Monday January 19th 2026
Scottish Borders Council headquarters
Written by Local Democracy Reporter, Paul Kelly
School attendance in the Borders is now amongst the best in Scotland, councillors will be informed this week.
Absence levels have fallen since Scottish Borders Council introduced an Attendance Quality Improvement Programme in August 2024, a report to Thursday’s Education Sub-Committee reveals.
Overall attendance in the Borders continues to improve and remains above the national average.
Persistent absence has reduced steadily over the past four years and is among the lowest rates in Scotland.
As of the end of November 2025, overall attendance stands at 92.2 per cent, continuing a four-year upward trend.
In 2024/25, Scottish Borders had overall attendance of 92.1 per cent and ranked seventh out of 32 local authorities. This remains above the national average of 91 per cent.
Persistent absence (pupils absent over 10 per cent of the time) has reduced from 28.7 per cent (approximately 4103 pupils) in 2021/22 to 23.9 per cent (approximately 3347 pupils) in 2024/25.
In 2024/25, the Borders ranked fourth lowest (best) nationally, with the national average being 28.5 per cent.
Unauthorised absence increased nationally after 2020 and remains the most significant local challenge.
However, current year data shows that overall unauthorised absence peaked at 40.4 per cent in 2024/25 and has currently reduced to 37.4 per cent. Secondary school unauthorised absence has reduced from 44.4 per cent in 2024/25 to 38.9% currently.
A report to the committee sates: “The Attendance Quality Improvement Programme (QIP) is the council’s main improvement response to unauthorised and persistent absence.
“The programme, developed with Education Scotland, supports schools to understand how their attendance systems work in practice and to make small, tested changes that can be sustained over time. It focuses on improvement rather than compliance.”
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