering form’ can be found in the resource section. It is also essential to consider whether the child has any unidentified special educational needs, medical needs, or a disability. If they are not already involved, setting staff should consult with the setting’s Special Educational Needs Co-ordinator (SENCo) or pastoral team  and as per the  Vulnerable Learners Protocol (VLP)  , ensure that schools and further education providers are working together to identify vulnerabilities and ensure that additional planning for young people is in place from year 9 onwards.

Information gathering and analysis

For any intervention or support plan to be successful it is essential to gain an understanding of the various aspects causing and maintaining the EBSA behaviours. Thambirajah (et al. 2008) state that the main aim of this analysis is to:

  • To confirm that the child or young person is displaying EBSA as opposed to truancy or parentally condoned absence
  • To assess the extent and severity of:
    • (a) an educational absence,
    • (b) anxiety
  • To gather information regarding the various child, family and educational factors that may be contributing to the EBSA
  • To integrate the available information to arrive at a practical working hypothesis as a prelude to planning effective interventions

It is often tempting to try to locate a simple reason and simple solution for the behaviour.

However, it is often an interaction of several factors and trying to find simple causation often encourages blaming and individuals can then become anxious and defensive. Parents/carers may feel blamed for the absences, feel that their parenting skills are being criticised and they may be fearful that they will get into trouble or even be prosecuted for non-attendance. Children and young people may feel guilty or scared that they will be forced to attend educational setting.

Each person may have a different perspective on EBSA and have a different story to tell. It is essential that different people’s views are respected and differences in views are acknowledged. When there is a difference of views it is often more helpful to focus on how the behaviour is occurring rather than why.

Due to the complex nature of EBSA no fixed ‘assessment process’ can be followed. However, in all cases it is essential that the views of the child or young person, the family, key educational setting staff and other relevant professionals are gathered and listened to.

To develop your understanding of the causes and tensions of EBSA, visit Push and Pull Factors.

Action planning and intervention

Plan

Effective planning should include:

  • Views from the Child and Family: Consider what the child and their family think and need.

  • Input from School Staff: Use information from adults who work with the child.

  • Multiagency Approach: Make sure to include other services in the planning if applicable.

Creating a plan based on different viewpoints helps everyone understand the problem and set shared goals. These goals can guide the action and support plans. This should be flexible and follow the child as they move between different settings.

For more details on creating action plans, use the links provided to find helpful information.

Do

To tackle EBSA effectively:

  • Use Assessment Info: Base your strategies on what you learned from talking with the child, their family, and school staff.

  • Build on Strengths and Fix Problems: Create plans that use the child’s strengths and help with their challenges.

This makes the support more focused and effective.

Review

Resolving EBSA can take time. It needs a partnership approach. Celebrate success no matter how small! Reviewing approaches at all levels regularly will help to revise and develop support. You may have made changes to whole school setting  approaches so a check in with your audit might be advisable at this stage.  

Looking with the children and young people at their anxiety levels assessed through scaling or another assessment method could be a rewarding way of measuring progress or simply a pointer to adapt a plan or intervention. Differences in responses on individual items on an assessment measure before and after intervention may indicate positive change.  

There should be regular set dates for reviewing how any action or wellbeing support plan is progressing. It is essential that the young people and parents/carers are actively involved in all parts of the process, including the review. 

The review should identify and celebrate any progress made, and review whether further information has come to light to further inform next steps. These reviews may include; 

  • The voice of the child/young person – what they enjoyed / valued, what was difficult and needs changing 
  • Some of the ‘assess’ activities with the young person would be helpful to review to see what progress has been made
  • A review of data since plans were first implemented 
  • Consolidating and maintaining the current support plan 
  • Setting new outcomes, actions, and roles 
  • Identifying that further consultation with other agencies needs to occur which may, if necessary, lead to onward referral to other services 
  • Signposting to other sources of support

Resources

Signposting and training

Local support (in East Sussex) 

National support  

  • Childline comforts, advises, and protects young people 24 hours a day and offers free confidential counselling. Phone 0800 1111 (24 hours) - www.childline.org  
  • Young Minds is the UK’s leading charity championing the wellbeing and mental health of young people - www.youngminds.org.uk  
  • The Mix provides information, support and listening for people under 25. Phone 0808 808 4994 (24 hours) www.themix.org.uk  
  • On my Mind is an online platform with lots of information for young people to support their mental health and access services - Anna Freud Centre
  • SHOUT – a free, confidential and 24/7 text messaging service for anyone in the UK who needs support and also have lots of resources for mental health and wellbeing. Text SHOUT to 85258 

Whole school approach

Whole School/College Preventative and Proactive Approaches

Every child should feel welcome and included at school, no matter what their needs are.

Good practices for promoting emotional wellbeing and preventing mental health problems can help with EBSA. Schools must also follow rules to protect children's mental and physical health.

Schools also have a legal duty to safeguard children under the Keeping Children Safe in Education guidance. 

Please see:

Effective WSCA includes these eight key principles: 

Whole School/College focus on EBSA  

It is important that educational settings take a proactive approach to understanding and managing EBSA, as part of a whole-educational setting initiative to monitoring attendance and promote emotional wellbeing.  

Best practice around ESBA include educational settings having: 

To manage school attendance issues well, schools should:

  • Spot Problems Early - Have a clear system to notice and understand attendance issues.

  • Help for Parents - Give parents information about school avoidance.

  • Train Staff - Make sure staff know about EBSA and how to help.

  • Assign a Leader - Have a senior staff member to oversee and organize support.

  • Act Early - Focus on preventing and addressing problems quickly.

  • Be Understanding - Know that many students with EBSA want to be at school but face difficulties.

  • Follow Protocols - For older students, use the Vulnerable Learners Protocol in your policies.

  • Ensure Safety - Follow rules to protect students.

  • Listen to Students - Take students’ views seriously and look at their whole situation.

  • Work Together - Collaborate with parents and other professionals.

  • Have Clear Rules - Set clear policies on attendance, behaviour, bullying, and transitions.

  • Teach Wellbeing - Include lessons on resilience, mental health, and emotional wellbeing.

  • Offer Gradual Help - Provide support that builds up based on what the student needs.

  • Vulnerable Learners Protocol is embedded into the settings policies and procedures.   

Further guidance and tools: 

Post-16 with EBSA

Context

For young people who have previously struggled with EBSA at school, the transition into post-16 education can be a fresh and exciting new start, introducing a new environment, a course that matches the young person’s aspirations and interests, more freedom and independence and new friends/peers.

However, for some young people, it can also present with challenges and barriers that feel similar to those experienced at school, or new ones, triggering similar thoughts, feelings and behaviours that caused school avoidance.

Additionally, factors associated with vulnerability can emerge that could be the trigger for early EBSA behaviours (see summary EBSA Toolkit for ‘Risk factors associated with vulnerability’).

Although there is no specific EBSA data that evidences how well young people with EBSA have transitioned into post-16, the East Sussex data on Not in Education, Employment or Training, indicates that there has been a gradual increase in young people becoming NEET, both locally and nationally. Although EBSA isn’t shown as a specific circumstance, we can identify that 70% of our current NEET cohort had persistent absence (10% or more) in Year 11 and 33% had severe absence (50% or more).

Our data also indicates that young people with SEND (Special Educational Needs and Disabilities) are 3 times more likely to be NEET than those without SEND, of which those with Social, Emotional and Mental Health challenges are most at risk of becoming NEET, followed by those with Specific Learning Difficulties and those with Autism, all of which are risk factors associated with the vulnerability of EBSA.

The National Centre for Social Research also identified in its ‘Risk Factors for being NEET among young people’ that having a mental health condition, being identified as SEN (special educational needs) and not having an academic qualification above Level 1 are within the top six risk factors strongly associated with NEET (National Centre for Social Research, 2023).

The impact of a young person becoming NEET can be far reaching. A recent report stated “Being NEET is also detrimental to a young person’s health, wellbeing and life satisfaction and increases the likelihood of ‘unhealthy behaviours’ such as drug taking and crime. Being NEET for six months before the age of 21 increases the risk of unemployment or low pay in later life. The impact of youth unemployment can endure for years, damaging individuals’ life chances and work prospects (Youth Employment UK, 2023).”

Commission on L2 & L3 Pathways for Young People Final Report

Furthermore, between 2018/19 and 2021/22 the national absence rate for young people who qualify as persistently absent in secondary schools has increased from 12.7% to 34%.  Year 11 appear to be particularly affected by this. Discounting COVID absences reduced this figure to 20.8%, however, the absence rate is still 8% higher than the previous year evidencing a notable rise in this year group (Attendance in education and early years settings during the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, 2022)

This evidence indicates a correlation between EBSA risk factors and young people who are (or at risk of) NEET.  It also highlights the increase of young people in Year 11 who are persistently absent, a concerning trend which could continue into post-16 if not managed early on with appropriate interventions.  It is therefore crucial that schools and post-16 settings adopt a proactive and flexible approach, and together with other key agencies, work collaboratively to identify young people with EBSA or at risk of, minimise the risk of young people becoming NEET and maximise opportunities to promote success (how this is measured is unique to each young person).

The Vulnerable Learners Protocol - Early preparation and planning for Post-16

Planning transition from the earliest stage is important to support the transition into post-16 education for vulnerable learners.

Early preparation and support for young people with EBSA or at risk of EBSA, particularly from Year 9 onwards is therefore key to securing an effective and successful transition and to prevent them leaving education early.

The main EBSA Toolkit outlines key challenges and recommendations for transition (EBSA and Transition).  However, for schools and Further Education providers, there is one key recommendation to support the planning and transition for vulnerable young people which is the effective implementation of The Vulnerable Learners Protocol (VLP).  The VLP was developed in partnership with schools, FE providers, East Sussex County Council Children Services and the Youth Employability Service to ensure that schools and further education providers are working together to identify vulnerabilities and ensure that additional planning for young people is in place from year 9 onwards. 

The key objectives of this resource are to support all professionals that have a responsibility in supporting vulnerable learners transition into Post-16 education successfully.

The VLP highlights actions that need to be completed at each term throughout the academic year from Year 9 onwards and by who.

It is important that there is a whole school/setting approach when using the VLP, many of the actions will be supported by different staff members in the setting. By having a whole school/setting approach all staff will know who is responsible and how their role fits into the transition journey for young people.

A young person may be working with multiple professionals; however, it is imperative work is collaborative, with a lead professional coordinating the support. This will ensure information is shared appropriately with all professionals involved with clarity of who is responsible and how the young person will access the action. Working together will get the best result for the young person and will ensure that all aspects of transition are being supported.

Information Sharing

Sharing information to the relevant education setting that the young person is transitioning into is imperative to support the successful transition for them. It can help the Further Education setting plan and prepare the right support to safeguard the young person and support their needs effectively.

Schools and Further Education providers should follow the information sharing for vulnerable learners’ guidance. Transition for pupils with SEN | Czone

Further recommendations 

Feedback was sought from schools, post-16 settings, parents/carers, and relevant agencies to help develop the post-16 EBSA content and to identify some key recommendations and opportunities within the ‘Assess, Plan, Do, Review cycle’ (which are not exhaustive) to support young people with a seamless transition from Year 11 into 12 and into adulthood (see also ‘EBSA and Transition’ in the summary EBSA Toolkit).

For Post-16 settings these include:

Assess

  • Listen - Listening to the young person’s voice capturing feedback as part of an ongoing cycle that can help inform the settings understanding of EBSA and plan how the young person can be effectively supported ensuring their wishes are at the centre of decision making. This can also support the post-16 provider to identify specific trends and patterns related to EBSA.
  • Adjustments and flexibility – Key leads working within the curriculum area can work with the school, young person, parent/carers to assess the need for reasonable adjustments to help improve engagement, attendance, and achievement e.g. consideration of the seating plan, adjusted methods of learning and assessment, soft starts. Moving forward, this could help inform curriculum planning and classroom delivery promoting stronger inclusion and retention strategies.

Plan

  • Planning - Person centred planning which should be a collaborative effort between the school, the post-16 setting, the young person/parent/carer from as early as Year 10 (see Assessing) - Early transition support and planning with the school that is tailored to meet the needs of the young person and prepares them for their journey into post-16 education based on their individual needs e.g. travel training. This planning should include the young person’s circle of support e.g. parent/carer, multi-disciplinary teams.
  • Connection - Create tailored social events between transitional settings including talks, taster days and Q & A sessions ensuring these are accessible and communicated to young people who are persistently absent, as well as their parents/carers. This could also include assigning students peer Mentors/Buddies to support their transition in.
  • Aspirations - Capture the young person’s aspirations as early as possible through close working with the school e.g. Vocational Profiling. This will support the young person to move onto a programme/pathway that is the right fit and reduce the risk of early withdrawal. Additionally provide young people with the opportunity to build relationships beyond the settings community e.g. volunteering, work experience
  • Timetabling – consider the impact of the students timetable e.g. having gaps/breaks and work with them to fill these gaps e.g. quiet spaces, study areas, enrichment activities, lunchtime clubs.
  • Information sharing – consider how, where and when you are sharing information and with who. Understanding the significance of appropriate and timely information sharing is key and enables others to take appropriate action.  This could range from schools sharing information on vulnerable learners with colleges at key transition points, to schools and colleges preparing parents/carers and young people for the move to post-16 education e.g. information on similarities and differences, what to expect etc.   

Information also needs to be accessible, visible and reach those families that may not have access through the usual platforms.

  • It is important that parent and carers can share relevant/appropriate information about their child/young person with the new education provider and encourage their young person to do so as they move into post-16 education. Safe and discreet opportunities/resources could be created to support this. Please see information in our SEND parent and carer transition guide.

Do

  • Support the young person to develop strong emotional and social skills from the start of their education, embedding this into transition and curriculum planning (see Action planning and intervention)
  • Training – Include staff awareness and training on EBSA within your CPD calendar to raise awareness, promote early identification and solution focused planning (EBSA training should be offered to all staff so there is every opportunity to identify and support at the earliest opportunity).
  • Collaboration - Working more closely with parents and carers, ensuring that they are aware of the differences between secondary school and post-16 settings, particularly in relation to policies and procedures e.g. attendance management, academic expectations, pastoral support, and input from multidisciplinary teams. Ensure that relevant documents are accessible and available as early as possible.
  • Partnership - working collaboratively with other professionals and agencies e.g. Youth Employment Service to create a safety net of support for the young person/parent and carer.
  • Consistency - Key adults/teams from the post-16 setting are introduced to the young person/parent/carer as early as possible and are a consistent source of support throughout the young person’s journey. These key individuals should have strong knowledge of EBSA, the young person, their challenges and background and be confident in person centred planning and solution focused strategies.

Review

  • Review - Reviewing your attendance policies and procedures, taking into consideration the needs and challenges of young people with/or at risk of EBSA as well as their parents/carers. Consider the use of language and a more flexible approach that is solution focused and maximizes opportunities for support and achievement (See main EBSA Toolkit)

Useful Resources

Useful reading