As children and young people return to school this September, many will be looking forward to reconnecting with friends, familiar routines and trusted adults. For others, however, the start of a new academic year can bring feelings of anxiety and uncertainty that make attending school feel overwhelming.
These concerns sit alongside ongoing attendance challenges across the education sector. Recent Department for Education data shows that absence rates remain above pre-pandemic levels, with more than 1.29 million pupils classed as persistently absent in autumn 2025/26. Children and young people with SEND continue to be disproportionately affected, with pupils who have an Education, Health and Care Plan significantly more likely to experience persistent and severe absence than their peers. At the same time, mental health challenges amongst children and young people have risen. NHS data shows that around one in five 8 to 16-year-olds in England had a probable mental disorder in 2023, with anxiety featuring prominently amongst emotional difficulties.
Against this backdrop, many schools are looking more closely at the relationship between emotional wellbeing, anxiety and attendance. For educators, understanding emotionally based school avoidance (EBSA) and recognising the early signs of school anxiety is crucial.
What is emotionally based school avoidance?
Emotionally based school avoidance describes situations where a child or young person struggles to attend school because of difficulties relating to their emotional wellbeing or mental health.
Crucially, this is not simply a matter of a pupil choosing not to attend.
Many children experiencing EBSA want to attend school but find that anxiety, distress or overwhelming emotional needs make attendance feel difficult or, at times, impossible.
The term helps shift the conversation away from blame and towards understanding what may be driving the difficulty.
Why is school anxiety becoming such a priority?
Schools are reporting growing numbers of children and young people who find aspects of school life overwhelming. There is rarely a single cause.
For some pupils, anxiety may be linked to:- Transitions and change
- Friendship difficulties
- Fear of failure or getting things wrong
- Academic pressures
- Separation from parents or carers
- Sensory overwhelm
- Uncertainty and unpredictability
- Previous negative experiences of education
- Unmet additional needs
The experience will look different for every child.
What they often have in common is a heightened sense of threat. Situations that may appear manageable to others can feel overwhelming to a child whose stress response system is working overtime.
Key signs of emotionally based school avoidance
School anxiety is not always easy to identify. Some children communicate distress openly, while others become highly skilled at hiding their worries.
Educators may notice:
Changes in attendance patterns- Increased lateness
- Regular absences on particular days
- Missing specific lessons
- Frequent requests to go home
- Difficulties entering the school building
Children experiencing anxiety often feel it physically. This may include:
- Stomach aches
- Headaches
- Feeling sick
- Tiredness
- Other recurring symptoms with no obvious medical cause
Some pupils may begin to:
- Avoid social situations
- Withdraw from friendships
- Stop participating in lessons
- Appear distracted or disconnected from learning
- Spend increasing periods of time alone
Anxiety does not always look anxious.
For some children, emotional distress may present as:
- Irritability
- Defensiveness
- Anger
- Increased behaviour incidents
- Refusal to engage
- Difficulty following expectations
Looking beneath the behaviour
One of the challenges with emotionally based school avoidance is that attendance data tells us who is absent, but it cannot tell us why.
Thrive encourages educators to become curious about the experiences, relationships and emotional needs sitting beneath the behaviour.
Neuroscience helps us understand that anxiety is fundamentally linked to our survival system. When the brain anticipates a threat, it prioritises protection over learning.
This means that a child who appears disengaged, oppositional or avoidant may actually be responding to feelings of uncertainty, overwhelm or emotional distress rather than making a deliberate choice to reject education.
When adults understand this, it becomes easier to move from asking:
"How do we get this child back into school?" to asking: "What might this child need in order to feel safe, connected and ready to engage?"
Why relationships matter
As adults, we all experience emotional avoidance from time to time. The difference is that we have developed strategies to help us regulate our emotions and manage stress.
Children and young people are still learning these skills. That is why relationships matter.
Strong, consistent relationships with trusted adults can play a significant role in helping children navigate periods of uncertainty and anxiety.
This is particularly important during key transition points, including the return to school in September, moving classes, changing teachers or progressing to a new setting.
For children experiencing EBSA, feeling understood can be just as important as feeling supported.
Small adjustments can sometimes make a significant difference. For example, some schools use "soft landings" at the start of the day, creating opportunities for pupils to reconnect with a trusted adult before facing the demands of lessons. Through a Thrive lens, these approaches are not about lowering expectations, but about helping children feel safe enough to engage.
That is why many schools are increasingly looking beyond attendance procedures alone and exploring approaches that help build emotional resilience, strengthen relationships and create a greater sense of belonging.
Supporting attendance through a Thrive lens
Emotionally based school avoidance is complex and requires thoughtful, individualised responses.
While there is no single solution, Thrive's evidence-informed approach helps educators develop a deeper understanding of child development, emotional wellbeing and the relationship between regulation, learning and behaviour.
Rather than asking staff to focus solely on attendance outcomes, Thrive supports schools to explore the underlying factors that may be affecting a child's ability to attend, engage and flourish.
This whole-school approach helps build confidence across teams while creating environments where children and young people feel emotionally safe, understood and ready to learn.
Looking ahead this September
As pupils return to classrooms, emotionally based school avoidance and school anxiety are likely to remain key challenges for educators across all phases of education.
Recognising the early signs is an important first step.
Because behind every absence is a child or young person with their own experiences, challenges and needs.
When we look beyond attendance data and seek to understand what may be driving the behaviour, we create opportunities for connection, support and positive change.
Want to learn more? Thrive Schools have access to specialist training, assessment tools, resources and practical guidance designed to help educators better understand and respond to anxiety, emotionally based school avoidance and other barriers to learning.
Find out how becoming a Thrive School can help your setting build a whole-school approach to attendance, wellbeing and belonging.
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