‘Trending downwards': Shock as school attendance drops below pre-Covid levels

West Australian

13-05-2025

School attendance levels have dipped for another year, with the number of students attending classes falling below pre-Covid-19 levels.
Across Australia, the attendance rate for students in primary schools and high schools was 88.3 per cent, a slight dip from the same period the year before.
However, attendance levels – the percentage of students with attendance at or above 90 per cent – show a different story.
According to the Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority (
ACARA
), the 2024 attendance levels of students attending at least 90 per cent of their classes across government, Catholic and independent schools were 59.8 per cent – a sharp decline from the 74.9 per cent attendance levels in 2019.
School attendance levels vary in each state, though attendance rates are generally higher in big cities compared with regional areas.
There's also a significant gap with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students attending school compared with non-Indigenous students, though these figures have narrowed slightly by 0.7 percentage points.
A Department of Education spokesman said the increase in students wagging classes was concerning, and 'every day of school missed is a day of learning lost'.
'Regular school attendance is critical to successful student outcomes and engagement,' they told NewsWire.
While the pandemic had a role to play in this figure, they said the 'national school attendance rates have trended downwards over the past decade'.
'The Covid-19 pandemic further exacerbated this trend,' they said, adding 'while national student attendance rates have improved from the lows of the pandemic, they are yet to return to pre-Covid levels'.
'They are not at an all time low,' they said.
There were several reasons for the sudden decline in attendance levels, including 'anxiety and worry', Australian Primary Principals Association president Angela Falkenberg told NewsWire.
'Schools look at each student and their family to understand the reasons for non-attendance,' she said, explaining schools will complete 'conversations' with kids and parents to explain their absences.
While she said it was 'vital' for schools to work with parents and families to ensure children were in class, Ms Falkenberg admitted that this 'may not always be a reality'.
'Some (truancy) can be due to anxiety and worry which can result in poor sleep,' she said.
Another reason why students may not be able to attend school comes down to issues at home, including 'family discord, poor mental health, food and housing insecurity and even transport to school'.
'Some might be due to children's friendship struggles,' they said.
'Schools can work with the child on managing conflict (or) joining in a game.'
In April 2024, the Senate Education and Employment References Committee issued an inquiry into the national trend of school refusal and related matters.
Following the inquiry, the Department of Education spokesman said the education ministers 'agreed that wellbeing for learning and engagement is one of the priority areas of the agreements, and reforms include initiatives which support student engagement in learning, for example through greater student participation, attendance, inclusion and/or enhanced school-family engagement'.