Blog post written by Dr. Kirsty Evans. Stay tuned for our new training course on EBSA, coming soon.
Schools are increasingly reporting challenges related to pupil attendance, including presentations consistent with Emotionally Based School Avoidance (EBSA).
It can be helpful to think about EBSA using an iceberg analogy. What we see above the surface is the behaviour, the pupil not attending school, missing days, or avoiding certain lessons. This can easily be interpreted as defiance or choice. However, the observable behaviours are only the tip of the iceberg.
Under the surface, there is often much more going on. Emotional factors such as anxiety, fear, low mood, overwhelm, or feeling unsafe can sit at the centre of these experiences, as well as wider influences linked to relationships, expectations, and the school environment, including whether pupils feel understood, capable, and able to have some sense of control within their day.
Understanding the language
The language used around school attendance can feel confusing. Historically, terms such as truancy or school refusal were used, often carrying an assumption that the pupil was choosing not to attend. Over time, there has been more recognition of the emotional factors underpinning non-attendance, leading to the term Emotionally Based School Avoidance (EBSA), and then Emotionally Based School Non-Attendance (EBSNA). I prefer the former, as avoidance behaviours tend to begin before a pupil stops attending altogether. If we are thinking about early intervention, it is important that we notice the early signs of avoidance rather than waiting until a pupil is no longer attending school.
More recently, there has been a shift in some circles away from these labels, as they can place the focus on the pupil as the problem rather than considering the role of the school environment in supporting the learning and wellbeing of all pupils. Some have begun to use the term Extended School Non-Attendance (ESNA), based on the idea that language should describe what is happening rather than make assumptions about why. For me, although I understand the sentiment, there is a risk that this could unintentionally move us back towards earlier, more choice-based understandings of non-attendance.
I don’t think there is a perfect term, but EBSA still feels like a helpful one for me, as it holds some balance and avoids placing blame in any one place.
Why traditional approaches often don’t work
In my work across a range of settings, I have worked with many pupils who find it hard to attend school. What I’ve seen time and time again is that typical (behaviourist style) attendance approaches don’t tend to work for this group.
Approaches such as fines, rewards, or consequences are usually based on the idea that the pupil (or parent) is in control of their attendance and just needs the right level of motivation or pressure to comply. For many pupils experiencing EBSA, this is not the case. These approaches can increase anxiety and can feel overwhelming.
What I have observed is that this leads to mistrust between the school, the pupil, and their family. There is already a huge amount of pressure on both pupils and parents around attendance. We need to be mindful of this and take a non-judgemental stance.
Common approaches and the challenges
Many schools are working hard to support pupils through strategies such as reduced timetables, meet and greet systems, or asking pupils to choose the days, times or lessons they feel most able to attend.
While these approaches are well intentioned, they are not always personalised and can sometimes miss what is really going on for the individual pupil. They may also not address the underlying reasons why attending school feels difficult in the first place. A pupil may agree to attend certain lessons or times during a planning meeting, but when the day comes, the anxiety still feels too much. This can then shift into frustration from adults, such as “you agreed to this, why aren’t you coming in?” and a lack of competence for the pupil, which can feed into the problem.
It is important to remember that the pupil is not choosing to feel this way. Agreeing to something when calm is very different from being able to follow through when anxiety is high.
Starting with pupil voice
For me, the starting point must be understanding where the pupil is at. We must provide opportunities for pupils to feel safe to share their experiences. Using tools such as values cards, strengths cards, school experience cards, and wellbeing cards can support this process.
Visual resources and card sorting activities, which can be read to pupils when needed, are accessible and can be used with a wide range of pupils, including those with learning needs, communication needs, or selective mutism, as they do not rely solely on verbal expression.
Gaining a picture of what is important to the pupil, how they experience the school day to day, what feels hard, what approaches work and don’t work, allows us to begin to understand their world and identify protective and risk factors in a meaningful way. It also helps us to notice where pupils may not be feeling confident, in control, or understood within their school experience.
This process creates a starting point for both individual and systemic change. Change cannot be rushed, however. It should be gradual and responsive, taking place both at the pupil’s pace and at a pace that allows for thoughtful, sustainable adjustments within the wider system, as rushing either can undermine progress and lead to setbacks.
Listening to lived experience
In a recent piece of small-scale pupil voice research I conducted, pupils described EBSA as a build up of many experiences over time. They talked about pressure, fear of failure, social overwhelm, difficulties with communication, and feeling misunderstood.
Comments such as “the pressure is insane” and “small things add up” capture how these experiences accumulate across the day. For many, school does not feel like a safe or manageable place.
Importantly, pupils spoke about the difference that one trusted adult can make. Feeling understood, respected, and listened to was described as a key factor in whether they felt able to engage at all.
Working with the pupil’s own motivation to change
It can be useful to rethink how we approach motivation. When we try to persuade or use logic, people (children and adults alike) often instinctively look for reasons to push back or defend their position.
For many pupils experiencing EBSA, external pressure does not lead to change and instead increases resistance or anxiety. Approaches such as motivational interviewing can be helpful here, as they focus on drawing out the pupil’s own reasons for change.
This means putting the pupil in the driving seat, giving them a sense of ownership, exploring what matters to them, noticing any small signs of wanting things to be different and working collaboratively, rather than directing. It also means creating opportunities for pupils to experience success in small, manageable ways, rather than expecting immediate change.
What this means for practice
Taking all of this into account, there are a few important things to consider. We need to begin by moving away from compliance-based approaches to attendance, as attendance cannot be separated from emotional readiness and, for many pupils, pressure compounds the problem.
The importance of trusting relationships cannot be overstated. Having calm, consistent, and non-judgemental adults who take the time to understand the pupil’s experience can make a meaningful difference to how safe and able they feel within school.
It is also important that we slow the process down. Taking the time to understand the pupil’s experience, notice patterns, and gradually build coping strategies is not a quick process, and trying to rush this can further entrench challenges. Supporting pupils to experience success in small steps over time, and working collaboratively with them, is often more helpful than expecting quick gains.
We must remember that EBSA is shaped by interactions, expectations, environments, and wider systems. When we focus only on the pupil, we risk missing the context that is making school feel difficult in the first place.
For some pupils, it may be the way expectations are communicated, or the pace and structure of lessons. For others, it may be the sensory or social environment, unstructured times such as lunch, or the experience of navigating busy corridors. It may be that relationships are fractured (which can happen in compliance- based systems) and the pupil feels misunderstood, not listened to, or not taken seriously. This can increase anxiety and make school feel less safe.
Wider systems matter too, such as policies around attendance, behaviour, uniform, or flexibility, which can either create room for pupils to feel understood and have some sense of choice and control within their day, or add further pressure. What may seem like small or everyday parts of school life can build up over time, especially for pupils who are already struggling.
In the end, it comes back to taking the time to understand what is going on for the pupil. When we slow things down and listen closely to their experience, it becomes easier to see what is driving the difficulty and what meaningful change might look like, with the pupil themselves positioned as an active collaborator in shaping and developing the support and action planning around them.
For more information on EBSA, we have a training course coming soon, which has been written and delivered by me, Dr Kirsty Evans, Educational Psychologist.
